I need to ask aquaestion about Tommy E

[AusSi]

There are a lot of opinions here which is great, everyone is unique life would be SOOOOOO boring otherwise.

My opinion is that Tommy plays Matons because they suit his playing style PERFECTLY, he just picks, plays and bashes the living hell out of them, few other guitars could withstand what he does to them.

I play a cole clark and i know most people don't like them with the Australian tone woods and environmentally sustainable timbers, yet I have learned to make its sound work for me and I find it difficult to get the sound I like out of other guitars because its not what i am used too.

After hearing what tommy produces with Matons, which I feel is a unique and revolutionary sound that he invented, I am grateful for it, I would not have him play anything else. He would probably just sound more main stream and maybe not stand out from the crowd and maybe in turn not be considered the greatest guitarist in the world by so many.

There is a busker on the street here in Sydney that plays drums on 4 empty buckets, he just sounds unreal!!! I would not be supprised if he makes it big as he is well know for it. If you gave him a normal set of drums, I doubt he would want them, but no one would even care who he is cos he would not stand out at all.

[Bunny64]

I love TimTams but find them very hard to find here in the UK. Australia is a long ways off. Maton seems to be a successful company and Tommy is a great ambassador for their products which are by no means cheap or inferior. Play what you want and " love who you like."

[ukejon]

In a 2012 interview with Joe Bosso on www.musicradar.com Tommy offered up a pretty clear and honest answer to the OP's questions.


Joe: "For most guitarists, choosing the right instrument is no small matter. But I imagine with you, it's of paramount importance."

Tommy: "Absolutely. People always ask me, 'What's the best guitar in the world?' And I tell them, 'The best guitar in the world is the one that you don't want to put down. It's the one you want to play until you die.' It is a special matter. The right guitar is the one that makes you feel as though you've found your voice.

"My guitars, the guitars that I've used for years, Maton Guitars, are made in Australia. I have an exclusive deal with them, but I don't play these guitars because they pay me money. If you go back to photos of me in 1959, you'll see I'm holding a Maton – that's how long I've played them.

"It's not that I'm patriotic or anything. To me, nobody makes a guitar that feels and sounds as good as this one. The pickup and mic system is unequalled. As much as I admire Lloyd Baggs and James Fishman – and they're friends of mine; I admire their work – nobody's come up with a pickup like the Maton pickup. So many people say, 'You should play in this hall or that hall because the acoustics are good.' And I say, 'It doesn't matter. If the electrics in the guitar are good and there's a good PA system, I'm going to get a great sound."

In short, Tommy has played Matons for 55 years because he loves the guitars, both acoustically and especially plugged in, which is how he plays 99% of the time. They are the perfect instrument/tool for him to accomplish his professional needs. Maton guitars are not widely distributed in the US and so we don't see that many of them here in the hands of well known players. Maybe that will change down the road, maybe not. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that one of the greatest living fingerstyle guitar players has purposefully made a choice to use this brand, and also has stated very clearly in multiple interviews why he has made that choice. What more is there to say or question?

[Eric_M]

Originally Posted by DanPanther

First- obviously Tommy knows what he is doing, so if he chooses Maton guitars, am I to assume he considers them superior to others ?
...
Here is what I THINK.
He chooses Maton because they are Australian made, but the ones HE buys are made to the exact specification, of another brand guitar that he considers superior to Maton, but would rather buy Australian made guitars.

I think in one sense he does consider them superior to other guitars: In the interviews I watched/read, he has talked at length about the importance of the guitar's plugged-in sound, and as ukejon and others have noted, TE has often mentioned that he feels Maton's plugged-in sound is superior. He's also mentioned playing other guitars, particularly in the studio, so nothing he has said would lead me to believe that he is being insincere or deceitful about the appeal of Maton, particularly as an instrument for live performance.

To your other point, any speculation as to what guitar you think he's basing his Matons off of?

My own impression after trying out an EBG808TE is that it was sturdy (sort of heavy for an acoustic, on par with some Guilds I've played) and highly playable (low action, comfortable neck, nicely dressed frets) with a great pickup system. In short, a good choice for a hard-touring performer.

Others have mentioned that his personal instruments are nicer; nothing too surprising there, as that seems to be the case with most signature models. But after playing the production-line version, I can't imagine there's a night-and-day difference. It's more or less the same types of woods, etc., right?

[bho]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Tommy's Maton's guitars are good guitars that have very good pickup systems in them. I have heard his guitar up close, he has shown me how each pickup on each string sounds and what the internal mic sounds like. I believe he has stated that one of the primary reasons he uses the Maton guitars is because of the good quality pickup systems. They are simple, effective, and sound very good.

It's also true that Maton guitars are made in Australia and he certainly has a soft spot for them. He has stated that Maton guitars "feel like home."

He owns other guitars, some from Collings, Larrivee, Gibson, and Martin plus he has some customs, and these guitars have been used on some of his recordings. But he uses the Maton guitars for performance, I believe, because of the pickup system.

- Glenn

Glenn, do you know what his customs are?

[Garrison314]

Before coming to this site I had never even heard of a Maton guitar....certainly never see any around my area. It sounds like they're great guitars and would be a nice novelty to own.

[fazool]

OK, fair enough - it just sounded like you were really against Matons.

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by DanPanther

<<snip>>

Three- If they are not superior to other brands, does that go with my theory that above a certain level, you can not really tell guitars apart as far as tonal quality.

<<snip>>

This theory is something that I can't much agree with, and it certainly does not have much to do with the quality (high or low) of Maton guitars..

[Blueshoes]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Ah, I see.....Even though Tommy is maybe the most famous acoustic guitar player on the planet and even though he could get Maton to design whatever style guitar he wants, he instead asks them to secretly copy another brand and hide it under a Maton label. How utterly devious!

Now that makes perfect sense