Maton EA80C Australian

All solid wood guitar, in hogh gloss lacquer. This guitar boasts solid tone woods for the front, back and sides.

Top: AA Sitka Spruce
Back & Sides: Blackwood
Neck: Queensland Maple
Fretboard & Bridge: Rosewood
Electrics: Maton AP5 system
Hardware: Gold

See www.maton.com.au

This guitar really turns heads. A great guitar friend of mine was really into his Taylors and Martins, and never really fancied the tones and textures of Matons until he heard my AE80C. Play this direct into a DI and desk, and you'll have a very pure signal. Round and warm, as provided by the great combination of woods. Put it through a preamp and/or amplifier... add a little reverb and a touch of delay, and what you have is a monster that will hold any audience will spellbinding mystery.

Compared to it's little cousin the CW80, the tones of the AE80C are mellower and rounder, with just the right amount of natural EQ for any type of music. It is truly a different guitar to the CW80, with a world of difference in build and tone.

As per usual for Maton's quality control, this guitar is flawless, in build quality as well as fitting. The action on Matons are superb straight from the store

A workhorse in the Australian music industry, Matons are a proven name with Aussie musos. The electrics are very straight forward to use and the guitar is built rock solid.

Extremely high level of customer support through retail stores, website as well a factory direct.

If you have the dough, upgrading from the all solid body CW80 to this model would be a great option. This guitar will not let you down.

Totally and completely even. After playing many acoustics to find the one that was just right, I always found what one had in the bottom end, would fall apart at the top end. There is no sacrifice with the Maton. Totally balanced all the up the fretboard.

Equally impressive is the intonnation. There isn't one spot on this guitar where the pitch/tone seems to be even a little bit out.

The gloss finish is flawless. It also is very sparingly done. I've seen a few acoustics that while were very nice, the gloss coat seemed a bit thick and in some cases very overdone.

Action is remarkably low for an acoustic. It is also very bright and responsive in the higher registers. Very easy to play up high with the cutaway model.

Given the quality craftsmanship, I have no do doubt that this guitar will stand the test of time.

Haven't needed to contact Customer Service.

I have been playing for over 15 years and in all that time I have always been looking for the ultimate acoustic. With the EA80C, I have found it. I've had Ibanez, Fender, and (most importantly) Gibson acoustics in the past and spent countless hours in music shops pegging Martins and Taylors up against Maton and I gotta say that this beats them all hands down. A beautiful guitar to say the very least.

I think 9 is perfect. It has everything you need and nothing you don't. Well done Maton.

Chris White and I fought over this guitar. I didn't have the money but I bought it anyway. It rang so true it was scary. Only the Taylor 814 got close but hey it was 3x the price !! Its lout and even, and when you really strum a chord you can hear each string. That is special !

There is nothing I don't love about the finish of this guitar. When I look at the guitar its hypnotic .. Having said that though, I've played and seen a few of this model of guitar ... They are not all as good !

No fears. Gigged it hard for a year now.
No problems.

Don't know. Not had a problem

If I lost this guitar, I'd search the world to get it back. I know not all are the same, but when you find a special one......

The official Maton web site (www.maton.com.au) has all the vital statistics but in short-

.: WOODS :.
AA solid Sitka Spruce soundboard
Solid Australian Blackwood back and sides
Queensland Maple neck
Australian Blackwood veneer on headstock (keyhole design)
Australian Blackwood outer body binding
Indian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge

.: EXTRAS :.
Gloss finish
Grover rotomatic gold-tone machine heads
Maton AP5 electronics
Herringbone rosette and inner body binding
Outer banding - Ivory
Standard dot inlays
Soft cutaway

To be honest I was more attracted to a 'nice' Greg Bennett acoustic I saw which had some tasty extras like abalone for the fret markets, rosette and body binding and a standard-bound neck when I was first shopping for an acoustic for stage. While extensive trialling has shown the Maton to be a clearly superior guitar, I'd still like to see features like abalone dots instead of cheap 'pearloid' plastic given the not-too-friendly price tag. Purely aesthetic though- as far as functional features go, the EA80C has 'em in spades. Plus to be honest the bare-basics look has a certain sex appeal about it anyway, especially with the gorgeous gloss-finished Australian Blackwood.

I tried literally around 50 acoustic guitars when shopping and nothing else even came close. Seagull, Art & Luthiery, Taylor, Ovation, Martinez, Washburn, Fender, none of them came even close. There was a Martin guitar which had a very nice sound at Venue Music but it was also close to 3 times the price of this one and honestly still didn't sound as good. Other than that the only rivals in my mind were other Matons. Now I see why Tommy Emmanuel swears by them!

The stand-out quality for me with this guitar was the amazing dynamic range of the instrument. After playing this for a few minutes, most other guitars sounded very hollow and 'boxy'. The highs are so pristine, and when tuning down to drop-C the guitar still rang out every note with a crystalline clarity. It's not overly trebley or 'twangy' but still has enough snap to breathe additional life into everything. I gave the EA80C a pretty thorough work-out, working from simple chord-based campfire songs through to flamenco-style strum-and-shred, classical arrangements for guitar, and of course the obligatory Emmanuel piece or two. No matter what I played, it sounded beautiful on this thing. Even if I never ended up getting this guitar, simply playing it has taught me a massive appreciation of the tonal difference different woods can make. My next electric guitar will be made of Australian Blackwood!

