NGD: Maton "T.E. Personal" - Tommy Emmanuel guitar

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by imc2111

How is the neck size on these Custom Shop 808's? I tend to prefer slim necks, wondering if they are like that.

I couldn't tell any difference between mine and the production models

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by imc2111

Do you have a good acoustic amp to try with it? I will be picking up my WA May 808 and an AER compact 60, the TE signature one, next week. I plan it on being my amplified guitar that still sounds pretty good a acoustically.

I also have an aer amp, of course through the amp she is a beast. Acoustically, its alright, nothing to be overly excited about but i reckon yours be different.

[imc2111]

Originally Posted by pandaroo

I also have an aer amp, of course through the amp she is a beast. Acoustically, its alright, nothing to be overly excited about but i reckon yours be different.

I was going to go for the TE Custom initially, because, as you, I love TE's music and he's one of my main influences; however, it was around $1600 usd more than the WA May, so I decided to use that cash on an AER Amp. They sent me some pictures of the guitar and it's looking very nice. The main difference between the TE and this seems to be the use of Blackwood vs Queensland Maple. Also the WA May uses Blackwood for the neck (an odd choice?). If money hadn't been an issue, I probably would have gone for the TE.

[musicwu]

congrats on the new guitar! I'm a bit TE fan too and I own a production model 808te and i like both its stage sound and acoustic sound.

It's good to see a review from someone who has played both the custom shop version and the production model. Before coming across your review, I could somehow tell the sound must be different because of the bracing (at least the back bracing, the CS is a lot thinner than the standard Matons), but that was so much that I could guess from.

We don't buy a Maton to replace Martin guitars! They are different beasts and they both have their own use. I love the Martin sound too, but that doesn't mean less bass makes less of a guitar! I have found Matons work really well with muted bass playing style (boom-chick).

[SprintBob]

Congrats, she’s a beaut. Just please don’t take a screwdriver to the finish on the lower bout like Tommy does. I was at one of his guitar camps and he told us he does that to make the surface more percussive. Some cringed, some laughed, made me want to ! Hope you enjoy it, I bet it sounds amazing plugged in.

[musicwu]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

Congrats, she’s a beaut. Just please don’t take a screwdriver to the finish on the lower bout like Tommy does. I was at one of his guitar camps and he told us he does that to make the surface more percussive. Some cringed, some laughed, made me want to ! Hope you enjoy it, I bet it sounds amazing plugged in.

I've heard that from his interviews too. I can understand it if you think about how he treats his guitar as a practical tool. But I guess most of us won't do the same thing. If you really would like to imitate the brush sound you can always stick a piece of velcro tape on the top. It doesn't look as good tho.