EM225C Review

The 225 Series combines superior quality, playability and affordability.

Features:	10
Sound:	9.3
Action:	9.7
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.8
Users rating:	6.9
Comments:	8

overall: 9.6

Featured review by: unregistered, on november 05, 2004

Price paid: $ 903.64

Purchased from: Billy Hydes

Features: Solid Sitka Spruce Top, Queensland Maple back and sides. 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, natural finish, Maton's AP4 active pickup. Custom made left hand model with cutaway. // 10

Sound: Great natural sound - wonderful resonance and tone when played either plugged or unplugged. Sounds fantastic through both my Marshall Valvestate and Behringer V-Amps - easy yet precise adjustment courtesy of the AP4 pickup means that a variety of styles can be played with ease. Not the greatest guitar to fiddle around too much with effects units on, but then, how many acoustic electrics are? Having said that, now I've played it for a few months, it probably would've been worth spending the extra couple of dollars and getting an AP5 pickup for that little bit of extra adjustment power. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Perfectly made guitar - wood quality, build quality, setup and finish are spot on. Top is beautifully matched to sides and back, and everything feels tighter than.. well, tight! Maton are famed for their attention to detail, and this guitar is no different. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Having had the guitar for three months, I'm yet to notice any problems. It feels strong and holds tune fantastically, has only needed to be tuned two or three times despite pretty regular play. I'd totally trust this guitar for an acoustic gig, but wouldn't want to make it my only choice for a band situation - it works well in tandem with my Fender Strat though. // 10

Impression: I play primarily rock music, and this guitar has been a great fit for many of the songs I play. I love that it sounds like a much more expensive guitar (having played Taylors and Martins), and certainly has an equal, if not better, build quality as these marquee brands. If anything happened to this guitar, I'd definently go with Maton again, however possibly a TE or Messiah series for the added features. One of the few things that sucked about it was paying the extra cash for a lefty - I wish companies would start taking care of the lefty and not charging us extra! But that's a general complaint - not specific to this guitar. Overall, a really good guitar at a decent price. // 10

overall: 9.8

Reviewed by: slash4lyf, on october 18, 2007

Price paid: $ 570

Purchased from: kosmic

Features: My Maton EM225 is the most recent and was made in Australia. Has 21 frets on rosewood neck. It has solid top and feels beautiful. it has a natural finish whcih makes it look and feel more uniqie. It doesn't have a build in pickup which I think is good and makes it look like a proper acoustic. However if you want to play through and amp Dean Markley acoustic guitar pickups are only about AU$120, I bought one with it. // 10

Sound: I play a range of styles including classical, acoustic, rock and metal. Obviously I used my Maton to play acoustic stuff but I also use it to play a bit of soft and classical rock and sometimes a bit of classical which sounds cool, but metal would just abuse the guitar. I don't really use and amp with the guitar but I have used a Marshall AVT275 with it which has acoustic sim on it. It is quite a noisy guitar which has it's benefits, especially if I were to use it on stage. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action is perfect, it's not to low and it's not to high. It's high enough to play a lot of rythm and chords but it's also low enough to use for solos. I haven't yet found anything wrong with this guitar, it's really value for your money. The only thing wrong with the finish of the guitar is that it scratches easy and because it's natural I wouldn't recommend putting any anti-scratch substances on it. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I think this guitar would definately withstand playing Live and I wouldn't doubt it. The hardware seems like it will last aslong as the guitar. I would recommend going to a gig without a backup as I think it's a strong reliable guitar. It doesnt't have finish so it's natural whcih looks and feels really good, only problem with taht is that it scratches easily. // 10

Impression: It is a guitar which looks and sounds like it was made for anything. It came with a full 2year warranty so if something does go wrong it's backed up. If it was stolen I would definately buy the same guitar. As well as being a great sounding guitar it is also a very beautiful guitar. I compared this guitar with acoustic guitar there, and this was best overall for sound, quality and price. It was the best guitar in my range but the gibsons and taylors were better. I mainly compared it to a Yamaha and Seagull. The Yamaha was fairly ugly and the Seagull didn't sound as good as the Maton. There's nothing I wish it had, it has everything you could want in an acoustic (if you don't want inbuilt pickup). // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: smokin_joe, on october 03, 2007

