Should I buy a Maton EBG808 Artist without trying it first?
Asked by Brock ·
I'm ready to buy a high-end acoustic, and many of the players I want to sound like play Matons. I'm thinking of the EBG 808 Artist, which I believe you play, but it isn't sold in my country, so I'd be buying it untried. Is there a big difference between the cutaway and non-cutaway versions, and am I crazy to buy one without trying it?
Emil Ernebro answers I do play an EBG 808 Artist from 2007, and it is my main live performance guitar. It's definitely a great fingerstyle guitar. I have other high-end instruments that produce more volume acoustically, but for live performance (plugged into the amp/PA), the Artist is my choice: very even in sound from lows to highs, and super easy to play.
I set up my instruments with help from a guy here in Sweden who really knows that stuff. Almost no instrument I've tried has had the right setup for me coming from the factory, so that's something everyone should think about when trying guitars. Guitars can always (well, almost always) be set up in a way that you like.
It's really difficult for me to say whether you should or shouldn't buy a guitar without trying it. I've done that a couple of times, and it actually worked, because I really knew what I was after and had already tried the same models earlier. However, I have friends who have done that (with different guitar brands), and unfortunately some of them are not satisfied with their instruments. I love Maton guitars, so I'm pretty sure you'd like them, but you never know until you've tried an instrument.
I've had a Maton 808 Michael Fix model (with cutaway) in the past, and it was great too, but I sold it to buy a Maton Custom Shop (a beautiful 808 model as well) with my own specs, which I use mostly for recording. I didn't really need the cutaway. For me, a cutaway is cool but not necessary for my solo live gigs.
People say there's a difference in sound with or without a cutaway, but I'd say it's not a big difference. It's really the woods, and how the guitar is put together, that make it sound a certain way. A cutaway is a "look" thing too: some people like the look of a cutaway more, and some prefer the standard model.
