During Them Crooked Vultures shows John Paul Jones pulls out this bad ass Lap Steel Bass Guitar when they play the song “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I“.
The instrument is called a Manson Lapaphone. Its is an 8 string instrument (4 + 4x 1+ octave) with a Kaoss screen as an XY midi controller and there are no internal effects in the guitar. It has a Fernades Sustainer single coil pickup and 3 octave range on the fretboard.
This one of a kind bass was custom made by Hugh Manson of Manson Guitars. Manson is one of the UK’s most well-respected electric guitar makers and has also been John Paul Jones personal technician since the mid 1990s. When asked specifically about the instrument Manson said,
“Yes I did make this instrument and in fact all that JPJ uses on the Vultures tour. It is an 8 string Bass lap steel with a midi control screen on it which will control any thing with a “midi in”. This is similar to the guitars I make for Matt Bellamy (Muse). It also has a sustainer pickup on it and a hipshot bridge tuning system that enables 3 different open tunings by moving levers.”
Check out John Paul Jones using it live…