Product: Maton EB75 Super Solid Body
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted
10/14/2002
at
10:15pm
by
Anonymous
Features
:
7
1959/60 Maton EB75 Super Solid bought on eBay. Shortscale 22 fret set neck with clay position markers and what appears to be a bone nut. Two piece (ash?) single cutaway body. Natural finish with red body edging and red plastic pickguard. Two chrome fat single coil pickups. Rotary 3 way pickup selector plus 1 volume and 1 tone control. Trapeze tail piece/bridge. Open backed strip tuners. A small guitar with big character
Sound
:
10
This was a big surprise! Fantastic bluesy/country sounds even before it was plugged in. Amplified, especially with a bit of valve overdrive, it has a great vintage blues growl. Sounds even older than it is! Pickups are surprisingly quiet given they are over 40 year old single coils. Pickup are non adjustable for height so you find than you often hit the ryhthmn pickup with your pick which is audible through the amp - but that just adds to the authentic tone as far as I am concerned.
Also sounds great for coubtry/rockablliy styles and excells a a slide guitar (although the action is possibly a little low
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
7
Was a cheap guitar in it's day but has stood the test of time well. Ha lacquer checking all over and plenty of chipped paint on the neck and headstock. Is missing the original "chicken beak" picku selector (has a later Maton chrome version) and also missing tone control knob - otherwise all appears to be original.
Intonation is not perfect due to the tailpeice/bridge setup, but would have been the same when new. Has a rough first fret under low E string but this is not heard through the amp. Action is reasonably low, maybe a ltille too low for slide. Electrics are a little scratchy but certainly not horrendous
Reliability/Durability
:
9
Has survived 42 years so far and doesn't look like quitting yet! Tuners are a bit iffy, but are sufficient. I think I ciuld depend upon it without backup, but its main use is as a second/slide guitar.
Customer Support
:
9
Maton staff are very friendly - have tried to find out more info about my guitar and had very prompt replies from them. Excellent website too (www.maton.com.au)
Overall Rating
:
9
I really like the look and character of this old guitar, it plays pretty well and sounds way, way better than a 42 year old cheapie guitar should.
Would I get another if it was stolen - yes, if I could find one, otherwise another old Maton would be good too (would really like a Maton Flamingo!)
