Maton TE1

Year Made: 10/2008
Soundboard: "AAA" Grade Solid Sitka Spruce
Back & Sides: Solid Indian Rosewood
Cutaway: Soft
Neck: Select Queensland Maple
Fretboard: Rosewood with dot inlays, "CGP" MOP inlay on the 12th fret.
Bridge: Rosewood
Headstock: Queensland Walnut Veneer
Outer Binding: Black
Inner Binding: White/Black/White/Black
Soundhole Rosette: Herringbone
Finish: High Gloss Honey
Machine Heads: Gold Grover Rotomatic
Pickguard: Black with "Tommy Emmanuel" Signature
Pickup System: AP5

Pickup system: AP5 contains controls for Bass, 2 Mids, Treble and Volume. This is powered by 2 AA batteries. Pickup system is activated and powered up when input jack is plugged in. Helps to save batteries!

The TE1 came with a fitted Hiscox case with the Maton logo on it.

I mainly play fingerpicking stuff and rarely use a plectrum. As you might be able to guess I'm a great fan of Tommy Emmanuel!

I play through a AER compact 60 with no effects (amp reverb only).

The guitar sounds amazing! And i don't say that lightly!

The pickup system has a huge range of tones. Heavy lows and crystal clear highs are available.

The rosewood back model (TE1) has a much more open sound whilst the TE2 with the maple back had a more softer sound.

If you play gently it sounds amazing, every note is clear and precise with no dead spots on the fretboard. If you play heavily the guitar birghtens up and wont buzz.

Perfect action when bought and have not had to alter it in anyway.

I've had no issues with any of the tuners, neck, pickups, bridge, strings or anything else!

The frets are perfect for fingerpickers, and fret buzz has so far been unheard of!

As you may have seen, Tommy treats his guitars roughly and they still sound wonderful. The gloss coasting has kept its shine and im perfectly happy with the condition it is currently in.

Im certain every single piece of hardware on this guitar will last a very long time! The craftsmanship is wonderful.

The strap buttons are very solid, they are gold coloured and located on the back of the neck and bottom of the guitar body. They suit the Tommy Emmanuel strap very well!

The guitar has so far been 100% reliable and I have no worries about its future life. Im so conifdent in it Im happy to gig with it and not take a back up.

I emailed Maton to check suitable polish for the body, they emailed back swiftly. Very professional and friendly service.

The guitar came with a 2 year warranty, just make sure you send off the registration card that will be in the case when you purchase the guitar!

I have been playing guitars just over 12 years now. I also own an American Fender Stratocaster and numerous other guitars both acoutic and electric. Nothing comes close to the build quality of this guitar.

The tonal range is huge and can accomodate a huge range of playing styles.

If it was stolen I would certainly purchase another TE1.

My favourite feature is the sustain, the notes ring out for what appears to be minutes.

In the store i compared with Martin's of similar prices, nothing came close. The sustain and tone were far superior with the Maton.

One thing i wish it came with was a built in tuner, but my Boss pedal will do for now!

Sitka Spruce soundboard, solid indian rosewood sides, queensland maple neck and queensland walnut headstock. The AP5 pickup in his thing has heaps of adjustments to get the perfect sound. The guitar is made in Australia and uses the best woods. Grover gold deluxe tuners.

This guitar has great sustain. The sound is rich and bottom end is nice and powerful. Plugged in the guitar is just as nice. The guitar sounds great in an amp but feedbacks a lot (like all acoustics plugged in do). However, this was stopped when a feedback plug was put in the sound hole. The sound is very versatile and can be soft or bitey and aggressive.

Everying on this guitar was great, the only problem was the action. It was a little high for my liking so I got it lowered. No big deal.

This guitar could withstand anything although i wouldn't want to risk damage to this instrument. Tommy Emmanuel gives this guitar a real beating on stage when he plays the drums on it. If it's good enough for Tommy it's good enough for you.

I havent dealt with Maton

I have been playing for over 2 years and have gained a passion for guitar. This is honestly one of the nicest guitars I have ever played and heard. It were lost I would want a knew one but I most likely wouldn't be able to afford another one.

