John
Paul Jones
Above, the present: ExLed Zeppelin bassist Jones owns several
electric mandophonic instruments by Britain's
Manson
Bros., including the bizarre triple-neck contraption pictured above
left. It's all mandophonic. Twenty-four, count 'em, 24 strings: mandolin, octave
mandolin, and "bass mandolin." This thing
may not look electric, but it is. You can see the pickups in this photograph. On the right, for those occasions
when he needs only one neck, another Manson bass mandolin. Jones also owns a solidbody
electric octave mandolin (formerly belonging to Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull),
also built
by Manson Bros., making him one of their best customers. Below, the past: Jones used several different e-mandos while with Led Zeppelin, including a Harmony acoustic/electric mandolin (below, upper left) similar to Yank Rachell's, a Fender Mandocaster (below, upper right), another Manson Bros. triple-neck (6-string, 12-string, mandolin, below, lower left), and what appears to be an 8-string version of a Framus Strato-Melodie (below, lower right). |