Andy Manson Rebuilds His Led Zeppelin John Paul Jones Triple Neck Guitar

I could have chosen any number of catchy titles for this post but its impossible to sum up this guys skills and the beauty of what he creates in a single short eye catching and snappy phrase.

There are also countless items I could have featured that this guys has crafted but in the spirit of grabbing your attention I opted for a remake of the classic triple neck based on John Paul Jones original Led Zeppelin guitar originally built in 1974/75.

Here are a few pictures of the original guitar and John Paul Jones playing it live.

Here are a few of the images of the work in progress during the rebuild of this classic instrument. You can find the full album on Andys facebook page.

Andy Manson is one hell of a talented guy and for over four decades has been hand building some of the worlds finest stringed instruments. Over the years he has made approximately 1000 instruments and has continually strived to push the boundaries of what you can expect in the performance of an acoustic instrument.

Back in the mid seventies he was commissioned by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin to create the now famous triple-neck electroacoustic instrument which features (from top to bottom) 8-string mandolin, 12-string guitar, and 6-string guitar necks. When asked about it many years later Andy said ..

"I made this instrument in the mid 70s. I had done a few repairs and set ups for John Paul Jones and was kindly given a complimentary ticket to see Led Zeppelin. I saw John playing a 6 string, 12 string and mandolin all in the same song, picking up one and putting one down. I thought shame you can't hang them all round your neck at once ..... light bulb on ! I designed and made the triple neck and took it to John's house. I said, 'Hi John I thought this might interest you.' He said, 'Wow, yes indeed, I can't wait to see Pagey's face when I walk on stage with this!' It cost £400 and I skipped off down the road feeling like a millionaire. After some time, John asked me to add the fingerboard inlays. This instrument was a real turning point in my guitar making career.

John Paul Jones used the Manson Triple Neck, beginning on the second leg of the 1977 US Tour on May 18, 1977 for the acoustic set and for Ten Years Gone in 1977 and 1979. He brought it out again in 1999-2000 for his solo tours for the improvisational piece entitled Triple Neck song in which he layered individual acoustic tracks with the Symbolic Sound Kyma in real time.

Based in Exeter, England Andy is performing his magic as one of the worlds finest fine instrument luthiers. I highly recommend you bookmark his website and spend some time checking out his magnificent hand crafted guitars, mandolins and multi necked instruments.

You wont be disappointed but you may well be very envious.