Solid Timber guitar. AAA Spruce top, rock maple sides and back, QLD maple neck. Single cut away. Mine is one of the original TEs, made in 1996, before, I think, Maton made both a rock maple and a rosewood version, TE1 and TE2. Mine is, a little unfortunately, stained to a rosewood colour (factory request by the original owner) which to my my eye hides the beautiful maple timber. Engraved gold Grover deluxe machine heads.

This is the best accoustic guitar Ive ever owned or played. It has the older Maton pickup in it which Im told is inferior to their new AP5 system. Sounds OK to me, but I dont amp it a lot. Accoustically, it is a joy. Rich, not bright and toppy like to the two other Matons Ive owned. 8 because of the older pick up.

It is delightfully playable, the intonation is very, very good. Its dymanic voice and tonal range is amazing. Its one of those guitars that feels almost alive thru the timbers.

The guitar is 10 years old. I was playing the Maton range, prepared to drop some big bucks on one of their solid timber guitars. All of them are very nice, as were the taylors and Martins I was comparing too. I found this one, it had been traded and was in very good nick. To me, the nature and character of a well looked after and well played in guitar is superior to a new one. I clicked with this one and bought it on the spot. Maton's higher end guitars are very well made indeed. The lesser ones are great value for the money, but they get serious with their solid guitars.

Its 10 years old and has been used professionally. You would never know by the condition its in. Its has opened up beautifully, the hardware is untarnished. Its seems as solid as a rock to me. If you have ever seen the condition that Tommy Emmanuel's main guitar is in and what he does to it, Ive no doubts about this one's durability.

When I bought it, I sent it back to the factory for a set up and to have the pickguard changed for one that didnt bear Tommy Emmanual's sig (dont want him to get a complex). It came back with new one fitted, and with the original guard AND a brand new TE guard on the case for good measure. Maton did a few other little things I requested- no charge. Cant beat that.

The only thing I dont like about it, and this applies to all Matons, is the relatively shallow head angle. Hardly a show stopper.

If it were nicked, Id replace it with another guitar this good. Might not be another Maton, Im not the brand loyal type.

I have played guitar for 30 years. Ive owned Maton's before. I bought this one 6 months ago, and I have barely put it down since. Its simply a delight.

AAA Spruce Top, Indian Rosewood Back and Sides, Maple Neck, Rosewood fretboard. AP5 pickup, satin finish.

Can't fault this guitar. It's simply the best guitar I've ever played. I've even played a Maton Messiah owned by a friend but still prefer my Tommy. I have used the guitar in a variety of different situations, it always sounds perfect. When playing softly, it sounds sweet, when played hard it comes to life. It has no dead spots on the fretboard and every part of the dynamic spectrum has something to offer. Melodies, fingerpicking, strumming, everything sounds great. I sometimes wonder if having a Satin finish enhances the sound? I always use Elixir Nanoweb 12 gauge strings. I have tried other brands, incuding D'Adario EJ16's and the Elixirs sound the best by far, and they last longer.

I have recorded it with a pair of Rode NT2000's in a stereo pair and the guitar sits beautifully in the mix, very little adjustment needed. Have also recorded with this guitar at Mangrove Studios in NSW (one of Australias best studios) and the producer had nothing but praise for the guitar (I believe they used a Rode NTK in the hole and an AKG 451 on the neck). Where the guitar really shines however live. When it is plugged in it sounds amazing. I play solo acoustic guitar in a cafe running through a small P.A. system and I have often had people walk in off the street and ask me what kind of guitar I was using. Several people have commented that it's the best sounding acoustic they've heard plugged in too.

Very happy.

Intonation is always perfect. Action was a dream straight out of the factory. After a year it drifted a little and had to be adjusted, but that's to be expected. Finish looks great, a little hard to keep the satin finish clean though. Sometimes picks up finger marks.

I did have a one in a million problem with the guitar. There was a faint "creaking" sound coming from the neck when squeezed. This would only occur if I was holding a bar chord around the 1st to 4th frets. It was a little noticeable when recording too. I had it checked out by a guitar repairer and he said that it was truss rod noise. It is normal to have small flex and movement between the truss rod and the neckwood but usually this is silent. I was just unlucky enough to have a "creaking" sound.

