Maton guitars

[Steel and wood]

I'm Australian.

If I lived in the USA, I would choose Martin over Maton every day of the week. (I can't see the point in owning a Maton guitar if Martin was available to you even if Maton make great guitars for the most part).

If you wanted something distinctly Australian, you would be better off choosing a guitar from the Cole Clark range in my opinion.

Subjective of course!

[Russ C]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

I'm Australian.

If I lived in the USA, I would choose Martin over Maton every day of the week. (I can't see the point in owning a Maton guitar if Martin was available to you even if Maton make great guitars for the most part).

If you wanted something distinctly Australian, you would be better off choosing a guitar from the Cole Clark range in my opinion.

Subjective of course!

As you said, subjective .. so I'm not commenting for any reason other than balance. I would take most Matons over most Cole Clarks - though I too would take Martin if I could only have one. I have a carefully chosen D45V and among other nice guitars, an older Maton Messiah which gets plenty of use. I even have a couple of friends who prefer it. I don't agree with them, but .. yes like you say, it's subjective I guess.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

I'm Australian.

If I lived in the USA, I would choose Martin over Maton every day of the week. (I can't see the point in owning a Maton guitar if Martin was available to you even if Maton make great guitars for the most part).

If you wanted something distinctly Australian, you would be better off choosing a guitar from the Cole Clark range in my opinion.

Subjective of course!

I might actually agree. I’ve had 4 Cole Clark’s and they, especially the more recent ones, are super guitars and cheaper than Matons for a very similar make up. I think the Angel body from CC is about the perfect all around size and shape. The similarities are clear, the differences aren’t as clear but there is something that CC does that make them more playable and easy to play in my opinion.

Their recent move to virtually 100% local timbers was a good move - fully embrace being different and it works, plus they are so gorgeous as a result.

[DoryDavis]

I have the Maton SRS808. it has the best action of any acoustic I've ever owned, and at this point that is a fair number. Unplugged it is not loud by any means, but fine for solo practicing.

Plugged in I am still struggling a bit, it sounds a little thin to me (and I have experimented with the controls and different strings). I know TE always uses an AER colorizer or dual eq preamp and wonder how much that has to do with his sound, other than of course his magnificent technique which is 99% obviously.

I like this guitar though, and think there is real potential in it. I keep coming back to it. Coincidentally I played 2 Cole Clarks last night. Totally subjective but I still preferred my Maton- though the Cole Clarks were stunning to look at (and fun to play) Just my 2 cents

[Lv2Play]

I picked up a Maton Diesel at a pawn shop and it's the best find I've ever made. Acoustically it's not too much but the electronics are outstanding. Build quality is excellent.

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by Daveyo

Played a couple,not impressed
I wonder of Tommy E didn't play one
If they would even be noticed
Dave

Bingo !

Ed

[silvereagle48]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

I'm Australian.

If I lived in the USA, I would choose Martin over Maton every day of the week. (I can't see the point in owning a Maton guitar if Martin was available to you even if Maton make great guitars for the most part).

If you wanted something distinctly Australian, you would be better off choosing a guitar from the Cole Clark range in my opinion.

Subjective of course!

+1 to the cole clark

[imc2111]

The Maton custom shops are in the same league as collings, SC, imo.

[pandaroo]

There are heaps of Maton and Cole Clarks in Australia, they are everywhere. I never fail to pick a few up every time I visit my local store and it constantly remind me of how thin sounding these guitars are. The newer Matons with the scalloped bracing is marginally better. However the Maton Messiah dreadnought is a really superb sounding guitar, head and shoulders above the rest of the line up.

I have a 'TE Personal' which is made by the custom shop, literally TE's guitar (not the production TE signature model). Even this is nothing to write home about.

[BluesKing777]

One thing I noticed that nobody ever seems to mention.....reading the specs of the new Matons....every model in the whole range has the same neck..and nearly all models have the Maton AP5-Pro pickup system with the piezo plus condenser mic.

So in theory, if you like the neck (like a flatter radius modern Gibson acoustic), you could jump from the 00 size 808 models to the large rosewood dread and on to the custom shop beauties and back to a mini....all the same neck and spacings!

I jumped around on about 10 different Matons in comfort at the shop one day recently!

No idea about older models...


BluesKing777.

[nunocasais]

I personally own a Maton EBG 808 TE. In short words, acoustically, its a small sound, it lacks on the bass side, but bright and with definition on the mids and highs. Great neck and nut width, very friendly to play with.
Now, plugged in, as I use it, that’s where she comes alive.
Great balance, but you can still see and hear her character through the pickup.
It must be said that this is a guitar for fingerpicking or fingerstyle players. When you use your fingers, and Tommy does the same, you don’t need a guitar very responsive on the bass side... you will get a confuse and not separated sound between lows and highs. I think this is very balanced to this particular kind of work. If not, tell me how much of the Maton endorsers use them to other kind of playing instead of fingerpicking! They all fingerpick!
I must say, though, if you have to go to a recording studio, and get the best of a acoustically micked guitar, this will probably not be the best choice for the purpose.
I will keep mine, but i love my Martin 00028 too 😂

Cheers!

[Aplayer710]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

I don't know what I am reading here sometimes....

Everyone has an opinion, but if you talking about a make of guitar that you didn't like, it would be helpful to others here if you said what style you normally played and which guitars you normally like eg..flatpick a dread, fingerpick a custom 00.....

I say this because I just came back from fingerpicking (bare fingers) my recent model Maton SRS808 cedar top acoustically firstly, then through my Genz Benz amp and then headphones through that amp! It sounds great, is put together very well with a nice slightly wider nut and neck. It is the first guitar of mine I would reach for if plug and playing!

(I have Gibsons, Martins, Nationals, Lowdens and a Waterloo!)
No affiliation at all here......If you fingerpick, like cedar tops and play live, I think you owe it to yourself to try these. It is the lower mid range. Artisan Guitars has one for $US2050:


https://artisanguitars.com/maton-srs...kwood-id-12222



BluesKing777.

I've been researching guitars and am planning to try a Maton next week since I found a local dealer that carries them. I appreciate these boards as it's been really helpful getting info from experienced players. I'm newer to the guitar world.

https://maton.com.au/dealers/the-usa

[Silly Moustache]

I have seen Matons in the UK, but not many, and I could not judge them.

However, I've just watched a video I found on their site about Bill May and how the company has grown - second generation now, and using local resources when they can.



Also, when you look at their dealer spread universally (well, only this planet so far) they have a pretty good spread - Oz and Nz obviously, but also Europe and the Far east.
They are certainly doing something right!

Good on ya bill!

[nickv6]

I've played several Matons in shops. I've never owned one. Each one I've tried has been good to play. I don't like the acoustic sound. But plugged in they are amazing. This is something I always find though. If I may be allowed to generalise.....the finest acoustics just don't amp well. And the finest amped acoustics just don't sound good acoustically. It seems to me that it's true of any make of guitar. My favourite amped Martin has not got a great unamped sound at all. Could it be that to amp well, the soundboard has to be too stiff to sound good on it's own. I have experienced this so often over fifty years. Anyone else think I'm close to the mark?
So to the original poster I say, decide what you want from the guitar, acoustic or amped, and I believe that will definitely guide your choice.
Nick

[51 Relic]

Must admit after playing a TE 808 signature GAS is now evident and will have to be extinguished in the new year