Maton MS500/12

[mfb]

I don't know how many of you know about this guitar, so I thought I'd let you in on it.

With the replica RICs going around, this guitar is proof that there is plenty of scope to designing and building an interesting and very playable 12 string electric guitar.

The design itself for the MS500 style dates back to 1957 (George Harrison performed with one, if that means anything) but this 12 stringed version is relatively new and was made for Josh Homme of the Queens of the Stone Age.

This one is mine and it is a beauty. It has a semi hollow body made of Queensland Maple (Australian "mahogany") topped with Bunya (Australian spruce substitute). The bolt-on neck is also made of Queensland maple.

The nut width is 42mm, just a little wider than my 360/12, and the scale length is 24.5". The slight increase in the nut width makes a big difference to the playability as the string spacing is just a little wider making it quite pleasant to fret.

The pickups are hand wound. The bridge pickup is a splittable humbucker and the neck is a fat single coil. I have found that they are wired in such a manner that when both of them are on and operating as single coils (p/up switch in midway position) they act as a humbucker thus eliminating any potential hum.

The pickup switch (lever actually) is an idiosyncratic beauty, as are the "TV" knobs. And changing the strings is a snap as it uses stoptail piece.

The finish is excellent. Mine is a bit special as the natural finish is a little unique.

If I may say so myself, all in all an excellent, and original, piece of Australian made gear (although the pickguard is a bit wild). Check it out if you have a chance!

I have no connection whatsoever with Maton, simply own some instruments made by them.

[ozover50]

Nice one, Manuel!

I have a Maton MS503 - nice little gee-tar!

[sloop_john_b]

Those guitars are SO cool looking! Are those standard PAF-style humbuckers?

[milo]

A friend of mine just sent me brochures of the electric and acoustic line from Australia a few days ago and I thought they were pretty nice looking. I especially like the fact that they aren't knock-offs of somebody elses guitars.

What kind of prices do those sell for?

[ozover50]

Try this link, Jeff:

http://www.guitar.com.au/guitars/electric/maton/index.htm

Around 76% of the AUD price will give you the USD equivalent.

H

[milo]

Thanks Howard.
He also sent me a tube of Kraft Vegemite (and a warning about it being an acquired taste). What's the best way to give this stuff a try? I only know about it from the old Men At Work song (lol)

[firstbassman]

Manuel,

If you search back you will see that yes there was a previous Maton thread. (With Aitch's photo.)
And some pointed out that it is the guitar that the Wiggles (sp?) play.

And, as I pointed out, it is the guitar (acoustic) that guitar wiz Tommy Emmanuel plays and endorses:

http://www.tommyemmanuel.com/

[ozover50]

Jeff: The most common way to experience the delights of Vegemite is to toast some thick bread until golden brown, apply lashings of butter (or margarine at a pinch) and then spread the Vegemite thinly but evenly over that. Make sure the butter and Vegemite go right out to the edges of the crust!

Another way is to place a heaped teaspoon of Vegemite in a mug and fill with hot water. Stir like crazy until there is none left on the spoon. This is definitely an acquired taste!

I'd suggest the first option.... enjoy!!

[jingle_jangle]

...and then we can introduce him to the delights of the UK's Gentlemen's Relish--my fave with bubbly...

[ozover50]

Introduce me, Paul! I'll provide the bubbly... (hic)

[mfb]

Those guitars are SO cool looking! Are those standard PAF-style humbuckers?

The pickups are hand wound. The bridge pickup is a splittable humbucker but the neck is a fat single coil. I have found that they are wired in such a manner that when both of them are on and operating as single coils (p/up switch in midway position) they act as a humbucker thus eliminating any potential hum.

You can have the humbucker bridge p/up act as either humbucker or single coil. The humbucker is similar to the PAF and quite ballsy.

[fenderslash]

I have two Matons, both of which I bought three years ago. The red one is a MS502 and the blue one is the top of the range MS2000DLX/SD. They are really nice guitars, however despite the quality and cost I never really bonded with the blue one. I think that at the time it was just too much of a difference in feel to jump from the longer-scale single-coil Teles I had been using to a shorter-scale hot-SDuncan-humbuckered guitar. I persevered with the much cheaper red one at band practice, because with the splitable humbucker and the volume control on each pickup I could get lots more variations in tone and a fatter sound than I could with the Teles when playing through the ****** little practice amp I use at rehearsals. It took quite a while but I ended up bonding with that one and I love it and continue to use it at every rehearsal.

By the way, Maton is a small company whose demand outstrips supply, and I had to wait a long time for my blue one to me manufactured and delivered to me (sound familiar?). From memory it took six months. It was a painful wait at the time, but looking back I didn't know how good I had it - at that point I had never ordered a Rickenbacker...

[ozover50]

N-i-c-e pair, Carl! I've seen the blue MS2000 before but not the 502. Cool..........