Maton Acoustic guitars

I haven't tried not even one of Maton guitar. Where I am there is not much of them.
Only thing I have heard that "they sounds awesome with amplification but not so special without it",
but I don't have own experience about Maton guitars.

Tommy Emmanuel are just amazing maestro with his Maton guitars and sounds incredible good and
his technique is fantastic. He is one of my favorite guitarist. Also he has good sense of humor and make
people happy with hes funny jokes :D
 
scottp said:
Anyone have any experience with these?
Opinions on the pickup output for live performance?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Just wanted to chime in because I came across this post after starting to dial in my Maton with the Axe FX. An acoustic preset won’t use much dsp, but man the Maton is pretty great with literally just a compressor and reverb block. Im working on sweetening it up with a 10 band graphic.

Matons in general excel plugged in. They aren’t very inspiring acoustically compared to a good Martin imo however no other acoustic I’ve played plugged in has come close to the amazing and powerful tone of the matons.

I’ve owned 3 matons, they all come with somewhat high action imo so after a good setup and string gauge change (for me 11’s) there really isn’t a better guitar for the stage.
 
So this is my Taylor 614CE Maple made in 2013.
I found it at a local Music Go Round store by me.
I looked at it and fell in love with it. Played it and it sounded nice!
I wasn't ready to spend $2k on an acoustic at the time.
It sat at that store for 1 year. I played it like 3 times over that year.
On about the one year anniversary of seeing it for the first time, the sales guy was actually putting a reduced price sticker on it the moment I walked in! It was a sign I thought to myself : ) I looked it over and played it one more time, and took it home!!

After having it for a while and playing it plugged in, I found out that Taylor made a change to the onboard electronics/preamp.
Some people really liked the change for what it did for their guitars.
I first properly set up the piezo according to Taylor's procedure.
Well I'm not really in love with the amplified tone. And I am picky about tone.
I ordered and replaced the preamp system. I really didn't notice much if any difference.

So I had a chance to buy a Maton acoustic. I got one to sent to me and did a side by side comparison of both guitars.
I used the loopers on 2 Fractal AX3's to compare. My thought was, I don't hear a $2000 difference in the amplified tone between the
614EC and the Maton, so I ended up sending the Maton back. And for my taste The Taylor sounded better acoustically, but I was all in if the amplified tone was what I was hoping for. Life goes on :)

614CE front.jpg614CE back.jpg614CE full.jpg
 
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I come from Australia, so I should be right biased towards Matons, right? Hate 'em, completely, terrible, uninspiring run of the mill instruments that feel considerably cheaper than their price tag suggests they should. The only guitars I like less are Cole Clarks - also Australian made. So, anyway, I happen to be in Austin when Eric Johnson was doing an instore concert at Waterloo Records to showcase his acoustic album, and what is he playing? A freakin' MATON! I had to ask - he said hands down they had the best pickup of any acoustic he had ever played.


What the heck would I know, obviously! :grinning:
 
I’ve had a few, & still have one of their acoustics.
Well made guitars by an ethical company. Play and sound good!
Thanks
Pauly
scottp said:
Anyone have any experience with these?
Opinions on the pickup output for live performance?
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
David McCarroll said:
I come from Australia, so I should be right biased towards Matons, right? Hate 'em, completely, terrible, uninspiring run of the mill instruments that feel considerably cheaper than their price tag suggests they should. The only guitars I like less are Cole Clarks - also Australian made. So, anyway, I happen to be in Austin when Eric Johnson was doing an instore concert at Waterloo Records to showcase his acoustic album, and what is he playing? A freakin' MATON! I had to ask - he said hands down they had the best pickup of any acoustic he had ever played.


What the heck would I know, obviously! :grinning:
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that!! :)
 
David McCarroll said:
I come from Australia, so I should be right biased towards Matons, right? Hate 'em, completely, terrible, uninspiring run of the mill instruments that feel considerably cheaper than their price tag suggests they should. The only guitars I like less are Cole Clarks - also Australian made. So, anyway, I happen to be in Austin when Eric Johnson was doing an instore concert at Waterloo Records to showcase his acoustic album, and what is he playing? A freakin' MATON! I had to ask - he said hands down they had the best pickup of any acoustic he had ever played.


What the heck would I know, obviously! :grinning:
Click to expand...
Well... Tommy Emmanuel and Joe Robinson must be experiencing something different, because they both rave about them... And I'm pretty sure EJ was "converted" by Tommy.

Who knows? Maybe it's all about the plugged in sound?
 
Yea, when I spoke with the selling dealer, he told me that many people find the Maton unplugged tone nothing special.
I recorded the outputs of the Taylor & Maton to compare those. I couldn't hear much difference.
 
"Well... Tommy Emmanuel and Joe Robinson must be experiencing something different, because they both rave about them... And I'm pretty sure EJ was "converted" by Tommy."

Tommy has been getting Maton guitars given to him since Noah got off the Ark, and he is very rough on guitars so it's probably good that he has an endless supply, likewise Joe I am almost 100% certain is given the instruments. Maton make/made an electric guitar called a "Mastersound", basically an updated version of some awful thing they made in the sixties and for a while it seemed every Australian band was using them - yeah, because Maton was giving them away like lollies on trick or treat night. I'd LOVE to like Matons, really, I would, it would make my little Australian heart beat so proudly with patriotic pride...... but I cant, because they feel like rubbish and at least unplugged have a tone that matches the feel. Sigh, so much for my contribution to Australia's trade deficit :(
 
I'll stop at this point..... the best sounding acoustic I have ever played was a 1946 Gibson J45 that looked like it had done time in a demolition derby - that guitar was just unbelievably special - sitting in South Austin Music - I could afford it, I loved it, the guy wanted me to take it, but the thought of it getting damaged in transit to Australia was too much for me, so I demurred..... a year later, back in Austin I gave in, went back to South Austin Music and said "okay, okay, I'll take the chance...... " The guy behind the counter replied with a smile; "wellllllll...... the owner of the shop has realised how special that one is and he's keeping it for himself....."

All for the best I guess - imagine opening up the case upon arrival in Australia and seeing splinters instead of an eighty year old, priceless guitar!
 
I owned a maton SRS70c a few years back. Played great out of the box and the unplugged sound was fantastic on the one I had. Only reason I let it go is that it turns out I just never really do much with acoustic guitar and if I have gear thats just sitting around I prefer to sell it and buy something else I'll make use of more. Probably should have kept it and it wasn't the guitars fault its gone. Would be happy to own another if I ever need an acoustic.
 
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