Guitarists. Guitars and sound Manzanera has played a variety of instruments throughout his career, but he is best known for his "signature" guitar, a 1964 'Cardinal Red' Gibson Firebird VII, with gold-plated pick-ups and tuners. This guitar became widely known to fans after Manzanera posed with it during the photo session that produced the inner gatefold photo for Roxy Music's second album For Your Pleasure in 1972, and he has used it regularly throughout his career. Manzanera also frequently uses two custom-made Gibson Les Paul guitars, one of which (picture above) features a mother of pearl inlay in the shape of an iguana. On tour and in the studio, Manzanera also regularly plays Fender Stratocasters, a Fender Telecaster, and Blade guitars. On the evidence of the cover photographs for the 801 Live album, he also played a Yamaha SG-2000 guitar (as used by Carlos Santana) during the 801 period. Beginning in the early days of Roxy Music, Manzanera's guitar sound was often heavily treated using various electronic devices and techniques, including processing the output of his guitar through Eno's synthesizers, both in the studio and on stage. This allowed him to create a wide range of sounds and textures, many of which are not immediately identifiable as having been produced by an electric guitar. On his solo album Primitive Guitars, all the sounds on the album except the drum machine and the bass played by John Wetton (on one track) were produced by Manzanera's guitars. Personal life In 1977, Manzanera purchased St. Anne's Court, in Chertsey, consisting of a coach house, which Manzanera converted into a recording studio and a main house, designed in 1936 by the architect Sir Raymond McGrath. The gardens were created by Christopher Tunnard. The recording studio was used to record Manzanera's solo albums and Roxy Music's Flesh & Blood and Avalon. The main house later featured in the television production Poirot. Manzanera sold the property to 3Dlabs founder, Osman Kent, in 1997. Awards and honours Asteroid 72801 Manzanera, discovered by Marc Buie at Kitt Peak National Observatory in 2001, was named in his honour. The official was published by the Minor Planet Center on 18 May 2019 (). Selected discography Solo Studio albums Diamond Head (1975) K-Scope (1978) Primitive Guitars (1982) Wetton/Manzanera (with John Wetton) (1987) Crack The Whip (with Andy Mackay) (1988) Up in Smoke (with Andy Mackay) (1989) Mato Grosso (with Sergio Dias)