Maton Ibis

This is it… the king Maton bird.

Some of you might recall a Maton I posted about a while ago called the Flamingbyrd (check it here) which caused a lot of controversy as the owner Ian had gotten a very beaten up Maton Flamingo and modified into a cross between a Flamingo and a Fyrbyrd. I personally thought it was a fantastic piece of work… very tasteful and respectful to Maton’s history. Some people hated it… but whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Ian recently sent me photos of another vintage Maton of his, a rare as hell Maton Ibis which he bought from Perth.

These things are insane… sort of like a guitar Maton would’ve designed after a few too many acid trips. (Note: Drugs are bad, kids. Stay in school.) I mean… look at that headstock. The Fyrbyrd headstock is pure design genius. This…. I don’t even know what this is. They did this on purpose?! I can just see the Ibis design meeting at Maton in the 60’s. (Note: this did not really happen… only in my imagination.)

Maton luthier: Hey Bill, here’s the the new Ibis headstock design you asked for.

Bill May: What the hell? Oh, I see you slipped with the jig saw cutting it out. What’s it supposed to look like?

Maton luthier: This IS what it’s supposed to look like! Isn’t it groovey & far out, man?!

Bill May: …………… You’re fired.

The body shape itself it pretty stylish, but I can’t help thinking it would’ve looked a lot better if they squeezed the waist in a bit. It’s a little slab-like… especially with those beautiful top and bottom horns.

Here’s a quick photoshop mockup of what I mean… obviously the scratchplate would need to be adjusted but you get my drift.

Ian’s guitar has been resprayed a while ago to a yellowish white, with an 80’s Maton headstock decal added. I personally think it looks great in this colour. And that headstock looks even weirder from the back!

Speaking of Ibis’… a few basses have popped up recently. One appeared at a Tym Guitars instore in a band that was playing recently and Tim snapped some pics for guitarnerd. It had been resprayed a metallic blue and looked great! That shape really works well on bass. Again… if that waist was tightened up a little more, it would look even better (in my opinion.)

The next Ibis is a rare bird indeed. Ibis basses are rare, but left handed versions?! This is currently for sale on Gumtree. (click here if you’re keen & left handed.)

This is the second 60’s left handed Maton electric I’ve seen and both had a right handed headstock, which looks badass. This one also has a pink plastic scratchplate and bridge cover, which I’ve never seen. I’ve only seen them in white before. It still even has the rare Maton pickup cover.

And as I mentioned… the right handed headstock.

Here’s an Ibis in action (well, miming…) with Huxton Creepers.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0trSN47yK_Y

If anyone out there has a Maton Ibis they’d like to share on guitarnerd, email me some photos and I’ll add them to this story.

••• update

Greg T. was nice enough to send in some photo’s of his all original Maton Ibis. Enjoy!

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