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Maton Guitars
6 Clarice Rd Box Hill, Victoria 3128 Australia Phone: +61 3 9896 9500 Fax: +61 3 9896 9501
Listing Info
from the Maton Guitars web site
The "Maton" name is a derivative of the words "May" and "Tone". Until the mid 1930s an Australian guitar manufacturing industry was virtually nonexistent. Good quality guitars were hard to find and at this time the best guitars came from the U.S.A. Bill May, a Melbourne-born jazz musician, woodwork teacher and luthier decided to change all that.
During the early 1940s Bill established a custom guitar manufacturing and repair business known as "Maton Stringed Instruments and Repairs". This enterprise was so successful that Bill was able to convince his older brother, Reg, to join him as a full time guitar maker and in March 1946 the "Maton Musical Instruments Company" was born.
Maton is still a 100% family owned Australian company, now operated by Linda & Neville Kitchen (Bill May's daughter and son in law). Showing great faith in the potential of the company, Bill opened up Australia's first major guitar making facility in Canterbury, Melbourne, in 1949. More than 300 different models were created at the Canterbury factory, a staggering testimony to the creativity of the Maton team from that era.
More information available on the Maton Guitars's web site.
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