To celebrate 75 years of making guitars in Melbourne, Australia, Maton decided to produce a guitar that featured the best possible design and construction, as well as to enhance the native woods that have always been used and appreciated in Maton instruments.

Made by Maton’s best and most experienced luthiers, the 75th Anniversary Diamond Edition is the result of years of research and development, thousands of instruments made, and a passion that is unmatched! The unmistakable diamond on the ebony headstock is the hallmark of this incredible guitar, which will be available in the coming months in very few numbered examples.

Here’s how Maton tells us the story behind this special model.

We decided to produce a guitar that showed the best design and construction we could bring to a guitar, as well as to celebrate the woods we love and cherish. We have produced a number of excellent celebratory guitars recently, particularly the 70th anniversary models and the Vera May centennial model, so we wanted this one to really stand out (by the way, Vera just celebrated her 101st birthday and is still going strong…).
We are also entering a new and exciting era in Maton’s history, in fact another group of Maton luthiers is entering their second decade of guitar making. These talented young craftsmen are joining the work of our older, more experienced hands to consistently create instruments that are the best Maton has ever made, and the world is taking notice!
In recent years we have explored new shapes, materials, and specifications through research and development in collaboration with the Maton Custom Shop and the passion and drive of the Custom Shop’s luthier, Andy Allen. Many of our recent production models have benefited from this work. We wanted this 75th anniversary model to showcase all this work.

For a while, we had been looking for an acoustic guitar sound that was somewhere between the big sound of the dreadnought and the brighter, more focused sound of the 808 series. Meanwhile we were making and developing the Custom Shop ‘Traditional’ series, which at 502 mm long and 390 mm wide is 23 mm longer and 24 mm wider than an 808, but still smaller than a dreadnought. These guitars brilliantly bridged the gap between our two main shapes, so it made sense to look to the Traditional shape as a starting point for this new guitar.

Victorian Blackwood and Queensland Maple have been central to our guitar identity for decades. In the case of Queensland Maple, from the very beginning in 1946. It was obvious that we should incorporate these woods into this anniversary model. Both are sustainably harvested in Queensland and in our home state of Victoria. Both woods have played a huge role in our past and will continue to do so as our guitars are played around the world. Both have a unique and beautiful tone, something we have known for years but that the rest of the guitar world is discovering for itself.

The use of forward-positioned soundboard bracing combined with a laser-cut blackwood bridge plate (designed to reduce bridge rotation and improve midrange response) results in a perfectly balanced tonal performance where no one frequency dominates at the expense of another. Because this is a new body shape for Maton (at the production level) new side benders, body molds, bracing patterns, and so on have been produced, each incorporating our latest knowledge in the art of guitar making. These are critical to ensuring the smooth running of each construction, which is so important in determining the final tone and playability of each guitar.

The fingerboard and bridge are made of grade A ebony. The fingerboard is inlaid with mother-of-pearl dots. The ebony headstock is adorned with a diamond, a seven-piece inlay of gold or black mother-of-pearl.
The diamond represents 75 years, the “diamond anniversary.” It also has a keyhole at the top of the headstock. This keyhole was first introduced on our “Messiah” range in 1977 and has since become a well-known feature on many guitars in our upper range. The back and sides are made of grade “AA” Victorian Blackwood.