Official Luthiers Forum!

Thankfully this bridgeplate is fine as is, but what a PITA if and when the time does come. The only option here would be to veneer the patch.



That being said, the double X braced old Maton Dred that this image belongs to sounds magnificent. The overall tone is just fantastic and the bass really is quite incredible. The headway is also a BIG feature as you can dig the pick in deep and hard and this old girl will respond loud and clear with no distortion.

Just thought this image may be very comforting for all those repair guys to look at when one of those Martins with a tucked bridgeplate ends comes waltzing through their door for replacement.

Cheers

Kim

if it's just ball damage i use stew mac clever bridge plate repair tool almost exclusively these days. works like a charm.

Yep,
that Stewmac thingy works great..

Did they forget to clean out the glue squeeze out?

Maybe its part of the design....

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

[QUOTE=peterm]
Did they forget to clean out the glue squeeze out?

Maybe its part of the design.... [/QUOTE]

Seems cleaning up the glue squeeze out was not something that many factories really bothered with to much back in the 60's and 70's. Didn't seem to effect the sound any either Peter, but it sure does look a little slap dash. What is interesting is that many consider Maton to be strict clones of Martin guitars. The bracing on this one sure dispels that theory.

Cheers

Kim

A friend of mine lugged around a Maton archtop the other day....dont know when the thing was made but it was obviously during Maton's "bad" years. The thing was basically a boat....mainly plywood and it sounded deader than a lump of 4 x 2.

Interesting that the top bracing was left squarish, with squeeze out, while the small bit of the back brace visible in the upper right has a nice profile with no squeeze out, at least in that small area.

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

uh, the back brace is there to see without the mirror...

i've heard some brilliant matons, and some not so. listen to any tommy emanuel recording, but then then you would expect him to have the best they could give him.

but i can remember a bloke who used to busk the dickson shops in canberra for years back in the 70's who played a maton dread. i can still remember the first time i heard him whilst i was walking in from the car park. this thing had volume, projection, and great tone, equal to anything i've heard from martin, taylor, collings, santa cruz, etc. i sat and listened through my whole lunch break and beyond(was working flexible hrs) and before i left made a sizable contribution to the accumulated earnings in his case.

[QUOTE=crazymanmichael] uh, the back brace is there to see without the mirror...

i've heard some brilliant matons, and some not so. listen to any tommy emanuel recording, but then then you would expect him to have the best they could give him.

but i can remember a bloke who used to busk the dickson shops in canberra for years back in the 70's who played a maton dread. i can still remember the first time i heard him whilst i was walking in from the car park. this thing had volume, projection, and great tone, equal to anything i've heard from martin, taylor, collings, santa cruz, etc. i sat and listened through my whole lunch break and beyond(was working flexible hrs) and before i left made a sizable contribution to the accumulated earnings in his case. [/QUOTE]

Yes Michael, with Maton more than many you really only get what you pay for. They make some very average CHEAP guitars, plywood top to bottom and that is how they sound. But then they make some real beauts for better money. Tommy E's first non "off the shelf" Maton was in 2005, prior to that he just used various models right off the rack.

Cheers

Kim