West R Lee said:
Coastie,
Tell me about the Maton? How old was she when you got her? How does it compare with your Guilds. What condition is it in? Where is your model in the pecking order of Matons? The sure sound good when the big boys play them.
West
Wisterious.
Bought it new, around three years ago. Cost was around NZ $1800, currently US $1400. Three years ago it would have been a little less expensive in US terms.
I'd just been persuaded by my nephew to take up guitar, and went over to Christchurch to check things out. This was planned as a strictly "tyre-kicking" exercise only !
Visited all the stores; ran the gauntlet of pimply counter- jerk kids, pricks who showed no interest in me, basically saw nothing that really appealed.
I should point out, that at this point in time I couldn't play a note, and my nephew is left-handed, so we were a bit handicapped !
In any case, nothing that I saw had that special kharma.
Last place we went to, is the local Maton man.
Greg knows the guy there; he's "Charlie" in Down Under's S200 post.
Greg starts blagging to Charlie, and I wander off to check things out.
I hear this little voice saying "Over here, over here", and there's my Maton !
It's got everything I'm looking for; small body, cutaway, electronics, satin finish, no flashy bollocks, and best of all, it has that "different" factor !
Greg does his best on it, but my mind was already made up. Gotta have it !
So the Visa balance gets hoovered out, right there and then.
Now, I'm already very well-read on guitar stuff (dangerous !), and I'm a compulsive modifier, so its gotta have gold grovers, Walrus Ivory nut/saddle/pins, and I eventually decide that it'd look pretty groovy with a Greenstone pickguard.
So, that's where we're at, and aesthetically, it pleases me to tiny pieces.
Sound ? Well, I dunno, I've only my F4 to compare it with, and that's an apples vs oranges kind of thing.
I don't know any other guitar players, so I can't compare it with anything.
Most importantly, it works for me. I couldn't give a rat's if a Gibson / Taylor / Martin is "better". When I desire "better" I'll go get a Guild.
Oh, and this model ( EBG808CL ) is a lower-order model in the Maton range.
And those in the know claim the electronics to be one of the best out there.