I had it sent back to Maton and they told me that they fixed the problem as best as they could and that the problem was not serious. Apparently, this problem does not affect playability, intonation or reliability...it's just a little bit annoying. When I got the guitar back, the sound was almost impossible to hear anymore. Very happy with the result.

The guitar also had some fret buzzing after about 12 months so it needed a fret dress. However, this is because I play it so much and gig with it every weekend. Not manufacturers fault.

Therefore, because these problems were freak things, I give a 9.

Outstanding. Guitar had been in for adjustments and repairs 3 times under warranty and Maton took care of everything. They even cleaned the finger smudges of the face for nothing.

I am a professional musician. I gig every weekend, mostly solo acoustic and vocal. I play a lot of guitar instrumental music such as Tommy Emmanuel and this is the best guitar I've played. I would be lost without it, there's no going back.

My dream guitar. Waited my whole life to own it, now I can die happy. (Bury it with me please).

AAA sitka spruce top, with solid indian rosewood sides and back, made in Australia. The pickup is also made by Maton, and the installed AP5 piezo electric pickup does a great job of reproducing a punchy warm yet balanced sound. The adjustment on the pickup is superb with 2 EQ's for bass and treble, and a third control which gives you a sweepable EQ control to accentuate or take out all together a chosen frequency (very nice!). The guitar has a total of 21 frets and the 18th is readily accessible because of the cuttaway, and the remaining 3 are able to be reached with some practice. The finish is a high quality gloss. The guitar comes with gold plated Maton tuners which do not budge an inch even under pressure. The neck is standard width at the base and top, and gives you plenty of room for big fingers to do chords at the nut. The piezo pickup is locked under the bridge by 2 allen bolts (but they cant be adjusted). The frets are medium wide and medium height (good for fingerpicking, sliding, and chords). The neck is indian rosewood, with a walnut headstock. Lovely hearing bone inlay around soundhole. I would say the look of this guitar is understated elegance with no flashy pearly stuff....that is, everything you get is completely functional.

My style is country, blues, funk and I find this guitar to be perfect for everything I do. I play some heavy rhythms with a lot of lead work and fingerpicking (I used to play a Strat but got sick of it). I listen to a lot of Tommy Emmanuel which is the inspiration for buying this guitar. Played through a PA straight this guitar absolutely rocks! Massive Bass/Mid response without being boomy (how did they do it?) and with very nice treble/mid response. The tone is rich, full, and very very balanced. No dead spots or dull frequencies, each string rings at any position on the fret board. Even though the strings are heavier than my Strat I find this guitar much easier to play (go figure!). I would say this guitar is perfectly suited to fingerpicking and chord work....but just bear in mind that the bass/mid response is special quality of this guitar. I havent actually found anything that I dont like about this guitar yet except that it is taking a while for my fingers to strengthen up to do country leadbrakes (doing bends on the third string) at the nut.

The guitar came setup with quite a low action. Chords were easy all the way up the fret board, Sliding lead brakes are a breeze. There is absolutely no buzzing or slapping of frets, just pure sounding notes. The frets are medium width and medium height.
There was 1 flaw, and that was an almost unnoticeable slight lifting of finshing around 4 inches of the perimeter of the soundhole.

Just looking at this guitar just reminds me of a working mans tools. No sissy looking inlays...just exceptional quality workmanship. Watch Tommy Emmanuel playing his Matons, he thrashes the hell out of them, and he has had the same 2 for aboutn 13 years now (they have patches of varnish scratched off them because of his intensely aggressive playing style). I have only had mine for a short while so I am not 100 % sure of the durability of this baby.

I have been playing 14 years. I have owned several guitars, but the only other serious brand was a Fender Stratocaster. If I lost this guitar I would definitely consider buying another, or similar. Really, I have two favourites now, this TE-1 and also the Taylor 300 series guitars. This guitar seriously comes on par with Taylors accoustically (and in some respects has certain strengths which sound better). Amped up I have not heard an accoustic sound better than this one (the pre-amp is really good). If I had any wants it would probably be that it had slightly more ultra high/highs. But then again that would be at the exspense of the losing incredible bass/mid response that this guitar displays. In future I will by a smaller guitar with more mid/high definition to complement this guitar so that I have bases covered.