More Matons…
Thanks to the great feedback from my fellow guitarnerd’s… the other Maton article was getting too huge… so here’s part 2.
First up, here is an awesome collection sent in by Ken…
Oz-Rama: Matons and some aussie amps, including a 1954 Maton AM 3… all 4 1/2 screaming watts.
64 Flamingo – White original shape
65 Flamingo pink – Later shape
63 Fyrbyrd (non ‘sharkbite’… in amazing condition WITH HANG TAGS!!! AND STRAP!!!)
64-66 Leaderman – This in various guises replaced the Fyrbyrd and the Flamingo (look at that awesome headstock shape!)
66 Sapphire – first series but with all the goodies.
67-70 El Toro – six string (this is the same guitar as featured in my original Maton article.)
67-70 El Toro Bass (pretty much the coolest looking bass ever.)
On the idea of Maton reissuing some of these cool designs, Ken commented: “I don’t know if Maton are really committed to solid bodies apart from the MS series because of it’s history. Even in the heady years of the sixties production numbers of solid bodies were low. Maton’s records show that the two biggest solid body sellers in the period were Flamingo’s and Fyrbyrds. There were around 1300 of each made. The Ibis and the Leaderman were around 250 and El Toros 56 six strings and 45 basses. Sapphires were much more popular, no doubt Harry Vanda had something to do with that, and they were plywood semi solids.”
Next up is a Maton Goldline sent in by Noel. This guitar is actually own by Noel’s friend. If anyone has one of these they want to sell (at a decent price. Don’t try to rip me off!!!) … LET ME KNOW!!!!
Looks like it’s had the tuners changed, but apart from that is in amazing condition for it’s age.
Look at those curves *droolz*
The strap peg position is a little strange… but you can see the influence on the later Fyrbyrd.
WANT. ONE. NOW.
And finally… here is a rare, probably one-off Maton doubleneck that had been worked on by Sydney Guitar Setups.
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I just received an email from Stephen with some GREAT Matons. These are some of the rarest Maton’s out there…
That’s right… it’s a WEDGTAIL!!! My holy grail of Matons…. my absolute fave.
A beautiful cherry sunburst Maton ES335-a-like… I’ve never seen one of these. It’s got a bit of 70’s Ibanez Artist to it.
A rare Maton Stratocaster. Great collection, Stephen!
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Just found this baby on eBay. It’s a 1966 Maton Slenderline (great name!)… flame maple body and neck w/rosewood board. Only 762 made between ’64 to ’67.
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This beauty just finished on eBay with no bids. It’s a one-off 80’s Maton 12 string, which has some very strong Phil Manning styling cues, especially the back hollow chambers.
Here’s the info from the auction…“This Maton 12 string electric guitar is unique. Only one was ever made. It was made for Brad Clarke who later founded Cole Clark Guitars. Brad played in The Mannikins at the time, and the guitar was made for use in that band. The original case still bears the “Mannikins” name on the lid.
This beauty was made in June 1986. Luthier was John Mortlock, setup was by Tuke Basjes, and painting by Damien Smith and another Maton craftsman.
This guitar is a fantastic recording or live instrument. It has been used on many recordings such as on a Killing Heidi’s album, a Powderfinger album and also the Mannikins to name a few. It has many unique features, such as 3 x stacked humbucking pickups, plus an acoustic style piezo pickup under the bridge. It has a 5 position switch plus an extra 5 toggles to extract every possible tone and sound out of this unique instrument. It has a balanced line out (XLR) for hum-free operation, and two individual outputs for the piezo and normal pickups.The guitar comes with its original case.”
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Here are some beauties that have just turned up on eBay. It’s a pair of Maton Lute’s… guitar & bass being sold by the one owner.
The bass is in fantastic condition. It actually looks pretty huge… it would be an unwieldy beast to play.
The guitar has had it’s finish sanded off but would look hot in Brian Jones Vox artic white, with a black scratchplate.
I love the headstock shape on these. Maton had quite a few cool headstock designs back in the day…
It also comes with some cool parts… including a set of original 60’s Maton strings!
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Here’s another rare bird that’s on eBay at the moment. It’s a Wildcat cutaway.
Not sure I’m a fan of that cutaway, but there was a non-cutaway version as well. I love the bass, though.
If anyone has more photos of rare Matons, email me at [email protected] and I’ll post them here. Hopefully Maton will sit up, take notice and make some more of these babies.
That Fyrbyrd is pure sex.