Maton truss rod tool: Solutions

Hi All

I decided to post this here so it might help others who have older or newer Maton guitars. It may save much frustration bcause I have read wrong info elsewhere.

Pre 2004 Maton guitars had a 1/4" square truss rod (brass) bolt and for post 2004 it is an 8mm hex (brass bolt). Currently, Maton sell a tool that only adjusts the newer post 2004 guitars: an 8mm angled socket wrench.

I recently purchased an old Maton EM125 and new MatonSRS808 and had to contend with both sizes. Sure enough I struggled to find a tool for the older guitar (impossible) and in fact struggled to find any proper information on the older truss rod nut dimensions.

So, for all those who want a great solution here it is:

Purchase the following:

1. 12pt Hex 1/4" socket with 1/4" drive (for pre 2004 guitars)
2. 8mm socket with 1/4" drive (for post 2004 guitars)
2. 600mm long 1/4" extension bar
3. 1/4 ratchet or short right angle bar

Note: the 12pt Hex socket fits square nuts and fits like a glove.

Here are some photos. The long bar fits nicely through the endpin once removed and you can snap on the socket at the soundhole. I used a mirror to guide in the socket but after one try did not use it.

With the long bar you can keep the guitar in tune as you make really nice adjustments but you could also do the same through the soundhole if you find the correct length extension bar (about 100mm).

Hope this helps anyone who is looking at Maton. I bought the tools in the UK from UKTools.com. Really nice to deal with and helped me a lot.


PICTURES OF TOOL

[bnjp]

I go through the soundhole with a 5mm 90degree truss rod adjustment tool (The Martin tool from Stewmac). I just stick a 5mm deep 1/4" drive socket backwards on the end of the tool and wrap a piece of tape around it so it doesn't fall off. I don't see any real need to go through the endpin, except for the fact that with the square drive it only fits on the nut in four directions so your handle isn't always in an optimal spot.

Originally Posted by bnjp

I go through the soundhole with a 5mm 90degree truss rod adjustment tool (The Martin tool from Stewmac). I just stick a 5mm deep 1/4" drive socket backwards on the end of the tool and wrap a piece of tape around it so it doesn't fall off. I don't see any real need to go through the endpin, except for the fact that with the square drive it only fits on the nut in four directions so your handle isn't always in an optimal spot.

That's a good idea, and one that I considered myself, but I just decided that going via the endpin with the correctly fitting drive would make it easy. I think either way works (except as you say it can be tricky to get onto the nut.

The long bar approach is so nice to use because you can play the guitar whilst making small adjustments adjusting it without having to take the tool out and re-align it. It only takes 10 secs to get the end-pin off as well.

I guess for me it was worth the money to be able to do this and costs roughly the same.

[Trevor Gore]

Originally Posted by washy21

Pre 2004 Maton guitars had a 1/4" square truss rod (brass) bolt...

Faced with that difficulty many years ago, I discovered that a drum brake shoe adjuster worked well. They have a square socket of the correct size. There are still plenty of old cars around so you should still be able to get the adjusters in the after-market auto trade, if you want to go that way.

[johncharles]

The long Maton 808TE truss rod tool costs over £30 sterling incl shipping which I think is far too expensive.
I found this on Ebay. I filed it down a tiny bit to fit a small hex socket which is 1/4" then attached a disused file handle and it works perfectly £13 all in.

engineering_suppliersusername,
£13.63
Brass Section Type: Solid Square Bar/Rod
Section Dimension/Diameter: 1/4" x 1/4" (6.4 mm x 6.4 mm)
Length: 500 mm