Maton MS502

MS503 (MS502 with chrome covered pickups)

Made in Australia 2004
21 Frets
2V,1T,3-SW,Tap
HH (Matons, with Coil-Tap at the bridge)
Unknown hardwood (Silkwood, Qld Maple or Bunya)
Bolt On Qld Maple Neck
Gloss body, Satin neck
Double cut shape, easily mistaken for a Rickenbacker from far away, also looks similar to the Goldins
Tune-O-Matic Stop tail
Non-locking Grovers
24.5 Inch scale, Jumbo frets

Base model Maton's come with absolutely no assessories, even the manual is sparse and generic. The dealer threw in a generic case.

Not the most feature filled guitar. 6.5

Sound is a rather subjective category, I wouldn't have bought the guitar if I didn't like the way it sounds.

Played through a Roland Cube-15

Electronics is fairly quiet, some pickup/wiring/cable hissing present when amp is turned up to the max or on high gain. In SC mode, there is noticible hum when distortion is on. Noise is however never distracting when playing.

I generally perfer clean slightly warm sounds, this guitar delivers. High-Mids similar to a Tele, with a very distinctive 'ping'. Generally good balance between frequency ranges.

Neck PU can provide good mellow or distortion tones but is bass heavy and somewhat dull, depending on amp EQ and location. Some nice clean and distorted lead sound from the bridge PU, coil tapping provides a brighter top end and a slight change in tone, but need to adjust the amp accordingly or it will just sound like a weaker and noisier counterpart to the humbucker. I generally play on mixed PU, this gives the most balanced and versatile guitar tones that can also be easily adjusted with the control knobs.

The guitar sounds nice unplugged and has a nice range of clean and distorted tones through the amp, it has its own distinct tone but can emulate (to a degree) various different guitars.

Action is another subjective category, Tune-O-Matics were invented for a reason.

The guitar came from the factory intonated. Action is quite low, string starts buzzing with heavy picking but there is no noticable effect on sustain or tone. The neck is very good, fits the shape of the hand well and provides great support (not too thin or thick).

The guitar came with the wrong coloured scratch plate so I don't know how the pickups were originally adjusted. I raised the bridge PU to approximately 4/64 and lower the neck to match the volume because I didn't like where the dealer had replaced them.

Only major problem is the string pickup alignment. The strings all pass off slightly over to one side of the pickup poles (at the neck pickup, the Low E is directly over the poles and the other strings are varying fractions out); the pickup poles are also spaced differently to the strings so they wouldn't match in any case. I have talked to Maton about it and they stated that this won't affect the sound. I agree with their assessment so far but it doesn't look very neat - of course it is only noticeable when you're looking closely at the guitar. It might be due to a slightly off neck or improperly cut nut.

There is also a large gap (will hold a business card, tightly) between the bottom of the neck and its pocket, but the neck is solidly mounted and the guitar stays in tune regardless of orientation.

The overall presentation of the guitar is very good. The first thing that I noticed was the very shiny rows of frets, even more impressive looking because they're jumbos. The rest of the body is nicely polished.

Hard to predict how reliable the guitar is. Most things on the guitar looks and feels solid.

There is some give on the pickup selector lever when pressed towards the body but it doesn't feel as if it might come loose nor is there an effect on its operation.

I have put a few marks on the finish but I haven't been the most careful. It looks thick enough to not wear through.

I have broken the lower E string on repeated bending - testing out how many semi-tones I can bend it (I think it broke on 3)- at the rather narrow v-shaped string guide at the bridge. I think a backup wouuld always be a good idea for any guitar.

The company is very helpful with enquiries and also responded to my comments after my purchase. However I have made a general enquiry about pickup heights through email, they promised to have a guitar tech call me but that never got anywhere.

Warranty is one year. Life-time warranties have not quite caught on in Australia.

The overall rating is relative to what I expect for the price paid ( 8.5 would be meeting all expectations).

I have been playing guitars for a few years. My other proper guitar is a Maton Acoustic (CB94 - a budget model made especially for Downtown Music in Sydney).

I tested out various guitars with similar prices before making my purchase. The guitar looks nice up close - the gloss isn't as thick as say the Epiphones, which look great in photos but look like it's been dipped in plastic when you're holding them - I like the different body style and the guitar also gives a general appearance of being well put together.

The guitar sounds nicer than the others I have tried. The difference is subtle but enough to affect my purchase decision.

I will probably change the neck PU in the future, I don't think the current PU bring out everything from the guitar. I think the manufacturing quality can be improved, though I think that is true for every guitar I've tested (some were blatantly poor).

I like the way the guitar feels and sounds. If I had to replace it I'd consider the more expensive set neck models in this range (if I have the money that is), I wouldn't say it's a 'must have another' guitar but none the less quite a nice instrument.

