In Australia there are not only kangaroos jumping, but also the Maton guitars, which jumping from stage to stage, have now become a standard like the great brands of the past.
Arrived in Italy around the end of the nineties and above all embraced by one of the greatest acoustic guitarists in circulation, Maton puts the model on the market EBG808 “Artist”, which is very similar to the Tommy Emmanuel signature but it differs in the choice of woods and finishes.
The shape of the body is called "orchestra" by the manufacturer and refers to the "000" or "Gran Concert" models, therefore smaller than the acoustic ones dreadnought but at a first sound hint I immediately realize that “in the small barrel there is good wine”.
Technical consideration.
The guitar comes with a top in sitka spruce, sides and back are in blackwood, typical Australian wood, the neck is in maple, fingerboard and bridge in rosewood, sleeper and nut are in bone. The mechanics are Grover Rotamatic gold and the binding is herringbone on the top. The style of the rosette is also herringbone, the markers are rhomboid in mother of pearl. The satin finish makes contact with the instrument very intimate and natural. The scale, i.e. the distance from the bridge to the nut, is standard 650 mm, the nut, the width of the handle, is 44,1 mm. The bracing of the instrument is a classic scalloped X bracing.
Ingenious the system to regulate the truss rod with the use of this large dedicated key that fits under the belt attachment that allows you to reach the intervention point, keeping the tension on the handle unaltered.
Sound considerations
Given the size, one would expect a sound that is not too powerful, poor in low frequencies and instead no.
The sound is very balanced, with the right amount of bass, perfect for the fingerpicking and present enough for it strumming.
The strength of the Maton house, however, islive application, thanks to its amplification system AP5 Pro which makes it nothing short of perfect.
It is a system that features a piezoelectric and a cardioid microphone with separate input controls that allow mixing of both before sending the combined signals through a master volume. The microphone is mounted directly to the preamp via an adjustable arm.
In addition to the two separate volume controls and the master we have bass, treble, Mid and two small potentiometers FQ (mid sweep) with a frequency band of 600hz a 2,4khz. Everything is powered by two batteries AA.
The AP5-Pro has been designed with easy maintenance in mind. All connectors are gold plated RJ11 (telephone type), from the pick-up to the output socket. If spare parts are needed, they can be easily assembled without the need for special tools and is all wired so they cannot come off with time and vibration.
Field considerations
Very easy to play, it comes with scaled strings as standard 12 53 but I had no difficulty whatsoever with bending, related etc. ..
In the recording studio thanks to the right dose of low frequencies it has not become the nightmare of sound engineers.
In live I insert my jack lymph audio and I turn up the volume, I have sometimes adjusted the preamp more out of curiosity than out of necessity.
The guitar discreetly maintains the tuning even after being “scrambled” and badly treated.
Aesthetically it looks great, of course there are tastes and tastes but the EBG808 “Artist” looks really good, I find it elegant and aggressive.
It is sold with a hard case. The price is certainly not among the friendliest for the wallet.
Conclusions
I have tried many, all beautiful and I would like to have them all, but they cost. So the choice must be targeted. An acoustic guitar that allows me to play live and in the studio without any kind of problem. There are many other famous brands but for the same price they did not give me the same safety as with the EBG808 "artist".
I have had and tried on the same price range as well Taylor, sounds great but according to my musical ear, amplified they didn't perform like Maton.
I believe that the price of these instruments is excessive and certainly trying and trying again, as guitars must always be tried, you can find a good compromise even with less expensive brands but as the market is going at the price of the EBG808 artist currently I have not found any instruments of the same quality.
Pro:
*Versatility
*Sound
* Convenience
Cons:
* ndd
Useful news
Model: EBG808 "artist"
Recommended retail price: Euro 2.390,00
Official website: http://maton.com.au
Audio demo Vincent Palumbo.
The audio demos are made by simply recording the Maton guitar in direct line, with the Digidesign 003 sound card and Pro Tools was used as software.
No effects, compression or EQ were used.
Fingerstyle
Pop
Strumming
