Possibly the most unique guitar ever made under the Epiphone brand is the Epiphone SC Scroll. It was produced in Japan at the Matsumoku factory from 1976 through 1979 and is named for the carved scroll on the upper bout of the guitar.
Note the German Carve
The Scroll body also features a unique German Carve around the edges of each model. Other features of the Scroll model were ebony or ebonized necks, coil-tap and optional Leo Quann Badass-style bridge as well as optional open-coil Scroll pickups by Gibson.
SC-350
The SC-350 featured a Mahogany body with the German carve surrounding the mahogany finished top. The bolt-on neck was bound with white trim. The fret board was made of rosewood and featured dot inlays. The guitar was equipped with twin humbucking pickups controlled by a single volume and tone control and a 3 way switch. The strings went over a tune-o-matic style bridge and attached to a stop tail piece. All hardware was finished in chrome. The nut was made of plastic. The three-on-a side tuning gears were covered die cast versions.
SC-450
The SC-450 came with a Maple body that featured the German carve. It was offered with either a Mahogany or Natural finish. The neck was made of Maple and was set in to the body. It was topped with a rosewood fret board that came with dot inlays. It had twin humbucking pickups that were controlled by a single volume and tone control, a three-way selector switch and a split-coil switch. This guitar came with either a tune-o-matic style bridge or a Leo Quan Badass style bridge. The tune-o-matic versions featured a stop tailpiece. . All hardware was chrome finished and the nut was made of bone or plastic. The three-on-a-side tuners were sealed die cast models.
SC-550
The SC-550 also featured the German carve on its Maple body. Like the 450 version, the neck on this guitar was set-in and made of Maple. The neck was topped with an Ebony fretboard with block inlays.
SC-550 Natural
It featured twin humbucking pickups on the body controlled by a single volume and tone control, a three-way selector switch and a split-coil mini-toggle switch.
This guitar came with a tune-o-matic style bridge and a stop tailpiece. The nut was made of bone and all hardware was finished in gold plating. The three-on-a-side tuners were sealed die cast models. The body came in either and Ebony or Natural finish.
The Maton brand is not well known in the United States, or Europe as in most countries there are only one or two franchised distributors.
There are only eleven USA music stores that carry the Maton brand, which I find very odd for a brand of guitar that has been in production for over 70 years.
Maton was established by Melbourne resident Bill May in 1946. May was a woodworking instructor, and a jazz musician. He knew the best guitars in his day came from the United States, which was rather frustrating for Aussies. Along with his brother, Reg, who was a wood machinist, May sought to change all that by creating high quality Australian manufactured guitars to be sold locally.
The brothers put together a company call Maton Stringed Instruments and Repairs. The Maton name is a derivative of the words “May” and “Tone”, and it is pronounced "May-Tonne.".
Maton became the very first guitar manufacturer in Australia. Until the mid 1930's an Australian guitar manufacturing industry was virtually nonexistent and good quality guitars were hard to find. The best guitars came from the U.S.A.
The Maton company is still family owned and run by Linda (Bill May’s daughter) and her husband Neville Kitchen. The factory was originally in Canterbury, Melbourne, where the company created over 300 different models. In 1987 when the Kitchens' purchased the business, it was in trouble.Their strategy was to concentrate on building just steel string acoustic models. They now produce over 7,000 guitars each year that are available locally and shipped all over the world.
In 1990 a new modernized facility was open in Bayswater, Melbourne. Bill May lived long enough to see the new factory. His health failed in 1989 and he passed away in 1993.
One of Bill Mays goals was to pioneer the use of Australian wood species in his guitars, and his daughter and son-in-law maintain his dream. The company also utilizes locally designed computer programs and technology to maintain their standards.
It is interesting to note that every worker at the Maton plant is a guitar player, which enhances the love of the instrument.
In the mid 1960’s, the company also inked a deal to sponsor the popular Aussie band, The Strangers, and supply them with equipment, including Maton El Toro electric guitars.
This group became the house band for a popular TV series called The Go!! Show, which was quite similar to the US produced TV shows, Shindig!, and Hullabaloo. By then Maton was making solid body and acoustic thinline electric guitars.
British player, guitarist Big Jim Sullivan owned and used a Maton 'Cello' guitar for many years during the peak of his career, playing it on recordings with Sarah Vaughan, Sammy Davis, Jr.,Tom Jones, and Johnny Keating and his Big Band.
Even George Harrison played a Maton Mastersound MS500 electric guitar early in his career. He borrowed it from Barrat's Music of Manchester while they were repairing his Gretsch Country Gentleman
Maton guitar have come a long way since those days, and now produce some very fine instruments in a variety of price ranges. However, expect to pay from $1600 to over $4000 in today’s United States market.
Their high-end models, such as this 1958 F-240 is akin to a mid-range Gibson, Epiphone or Guild archtop of that era. Maton has been making great acoustic flat top guitars for many years, and just seems to improve their design with time.