I bought this about a year ago and it has been played pretty solid. I got this after playing an MS500 a friend bought and being blown away at the quality/price ratio. Originally I was going to go for a Les Paul, but when I saw that one of these things came with double humbuckers I was onto it like a dog on heat. The fact that there's a splittable coil just added to its versatility. Featurewise, it's basically a Mastersound with double humbuckers, so you can check out the rest of the features on the MS500 reviews or at www.maton.com.au.
I believe mine was one of the first to come out of the new Box Hill factory because there was a delay in waiting for it to come because of the backlog from the move.
Originally I was going to go for the tobacco sunburst because it's pretty beautiful, but the idea of showing off the wood with a natural finish won me over. The wood looks great and has a thick laminate finish. I can't remember what the wood is, but I like it!
The small scale neck is really friendly and the silk finish on the back feels beautiful to play. On some guitars I have problems with the E strings slipping off the fretboad when I bash away, but no such problems with this.

Mostly I've been playing open chord stuff through a 70's solid state Vox AC30 and a jim crowther audio hotcake pedal. I like the early ACDC/Stiff Little Fingers/Saints/Jam sound. Balls but with bite.
Versatile is the word that keeps coming to mind, you can get a really wide variety of sounds out of it. The only drawback for me is that I find a lot of those sounds too warm for what I do, but really I sit on the one sound the whole time which is both pickups on and the neck pickup backed off to five. The clean sound I like warm and I have both pickups on and at 10. That gives me a full, thick, toneful sound but still keeps the 'attack' when I strum. I find the clean sound really beautiful, full, clear, warm tone, not brittle at all. With the coil split it has a kind of tele sound I guess. I'm not a fan of the fender sound, so I hardly use this to be honest. I could imagine it coming in handy when getting sounds for recording though.
People say that with a Mastersound you can get sounds from a tele/strat to a Les Paul... not entirely correct, but not too far off the mark either.
I was thinking of changing the pickups on it to see if i could get a brighter, more cutting tone.. but really I've found my sound and I'm happy enough with what's on there.

I often decribe this thing as a log. It's not as heavy as an old LP, but goddamn it just feels SOLID. I raised the action a little and put some heavier gauge strings on, just to improve tone and stuff and I dont do acrobatic solo stuff.
I can't see any major flaws, and it was set up just fine. The only niggles I have are minor. There was a minor flaw in the chrome on the saddle when I first got it leading to flaking, which I had replaced on the spot. I have snapped two B strings at the bridge, so I'm going to investigate there and file away if necessary. There is some rusting in a couple of the heads of the screws too, nothing serious however. Also there is discolouration in the fretboard at the headstock end, must be my sweaty fingers, I don't see this as a drawback though, just a sign of a well played guitar! I have however invested in a nice cloth to wipe down after playing.
I noticed it's first 'ding' in the body the other day. I reckon it's going to look awesome as it ages and gets a bit more worn.

Hell I always gig with one guitar! My guitar is part of who I am. Damn audience can wait for me to change a string. It's part of the show.
To be honest though, I havent gigged properly with this yet, but I am entirely confident it would handle solid gigging. It stays in tune better than any guitar I've had, the straplocks are large and solid, the finish is thick on the body, the hardware has all been dependable and looks solid and reliable. I play hard and it seems to eat it up.
The only thing that annoys me is that because I play hard (and a bit erratically)I sometimes knock the selecter switch from both pickups to neck and the sound just goes all warm and shitty on me. I have pretty much had that problem on all guitars though, so I won't dock a point for that.

I would love to go down and visit. The little things I just got fixed for free at the store where I bought it. The website seems pretty good. I've rung and talked to the store to see if they actually sold guitars from there, but they don't. The girl was friendly and informative and said she would send me a catalogue but it never came.

I've been playing some form of guitar on and off for about 20 years I guess. Started on classical, moved to electric, switched to bass, back to electric, now onto 12 string acoustic! Been in all kinds of bands all over, played live a million times and recorded cd's, 7"es and LP's. I'm no guitar expert by any means, but I know what I like!
I guess the term that springs to mind when I think of this guitar is "VERSATILE WORKHORSE". If it was a car it would be a six cylinder Holden station wagon. Has some easily fixed minor finishing problems, can use it for just about everything and can drive across Australia in it. Not mindblowing for power, but totally adequate enough to go anywhere.
I'm happy with it, and think it's a keeper. Down the line I might experiment with changing some pickups (ie putting in a v8 donk).
I bought it cos I like something different. Alot of guitarists think it's ugly because it's not a Gibson or Fender copy, but I think it's totally cool. That pickup selecter is pure style.
Also I bought it because I love the fact that it's made in Australia and it uses Australian woods, it's the patriot in me.
Sound and playingwise, I wouldn't hesitate to gig, record albums, do anything with it just as it is. As a package, it really is great.
I could totally recommend this guitar to anyone, it has NO major drawbacks and the quality of it is better than guitars twice its price and more.
It has made me investigate the much lauded Maton acoustic range and today I just spent $1500 on the 12 string with the AP5 pick up. I promise you these guitars will be on my first CD cover.