Matt Bellamy awards Tom Morello with custom Manson electric guitar

Matt Bellamy only just purchased his longtime guitar builder Manson Guitar Works, but it appears he already had his first order of business lined up: build a custom electric guitar for Rage Against The Machine icon Tom Morello.

Morello, one of the key influences behind Bellamy's six-string bombast, has been supporting Muse on their recent UK tour, and the frontman gave him the custom electric to show his gratitude.

The guitar is based on Bellamy's signature MB models, and boasts a Sustainer neck pickup, Floyd Rose tremolo, plus Morello's trademark killswitch. 

With a moniker already assigned as part of the blue finish - Power To The People - it's bound to fit in with the rest of Morello's arsenal, which includes legendary mongrel guitars Arm The Homeless, Soul Power and Sendero Luminoso. 

"Tom Morello has been a huge inspiration to me growing up, a guitar legend," says Bellamy.

"Proud to be able to give him a guitar I had made inspired by his playing and his message."

As for what's next from the Bellamy-fronted Manson Guitar Works, we have no idea, but we wouldn't mind seeing his Arturia Prophet V synth/guitar hybrid become a purchasable reality... 

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Michael Astley-Brown

Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.