MATON

GOLDLINE 750

1962

EXTREMELY RARE

MADE IN AUSTRALIA

One of Australia's First Solid Body Electric Guitars and one of the Rarest. A true collectible guitar that also has its own unique tone and sound. It is amazing and almost impossible to find anywhere.

It is historical.

The Maton Guitar Company

Maton is Australia's longest established guitar manufacturer. Until the mid 1930s an Australian guitar manufacturing industry was virtually nonexistent. Good quality guitars were hard to find and at this time the best guitars came from the U.S.A. Bill May, a Melbourne-born jazz musician, woodwork teacher and luthier decided to change all that. During the early 1940s Bill established a custom guitar manufacturing and repair business known as “Maton Stringed Instruments and Repairs.” This enterprise was so successful that Bill was able to convince his older brother, Reg, to join him as a full time guitar maker and in March 1946 the “Maton Musical Instruments Company” was born. The Maton trademark was established in 1946 by May, a former woodworking teacher. His trademark name was a combination of his last name, and tone - just what every luthier seeks. In the 1940s, it was a commonly held belief among Australian guitarists and musical instrument retailers that American guitars were the best in the world. While Bill May may have subscribed to that general idea, it didn´t stop him from questioning why Australians shouldn´t build their own guitars. As May related in a 1985 interview, "I wanted to make better guitars, beyond what people thought you had the ability to do. People asked ´How do you think you can do it? You´ve never been to see how it´s done and what do you know about it. And it´s Australia. You don´t know anything here. If you want good instruments, you have to wait and get them from America´. But I didn´t believe that." May was raised with craftsman skills and a positive attitude, both for his own self-esteem and for his country. Bill May originally completed his apprenticeship in cabinet making, and later an honors course in art and graphic design before he spent ten years as a woodwork teacher. When May couldn´t find a decent sounding guitar in a reasonable price range, he began building guitars in the garage of his Thornbury home. While there was no wealth of guitar building information back in the 1940s, May learned from the various guitars that passed through his hands. Production tools for the time period were the same sort used by furniture craftsmen, like chisels, planes, or the occasional belt-sander or bench saw. Rather than knock out copies of American models, May produced designs that were distinctive in appearance and sound - and featured Australian woods and distinctly Australian names. After the humble beginnings in his garage, a factory was established outside of Melbourne in 1951. Maton guitars began to be offered through local stores; by the mid 1960s Maton instruments had established a solid reputation throughout Australia. May passed away on his 75th birthday in 1993, but the company continues to produce quality acoustic guitars.

ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT:

This beautiful Maton guitar was made in 1962 and was called the Goldline 750. Only 210 were made between 1962 and 1963, and the design later evolved into the Maton Fyrbyrd. The design is an elegant mix of an SG with a touch of Paul Bigsby’s guitars in there as well.

Weighs just 6.00 lbs. and has a very fat nut width of over 1 11/16 inches and a short scale length of 23 1/2 inches. Cream-colored solid Australian mahogany body with scalloped top edge hand-painted in gold, one-piece Australian mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and clay dot position markers. Headstock with two wings and with "Maton" logo hand-painted in gold with the original Maton label ("Guaranteed steel reinforced neck") just above the nut. Six-on-a-side strip tuners with open backs and white plastic oval buttons. Two Maton pickups with balanced outputs of 5.37k and 5.36k. Red plastic pickguard with seven screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and a three-way rotary pickup selector switch. Cream plastic knobs with ribbed sides (the pickup selector with a silver ring on top). Combination "wrap-over" trapeze-style bridge/tailpiece. The pots are stamped: "L205ME67ACTS45."

CONDITION.

This guitar is in GOOD overall condition. The finish has yellowed over the past 53 years to a beautiful faded antique cream color. It has player wear on the top side of the guitar (upper bout) and on other sections of the guitar. Also the gold trim around the edge of the top of the guitar is showing some signs of wear. There is an abundance of dings, dents, scratches, scars, etc. all over the guitar. The headstock shows normal wear and the sticker found there has a bit torn away. All hardware shows signs of use-but not abuse. Electronics work great and this guitar is ready to play.

Please remember to read our policies and procedures listed below. (Note: no guarantee nor warranty applies to purchases outside of the USA. All foreign sales are “AS IS”)

For buyers outside the continental USA, please ask for shipping quote before buying this item. Thank you.

Please remember to read our policies and procedures listed below.

The guarantee.

1. The guitar is in GOOD cosmetic condition and is as described in this ad. It has the usual dings, dents, scratches, marks, wear et al that you normally find on an used guitar.

2. The guitar is in fully operational condition.

3. Buyer has 48 hrs. to inspect the guitar or have it inspected. Any defects, damage, misrepresentations or other problems must be reported within that time period in writing to the Seller.

4. In the case of damage during shipment, Buyer shall immediately inform seller of such damage and will maintain all original packing materials and box for inspection by the transportation company.

5. If other problems are discovered, Seller will either arrange for repair etc. at a location near the Buyer or request that the Buyer return the guitar to the Seller (Seller will reimburse Buyer for cost of shipment of guitar back to Seller).

6. Seller will correct indicated problems and ship the guitar back to the Buyer within 7 days of receiving it.

7. In the event that the guitar cannot be repaired or replaced with a similar item from Seller’s inventory, the Seller will give the Buyer Credit toward current or future purchases from inventory of Seller.

8. No refunds or returns for Buyer Remorse or Buyer Mind Changing.

9. If there are any undisclosed physical attributes of this guitar that will prevent buyer from playing it successfully, e.g., neck to wide to be played with arthritic hands, guitar too heavy to be played due to back, shoulder, etc. problems , then we will, upon return of the guitar, issue a Credit Memo to Buyer in the amount paid for the guitar plus the cost of shipment paid by the Buyer against the future purchase of a guitar from us

ALL TRADES CONSIDERED.