Price paid: $ 1063.24

Purchased from: Guitar World

Features: The EM225C has a solid Sitka Spruce top, Queensland Maple back, sides, and neck, rosed wood finerboard and bridge, Grover tuners, an AP4 preamp with volume, tone, bass, and midrange (I think) and a cutaway. All M225 models have a satin natural finish. Comes with Elixir strings. // 10

Sound: This guitar is perfect fo my kind of music (Bluegrass, fingerstyle, e.g Tommy Emmanuel), it has the natural sound projection that I need as a fingerstylist, boosting the volume of my playing immensely. I run this guitar through my Marshall AS100D, then to my 70MF400B Marshall cabs when I play Live. It has no buzz, unless the volume is boosted too high, and sounds exactly like an unplugged acoustic. Unplugged, it is very loud, and open chords on this guitar can project loudly enough through a medium sized room. The spruce top gives it a very full tone, perfet for all kinds of music, from Folk to rock. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Everything was perfect to a T. The action is perfect, the tuners were rock solid, the saddle and nut were fit and glued perfectly, the finish was flawless, the Elixir strings were not rusted in the sightest, the preamp was fit right anything you can name about this guitar, it was perfect. Maton has lived up to its standard of perfection once again. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar has withstood Live playing, and being dumped (in a case, of course) in the boot of my friends car after gigs. I would never use any guitar without a backup, but because this guitar is such good value, I use my Taylor as a backup. Even when I sit there playing chords all day, thie finish hasn't worn off. However, the binding on my friends EM225 (without the cutaway) has darkened when it has been in contact with his trouser, so near the lower curve. This hasn't happened to me, but I keep expecting it too. maybe it was a one-off finish fault. This guitar is a hardcore gig guitar, built like a brick shithouse. the strap buttons haven't looked like dropping a strap yet. // 10

Impression: I play Folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and fingerstyle, and this guitar covers them all, no sweat. It is a very good all round guitar, able to play many different styles of guitar. I have been playing for 10 years now, and this is probably my favoured acoustic. I also own a Taylor 910, a PRS 513, a PRS Paul Allender Signature, a Gretsch White Falcon, and an Ibanez RG1520G, and my Maton is only topped by the White Falcon. If it were stolen, my insurance would cover it. If I lost it, I'd definitely buy another one. I love everything about this guitarm especially that it's Australian made. My favourite feature would be the satin finish, as unlike the gloss finishes, it doesnt't restrict resonance in the body. I wish it came with a hardcase automatically, instead of having to haggle it out of a salesperson, but that's not a big deal. I compared it with a OMC16WE (which I bought later on) and an Epiphone Masterbilt, and this was my favourite by far. It was perfect for my needs, and had the best pricetag over the other two. // 10

Comments

[abdul.baroudi]

Hi, could you please tell me how you got this guitar so cheap, i havent seen it less than 1500 thanks. [e-mail]

[Purnin]

It's a beautiful guitar, I plan on getting one sometime next year.

[Dnalrafcmb3]

that is pretty sweet, but its FUKIN expensive!!!!!

[smokin_joe]

abdul.baroudi wrote:

Hi, could you please tell me how you got this guitar so cheap, i havent seen it less than 1500 thanks. [e-mail]

Its easy to get guitars cheap. You pay in cash, but only bring the money you want to pay. tell them that youve only got that much, and when they say they can't do it, just walk out. Garaunteed, they'll call you back and give it to you cheap.

[kenny16]

Its easy to get guitars cheap. You pay in cash, but only bring the money you want to pay. tell them that youve only got that much, and when they say they can't do it, just walk out. Garaunteed, they'll call you back and give it to you cheap.

i think so too, the more expensive it is the easier you should get it cheaper

[Wayneaiden]

Beautiful guitar... I want it

[rafrank]

Are these prices in US dollars or Aussie Dollars??

[nickywhack]

rafrank wrote:

Are these prices in US dollars or Aussie Dollars??

agreed... US or Aussie?