Maton JB6

1977-78 (SN 143) made in Australia. 24 jumbo fret neck with zero fret, solid wood, thin body, double cutaway, flat top, electric guitar. Body is made from sasafras, neck is Queensland maple (mahogany like in character)ebony fretboard, polyester finish (whats left of it). Double humbucker, tuno-matic bridge and stoptail. 2 volumes and master tone control, micro-switch for coil splitting. This guitar was just a beat up body when I bought it in 2003. I fitted it with Grover roto-matics, Rio Grande pick ups, new pots caps wires - you name it, so I can't really rate it for features.

I had a good feeling about this guitar when I bought it. Had a very lively acoustic sound and good sustain (through the 3 strings on it). Once I fixed it, wired it all up and played it through my valve amps (Mesa Nomad 55 and a modified Epiphone Junior)it sounded amazing. Notes sound really thick but bright and the sustain is awesome - even through a clean channel. Turn down the neck volume and you have a superb jazz sound, whack the bridge through a dirty channel and you have CRUNCH for Africa - makes the high gain channel on my Boogie wail. All up it sounds just like a humbucker guitar should, sophisticated but with enough rawk to get your adrenalin pumping.

Action is lovely with good access to the higher frets. On this one though I have to use really heavy strings (Ernie Ball beefy slinkys 12-58?)with the truss rod nut just nipped up, to get enough relief on the neck. The zero fret exacerbates this.
The fit of the guitar was top notch. The only glitch was that the rout for the bridge pickup was out of line with the centreline of the guitar. I guess the 1970's was not the finest hour for quality control anywhere LOL.
The body is very obviously made from 3 pieces of wood (with no grain matching.

The state of this guitar when I bought it points to the fact that its durable. I would say it had seen some heavy weight gigging - probably in a punk band at some stage. Its really reliable, tune it up and it stays that way

Maton is a really great company to deal with. I e-mailed then with a heap of questions when I first got it and they came back with lots of details and very promptly.

I really love this guitar for a number of reasons:
The neck is devine - I have 2 other Matons (1967 and 2005)and the necks on those are great too.
The sound, its just hands down on most other similar styled guitars I have played - including some high end Gibsons (I know very subjective, I played high end gibsons that were better).
The feel, it just fits me well and its so lovely and worn in.
I dis-like:
The thin body and long neck make it really easy to flex if you get a little energetic.
It also doesn't hang to well on the strap - I re-positioned the strap buttons which improved it alot, but its still neck heavy.
Thats it!
These guitars are fairly unique in construction, woods and tone. Also they only made 317 of them. If you come across one - buy it

The double cutaway and 24 fret neck really make this a versatile players guitar. The humbuckers sound very clear for a 30 year old guitar. I enjoy it's clarity over the hum of a strat from the same era. I understand that the body is made of Sassafrass, the neck is Rock Maple, and the fingerboard is Ebony. In the US, these are pretty rare woods for guitars. The production of this guitar was limited to 350. I originally thought that this guitar was built in 1979, but from the other reviewer here, I think it is a 1977, since the serial number on mine is 079. Since I bought it used and am the third+ owner of the guitar I am forced to believe that this info is a bit more accurate, than that of the seller.

The sound is great. with no effects, it is a smooth sounding jag and is pretty mellow. With a bit of distortion and reverb, it screams like hell and has amazing sustain. I think that the sustain of it is the most impressive quality of the sound.

I can't say much about how it sounded out of the factory, which I assume was great. I can say that after thirty years of playing and gigs, the thing has very few flaws and has stood up very well to the elements.

I play this along side a 79 fender strat at gigs and the two contrast each other to the extreme. The strat is punchy and loud. The Maton JB-6 is mellow and smooth. Playability is A+. The finish has worn a bit in the common areas of wear but has resisted armpit sweat pretty well. The most of the damage and wear has come from dings and tiny scratches. The strap buttons are solid. I would gig on it without a backup if I had to.

Their website has a list of all the info on this model, which is great since it is 30 years old and they only made @350 of them. http://www.maton.com.au/

This thing is the bomb. If you want a solid guitar with rare wood this is one to look out for...If you can find one it is a great alternative to spending beaucoup dinero on a Les Paul Double cutaway, PRS, or similar. The 24 fret neck is the bomb. I will single out guitars in the future for this feature alone. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would cry for an hour or two while playing the blues on my Strat.