Most of the necks are made of Queensland maple. The tops are made of sold Sitka spruce in various grades, from A to AAA, depending on the model. Bracing is always X style with scalloped braces.
Tuning machines are Grover Rotomatics. The saddle and nuts are made of bone, even on the lower end models. Frets are made by Dunlop.
Maton uses their own proprietary acoustic pickups the call the APS 5 or APS Pro. Maton has done some serious research into their acoustic pickup design. Instead of 9 volt batteries, the APS models use 2 AA batteries.
Maton builds guitars in a dreadnought shape, and also auditorium sized, and jumbo sized shapes. Though the tops are usually Sitka spruce, the M series is made of Sapele wood, which is also known as African Mahogany. The necks on this series are made of Fijian Mahogany.
The Maton Heritage series makes available reproductions of older Maton instruments, using todays technology combined with materials used on models from the 1950's and 1960's. Instead of maple backs and sides, these instruments include Sapele wood for the back, sides, and neck.
The Heritage series also includes two electric models; a Jazz style hollow body model called the Starline 4606, which includes twin JHB humbucking pickups, that have a coil tapping feature. There is also another guitar that Maton intends to make available soon.
This is the 1958 MS500, which is the 50th Anniversary model of a guitar similar to the one that Tommy Emmanuel played as a child, and the one that George Harrison played. It has a solid body made of Quandong, and a set Queensland maple neck. That begs the question; what is Quandong. It is a wood indigenous to Australia also known as Silver Quandong, that is occasionally used in construction.
The pickups on the MS500 include one Maton vintage single coil model, and one Maton vintage humbucking model. Though this model is not currently available, it will be very soon.
Maton also offers the EGB series that includes the EBGMicFix model that was built and designed for singer songwriter Michael Fix. The top is AAA Solid Sitka spruce, and the back and sides are made of Queensland maple. Fret board inlays on the ebony fretboard are mother-of-pearl snowflake designs. This guitar comes with the APS-Pro pickup system. The EBG808 is a non electric model that has a top made of AA Sitka spruce, and the back and sides are made of Blackwood.
The upgraded version is the EBG808 Artist. It too is non-electric and only available through select dealers.
The EBG808 Nashville (which also comes as the EBG808C cutaway model) features AA a solid Sitka spruce top with a brown-burst finish. The back and sides are made of "A" grade solid blackwood. It features the APS Pro pickup system.
The Maton Messiah EM100C and EM100 (non-cutaway) features a newly tuned, scalloped braced top and Solid Rosewood back and side sets. This guitar and others in the Messiah Series are Maton's top-of-the-line.
This guitar features a Solid Mahogany Neck adds thickness to its deeper and richer tone and again the Maton UV paint finishes this model with a finer and more refined quality. The Maton signature M MOP decal on the headstock is the finishing touch to a guitar that is truly a world class performer.
In creating the Messiah line up, Maton sought to bring together the best of the world’s tone woods. In 2012 the line-up was enhanced to improve their flagship model to maximize its tone and projection by giving it a combination of scalloped bracing, mahogany neck, a thinner, rounded, back and an ultra thin UV finish.
The Messiah line-up features the APS Pro pickup system, as well as top-of-the-line woods, Ivory bridge pins, gold Grover tune-o-matic machines, herringbone binding, and comes with a Maton case.
This guitar also comes as a 12 string model, and as the Messiah EM808 auditorium size guitar, and the EM100J, Jumbo size model. These were the guitars favored by Tommy Emmanuel, before he was honored with his personal model.
The Maton TE Series was designed in conjunction with Tommy Emmanuel. These the are Maton top-of-the-line guitars that Tommy uses in concert. They are based on his specifications to give a huge sound on stage, as well as withstand the various climates of the cities throughout the world, where he performs.
These days there is much turmoil in the United States regarding guns. I have no opinion. I am neither pro or anti-gun. But I do have a wonderl solution.
Much like pounding your swords into plowshares, turn your rifles into guitars.
Just think of it; a 100 watt Marshall stack cranked up to 11, and strumming power chords on your Kalashnikov rifle guitar; that would be enough to send the bad guys scrambling.
All you are going to need is a rifle, a guitar neck with frets and tuning machines, a pickup or two, and a bridge. Oh you might need a few tools. How hard could it be? Kofi Anon, former UN Secretary General built one. So can you.
Next remove the barrel, or you could even use it as a truss rod if you like. You will need to attach the neck to the rifle’s body. I’ll leave that up to you. Be creative.
On the rifle’s body, route out a section for the pickup(s).
I suggest that you run the wiring into the magazine clip. Onto the clip add the volume and tone controls. Use the gun’s trigger as a pickup switch, or volume boost, by adding electronics into the stock. Add a bridge and saddle. This one is off of an acoustic guitar. I prefer metal bridges, but whatever works for you should be fine.
