Light As a Feather, Fat Tones
The MS500/HC’s semi-hollow body makes it quite light,
and playing a few chords unplugged revealed a singing
resonance that can be heard and felt. The unique design
of the cutaway and the heel joint make playing in the
17th position and above a little tricky, especially if you have
smaller hands, but the neck has a slim, comfortable shape
and a smooth satin finish for a faster, slicker feel. Action right
out of the case was a little higher than I prefer, but I was able to
lower it to a more satisfactory level with a few adjustments.
To evaluate the Maton’s
tones, I dialed in a clean
sound through a Paul
Reed Smith 30 amp,
with all the tone knobs
set to 12 o’clock. The
semi-hollow body
made dialing in a
warm, rich, jazzy tone
easy, and chords rang
out nicely with plenty
of sustain. The hollow
chamber also imparts a
warm, musical midrange
and a trace of reverb-like
resonance. The MVB1 and
MVS1 pickups are quite responsive
to the resonant qualities of the
body and exhibit a lot of tonal range.
The combination of the neck pickup
with the coil-tapped bridge pickup was a
favorite—serving up a nice blend of deep,
low-midrange tones with some high-end
snap that I could easily adapt for jazz, funk,
blues, and country riffs.
Next I plugged into a Fryette Memphis
Thirty amp, again keeping the tone knobs
at a neutral setting and adding some amp
overdrive. In this setting, the guitar was
perfect for heavy ’70s British rock—especially
when playing power chords in a
chugging rhythm. Pickup clarity was excellent
in almost any combination. Chording
in the neck position sounded tight and
heavy without being muddy or too muffled.
And the Maton proved perfect for bluesy
leads—delivering impressive sustain with
only a minimal amount of overdrive.
With the gain cranked and the amp fully
saturated, the MS500/HC roared. Again,
chords were chunky, with plenty of bite and
clarity. Using both the neck and the bridge
pickups in single-coil mode gave me access
to a world of cool, Brian May-style tones.
Perhaps the guitar’s only limitation in terms
of tone shaping was that, at times, I wished
the guitar had an additional volume knob
so I could switch between a cleaner sound
for the “Cool” neck pickup and a dirtier
sound for the “HiFi” bridge pickup.
The Verdict
The Maton MS500/HC is a retro-handsome,
well-crafted, semi-hollow variation of
Maton’s first solidbody electric that doffs its
cap to both Maton’s history and the guitars
of the late ’50s in general. It is versatile
enough to handle the softest jazz chords
to the loudest hard-rock power chords—all
while maintaining clarity. And the semihollow
design and coil-tapping pickups offer
a vast range of tones with the resonance
of a hollowbody guitar and the sustain and
bite of a solidbody. Lightweight, distinctively
styled, and sonically multi-faceted, the
Maton MS500/HC is a jack-of-all-trades that
stands out from the pack.
Buy if...
you’re looking for a lightweight,
semi-hollowbody with retro flare
and some modern flexibility.
Skip if...
you don’t like shorter-scale guitars or
prefer solidbodies.
Rating...
