I just found http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/20U-11464.htm this on Elderly's web site and I am impressed. The workmanship looks excellent and the wood used is superior to any $2K US guitar that I know of.
Very impressive!
For Kim (and everyone else)
Hesh, Maton are growing in rep all the time. I see more andmore references to them in the guitar press. I read in the latest Guitar World mag that John Fogerty has a Maton hollow body electric that he raves about. These guitars look as good as any taylor and at around half the price. Though you want to let our US friends know they had better hurry before their dollar is worth nout.
Dom
Dom
Thanks Hesh,
Maton are a good Aussie guitar, every bit as good as Martin etc. Tommy Emmanuel always plays Maton guitars on stage and has for many many years. In fact it is only just recently with the opening of their custom shop that he ceased picking his guitars right from Maton's normal production line. Maton have been the standard workhorse for many other very successful Aussie pros as well. And George Harrison had a Maton MS500 electric for a while.
My own Maton is a first series Colonial. These are a solid straight grain blackwood guitar with a fine grain sitka top and red maple neck. The bindings, heel cap and pickguard are tortoise, the bridge BRW, the machines gold Grover and the top bracing is a Gibson style double X. This model ran from 1976 to 1981, mine being a 1979 and she is #119 of what I understand to be under 150 of these guitars that were made during that time.
1979 also seen the introduction of the Maton Messiah which became the new marquee of their range of acoustics. This new model, with optional pickup, pretty much took over from the Colonial. Maton did however continue the Colonial or CG170/6 for one more year into 1982, but I understand that they cheaped them down considerably, I imagine to avoid competing with the Messiah. These new Colonials were released with Merbau back and sides and I am told were a lesser quality instrument all over and are not near as desirable as the blackwood beasts.
My Maton is quite a heavy guitar and it sounds like a baby grand. It has the most headway of any guitar I have come across, very loud and very clear, impossible to distort even with a string snapping heavy pick hand. I put that down to the thick (judging by the weight) blackwood B/S, combined with a fine grained stiff sitka top and that double X braced top.
Anyhow I recon they make some good guitars alright but make no mistake, Maton can make some rubbish also, and at the end of the day, you get what you pay for.
Cheers
Kim
Maton are a good Aussie guitar, every bit as good as Martin etc. Tommy Emmanuel always plays Maton guitars on stage and has for many many years. In fact it is only just recently with the opening of their custom shop that he ceased picking his guitars right from Maton's normal production line. Maton have been the standard workhorse for many other very successful Aussie pros as well. And George Harrison had a Maton MS500 electric for a while.
My own Maton is a first series Colonial. These are a solid straight grain blackwood guitar with a fine grain sitka top and red maple neck. The bindings, heel cap and pickguard are tortoise, the bridge BRW, the machines gold Grover and the top bracing is a Gibson style double X. This model ran from 1976 to 1981, mine being a 1979 and she is #119 of what I understand to be under 150 of these guitars that were made during that time.
1979 also seen the introduction of the Maton Messiah which became the new marquee of their range of acoustics. This new model, with optional pickup, pretty much took over from the Colonial. Maton did however continue the Colonial or CG170/6 for one more year into 1982, but I understand that they cheaped them down considerably, I imagine to avoid competing with the Messiah. These new Colonials were released with Merbau back and sides and I am told were a lesser quality instrument all over and are not near as desirable as the blackwood beasts.
My Maton is quite a heavy guitar and it sounds like a baby grand. It has the most headway of any guitar I have come across, very loud and very clear, impossible to distort even with a string snapping heavy pick hand. I put that down to the thick (judging by the weight) blackwood B/S, combined with a fine grained stiff sitka top and that double X braced top.
Anyhow I recon they make some good guitars alright but make no mistake, Maton can make some rubbish also, and at the end of the day, you get what you pay for.
Cheers
Kim
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