I wasn't even going to bother trying the guitar out through an amp since my amp sounds shit anyway but I thought I might as well while I'm at it and I'm glad I did. Now don't get me wrong, I still think the Fishman and L. R. Baggs pickups I've tried on some of the other guitars are amazing but Maton's AP5 pickup is beyond compare. When I left all the preamp and amplifier's settings to neutral you couldn't even tell it was running through an amp at all- it just sounded like I was playing a LOT louder! Near perfect sound reproduction, and best of all it uses 2xAA batteries instead of the 9V most pre-amps use.

Perfect, perfect, perfect. Not the slightest bit of fret buzz, the higher frets all ring out cleanly without sounding muffled at all, the action is comfortably low without being too touchy, the neck felt very smooth and uninhibiting, the guitar is perfectly balanced and weighted so I was able to play it comfortably standing up and sitting down, the machine heads are very high quality, there was absolutely no sign of anything coming separated or unglued in the slightest, and most importantly of all it simply feels great to play.

I've only had this guitar home for not even a day now so I can't comment on how reliable or durable it is, but I've never heard of a Maton shitting itself and I saw a hell of a lot of old (70's, some even from the 60's) Matons which still played and sounded great despite the usual wear and tear of a guitar's life. I won't rate it but I'll be genuinely surprised if it's anything less than a 9 or 10.

I dealt with Venue Music so I haven't had to contact Maton directly at all. Their web site seems pretty decent which is a good sign.

I've been playing for just on 6 years now. I've primarily been an electric guitarist, idolosing the likes of John Petrucci, Mattias Eklundh, Dave Martone and Rusty Cooley as the pinnacle of where I'd like to develop my skills towards. A couple months ago I discovered Tommy Emmanuel's latest two solo albums and finally realised what's so great about him (because to be honest his first few albums that I listened to are pretty dull and uninspiring). Since then I've been getting even more heavily into acoustic guitar than ever and will probably have a much more prevalent showing of acoustic guitar songs on my next CD. Other gear I own is mostly electric but I also own a Hondo steel-string (my first ever guitar), a Fender 12-string, about a dozen cheap nylon-string acoustics, and a couple prototype acoustics I've tried making for myself. While my other gear isn't that impressive by any means, I can still appreciate a good quality instrument. This one is simply amazing. If it was stolen or lost I'd be heartbroken since not only did I fall in love with this guitar as soon as I played it, it was also a 21st birthday present from my father. I'd definitely replace it, but hopefully it will never come to that. It easily leaves all the other guitars I played for dead with the exception of a few Matons (M100C, TE2) but they were beyond budget and weren't neccessarily better anyway, just different and a matter of taste as to preference. There was also one Martin which sounded nice but again- at 3 times the price, and still didn't sound AS nice. There's nothing more I could really wish for from this guitar (other than a 22nd fret and a 7th string). If I never buy another acoustic again I'll still be over the moon as long as I have this one.

Serial #:398
Year: 2000
Where: Australia
Soundboard - AA solid Sitka Spruce
Back & sides - solid Australian Blackwood (acacia)
Neck - Queensland Maple
Headstock - keyholed Blackwood
Fingerboard - Desert Acacia with ebony inlays
Bridge - Mulga
Finish - Nitrous Oxide Gloss
Machine Heads - gold with scripted M (for Matin) nice touch.
Pickup - Fishman pickup (volumne, 3 band eq controls)
Rosette, inner banding - Herringbone
Outer banding - Ivory

Got 4 free setups with new strings over 18months plus a hard case rugged enough to ensure a safe airflight journey.

Big sustaining sounds. Pickup any other guitar and play the same chord on both and the maton just keeps on bellowing out great harmonics for ages. You can feel the sound on your chest when you play this thing.

Unbelievable smooth gloss finish. Perfect action. Very smooth turning tunning pegs. Was professionally setup before taking it home so had nothing more to do except enjoy playing till my fingers bleed.

I'd put this guitar in the professional category and it stands up well to being dragged around. Very solidly built.

Never had to deal directly with them as the people I bought it from "The Guitar Shop" http://www.theguitarshop.com.au which is a licensed Maton dealer and repairer. Well worth going to a place like this which is run by guitarist for guitarist. They know their gear and are only too willing to let you play whatever guitar you want to try out. Though go past all other guitars and get this Maton.

If my guitar got stolen I'd definitely replace it with the same guitar. Do youselves a favour and spend the money on a rich sounding guitar that will last a lifetime.