My MAton JB6 ( JB stands for jumbuck ) was originaly manufactured is 1977 serial number 179 I bought it new in early 78 - I believe the production run was 250. It is plain wood grain finish with a very thin light laquer or oil coating and was sort of stained a light teak colour. I found it was stained because the finish has worn back to bear timber in several areas and the natural timber colour appears to be very blonde. I do not know what timbers were used in its manufacture but I believe they are all native Australian timbers. I have an original promo pamphlete somewhere !!!! which I should endevour to find and read again.
I dont know what timber was used for the fretboard but sadly it is not very hard and the guitar has some deep fingernail pitting in the frets below and around the 5th position - but heck this guitar has seen tens of thousands of hours of playing after nearly 30 yrs so I guess some wear should be evident!

for a thin solid body and set neck with 70's electronic technology the sound or tonal range is exceptionaly wide. with two tone pots and single volume and in /out of phase toggle the pickups are permanently wired together and produce remarkable warm jazz to stinging tele like tones.
Voume pot is getting some crackle at lower volumes.
It has two humbuckers that look like dimarzios ( but I dont know if they are ) which are black and white with no covers but have black coated brass surrounds - although most of the black has worn off and they look like unpolished brass

not bad .... finger board is a bit soft unlike ebony or maple.

Factory fitted action and finish were/are great ... although finish has extreme signs of wear and playing..... but then again hey this has been my main ax for the best part of 30 years.

electronics have also stood up well. see comments below

yep sure does .... see comments below

dealt with factory about this and my two other matons ( fyrebird g650 and supreme electric 777 )and found them most helpful. Even been for two visit through the old factory in Canterbury rd and the new factory (of which I forget the address) over the last 20 yrs.

I have played this guitar for nearly 30 yrs. Its solid, its reliable, its consistant, it has a wide tonal range for a slim line solid body with set neck. Unfortunately finish has worn away where most guitars have scratch plates ( and I know why they do now !! ) and has gouges in back from playing in jeans ( brass buttons ) and belts ( doing those formal gigs like weddings ) and finish is missing from where my elbow/forearm has been in contact with body ... this guitar has seen a lot of gigs, and road miles, but has well and truely paid its way, I would guess well 100 times its original new purchase price. The frets are looking a bit sad and could probaly be redone - hell they are nearly 30 years old and the finger boards has some fairly deep nail gouges in the lower registers from all those basic c,g,d,a and e chords, and this does present some problems with bending and tremelos. The action is still excellent and hasnt been touched and is as supplied from the factory, although again there is starting to get some small buzzing around the 12-15 fret on the high e and b strings .... all in all its been a great work horse for me, and I guess I owe it a bit of maintenance ( like new frets and maybe even fret board ) but I am reluctant as I fear it wont come back to me in as good a playable condition - I guess I'm scared it just wont feel right. As I know this guitar and can generally play around its flaws ( which really arent flaws as much as just wear ). Although I have never had any problems with the electrics, execpt for ocasionally every couple of months ( like most electrics I know ) I have to tighten the input jack holding nut although a touch of lock-tite would probably fix that the volume pot has started to develope some crackling between volumes 1 to about 4 or 5. BUt this is not such and issue when playing as I usually work around 7or8 and upto 10 for standout solo work. Its just noticeable at the start and end of songs as I have a habit of turning the volume to 0 when not playing... I guess ha comes from playing in too many feedback based cover bands from thelate 70's to 80's. It came in a fairly standard case ( sort of les pual'ish ) which has also stood the miles of travel in boots and vans completing for space with drums and PA's and except for a few well worn stickers and missing edges most of the vinyl is there, but looking pretty sad. but the case is still solid and still protects this faithful axe.

the JB6 was manufactured in 1981,there were only a run of 300 made, it is an australian made guitar (hence it's quality)has 24 frets, two humbucker pick-ups, not sure of manufacturer but have great sound. guitar has a three was toggle switch, 1 volume and 2 tone pots, set neck, with excelent wood work, shortened scale neck (as wit all maton electrics) mine has a les paul styled bridge, all works well. fairly versitile guitar with plenty of features. only problem that people may find is with the shortened scale neck, if you have fat fingers be a bit wary.

great sound, very versitile, heavy rock, meadium rock, medium rare, you name it, this guitar covers it.

when i got it i was told it had been professionally set up, i have never had a guitar professionly set up and would not know what it is like, all i know is it is a dream to cover fast solo's with, the shortened scale neck makes those hard to reach bizarre chords easy. being a small production guitar (only 300 made) by a company that prides themselves on quality you can be assured that this guitar won't dissapoint, provided you can find one that has been cared for as mine has.

gigged it, rehersed withit, it's lasted 23 years hasn't it, still in almost perfect condition, with the minor flaw being the slight belt wear on the back of the guitar from the guy that i bought it off (how could you do that to a guitar?) but not noticeable and doesn't effect anythign sound wise obviously.

never really dealt with them, ecept to get the information from them about the guitar at time of manufacture (1981) they were quick and hassle free.

great guitar, if you can get your hands on one of these depending on condition as they are 23 years old now, but they don't make em like they used to, these guitars are great, rare gem. don't think i could ever bring myself to sell it even if i had to live on the streets. but that's me and guitars.