Matt Bellamy's Guitar Rig

Muse frontman Matt Bellamy is a true 21st century guitar hero, known for his extremely eclectic playing style. Masterfully mixing delicate, piano-like clean passages with ferocious fuzz-drenched riffs, squealing solos and chaotic synth-inspired noises — it’s always difficult to predict what crazy sounds he’ll muster up on-stage and in the studio!

Want to know how to sound like Matt Bellamy? Of course you do, it’s why you’re here! We’ve compiled all of the essential Matt Bellamy guitar gear on this page! Alongside his well-documented signature equipment, we’ve also recommended similar products that can allow you to recreate his quirky, otherworldly tones.

Matt Bellamy’s Guitars

Matt Bellamy has had a long association with Manson Guitar Works — a fairly small, custom instrument company based in Muse’s home county of Devon. In fact, he even took ownership of the brand in 2019! Matt started using Manson electric guitars around 2000/2001 during the recording of Origin Of Symmetry, and has rarely been seen on-stage without one of their bespoke builds in his hands since. However, prior to this, he regularly wielded a black Peavey Wolfgang.

Bellamy has an arsenal of hand-made Manson guitars, many of which come equipped with all kinds of gadgets like onboard ZVEX Fuzz Factory circuits, Korg Kaoss pads and Floyd Rose tremolo systems. However, to give Muse mega-fans a chance to own a Manson Matt Bellamy signature guitar without the huge price tag, the brand has collaborated with Cort to bring you the Meta Series — an accessible line of Matt Bellamy signature guitars boasting many of the features you'd find on his custom models; including 'Sustainiac' pickup systems and killswitch buttons.

Matt Bellamy’s Amps

The Muse singer/guitarist has employed a variety of guitar amplifiers over the years. In the early days, Matt Bellamy exclusively used a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100 valve head with matching 4x12” guitar cabs. It’s been rumoured that he’s recorded with other Marshall amps too, such as Plexi heads, JCM800s and Silver Jubilees. More recently, Matt has made use of high-gain Diezel VH4 amplifiers. And you can hear it too, with Muse’s most recent work sounding very, very heavy!

Matt Bellamy’s Pedals

Matt Bellamy loves creating wacky effects. Watch any Muse live performance, and you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about! He’s synonymous with the ZVEX Fuzz Factory pedal, a massive-sounding distortion box that’s grainy, glitchy and crazily-saturated! A few of his custom Manson Matt Bellamy guitars have these installed within their bodies. Any other Matt Bellamy guitar pedals? There’s the Digitech Whammy, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeller and many more!