This guitar is a customised version of the Maton "Australian" model. (So called because the non-customised model is made entirely of Australian tonewoods). It is a dreadnought acoustic with a cutaway and has solid back and sides made from figured Blackwood (an Australian Acacia which is similar to the traditional tonewood Hawiian Koa). The figured blackwood is usually slightly denser than unfigured timber and is visually quite striking making it a very worthwhile upgrade. Other upgrades were the AAA Alaskan spruce soundboard and the ebony bridge and fretboard. The neck is Queensland maple and has slightly flattened profile similar to that of the Maton Tommy Emmanuel Artist model(TE-1 ). There is also quite asthenic use of figured blackwood veneer on the headstock.

The guitar is fitted with Maton's own active AP5 pickup which has volume, tone and mid controls. The tuners are gold Maton brand and the jack for the electric lead is on the bottom side, rather than through the endpin. The end pin is removable to provide access to the neck adjustment.

I play mostly fingerstyle blues and folk and this guitar suits me well. The TE-1 neck is very comfortable and fretting is as easy as can be expected with 12 gauge strings. The tone is complex and very pleasant, not unlike rosewood back and sides but without any tendency to boominess. I've been told Blackwood has a similar tone to Koa. There appears to be a little more top end than would be expected with a rosewood back and sides model and this suits fingerstyle playing well. Overall I'm extremely happy with the tone.

I ordered this guitar over the internet, and saved 20% over the normal price. I ordered a good quality English made Hiscox case and the guitar travelled thousands of kilometres from the factory to the dealer to me and came out of the case with perfect action and in tune! The AAA Spruce top is close to flawless and the gloss finish looks good. Hopefully it will prove less prone to flaking than the matt finishes used on their cheaper models.

I've owned a Maton E325C for over 5 years and it has been very tough and reliable although the neck was inclined to need regular adjustment. I suspect the solid timber of the EA80C may not be as strong as the plywood back and sides of the E325C but it should prove to be a guitar that lasts a lifetime.

Maton are a smallish company and are very good to deal with. I contacted them when the string holes in the bridge of my E325C were too small to accommodate the large ball ends on Martin strings and they immediately arranged for, and paid, to have the problem fixed free of charge at Fretworks, in Adelaide. They also gave me lessons, over the phone, in how to adjust the neck and sold me the special adjustment tool at a price which must have been close to cost.

Other guitars are a Maton E325C acoustic cutaway, American Standard Strat. and a Godin Artisan ST. The EA80C is my favourite, although I've always preferred acoustic tone to electric. The tone and the quality of workmanship are superb and I believe you would travel a long way before you found this kind of quality for the price. I did compare this model to Larivee guitars and a Martin HD28 but believe the Maton to offer similar quality at less than half the price of the Martin.

The custom features on this guitar were surprisingly inexpensive and if lost I would have another Maton custom guitar built to the same specs. You can't beat the individual attention that you get from a smaller family run manufacturer.

Made in Australia, the A80 dreadnaught and its' variants (E= pickup system, C= cutaway body) prvide an example of what value can still be had for the poor old Aussie dollar. On a features/value per dollars spent basis, Maton holds up really well against Martin, Taylor etc...
Soundboard- AA solid Sitka Spruce
Back & sides- solid Australian Blackwood (acacia)
Neck- Queensland Maple
Headstock- keyholed Blackwood
Fingerboard- Desert Acacia
Bridge- Mulga
Finish- Nitrous Oxide Gloss
Machine Heads- gold
Pickup- AP5 piezo... bass, top & mid control
Rosette, inner banding- Herringbone
Outer banding- Ivory

Straight out of the case this guitar sounded really sweet- bright, clean treble with a respectable bass tone. Ideal for bluegrass (which is my current thing) but would also be the duck's nuts for any style requiring the ability to cut through keenly. Maton's AP5 pickup system is top-notch... I haven't used a Fishman system, so I can't compare; suffice to say that the system does anything you would want it to do.

Fresh out of the case, the setup was great (Al from Acoustic GUitar Centre MAY have done something, but he reckons Matons are usually fine as they come). Finish was faultless. Two guitar-crazy mates drooled a lot. The Blackwood grain is quite stunning.
Action felt great for me... maybe not quite up there with the second-hand AU$4000 Martin I played, but DAMN close!

Very solid and reliable for live work, but it looks so good that you'll be fussing after it all the time in case something spills on it or someone dents it.

Haven't had to deal with Maton for support, ands don't really expect to... Maton have developed a fantastic repution over the years (since 1946). Warranty is for 12 months.

I've been playing on and off for over 25 years, mostly on a Gibson S1 and less often on an Ibanez 12-string I bought back in 1972. I purchased this guitar because I have managed to get mixed up with some banjo plunkers and mandolin plinkers and fell in love with the music of Lefover Salmon, Tony Rice, etc...
I would definitely purchase another Maton if it went walkabout (I've got an eye on the mandolin plinker!), probably an A80 unless I could find a cheap enough Messiah (Maton's top-of the -wazza model).
Finally, Al at Acoustic Guitar Centre was great to deal with. He carries a good range of gear and knows what he's talking about. By trhe way, the price I paid included the deluxe Maton case... a superb red thing made by Hiscox (UK). Overall, to get a OS-made guitar of this quality, us poor Aussies would have to spend over 4 grand....