Maton Messiah / 12 Series

Superlative Quality Finish and timbers – This is a vaaaaassssst improvement on the old FG150 I bought in circa 1964. However, although it is a real showpiece to behold, it has a couple of problems: 1. The bridge has very sharp edges and corners such that I have to watch my pinky when strumming and picking. When I first started using it my right hand little finger finger needed a little band aid protection after getting damaged by the bottom front corner of the bridge. Maton can fix this by a bit of chamfering around the perimeter of the bridge. 2. I am not completely happy with the sound of it. I have a Taylor LKSM whose sound blows the poor little Maton away. I haven't played the Messiah all that much but I have had the LKSM since September 2002 and played it at many gigs since. I think that the Maton needs considerably more playing in.

I have restrung the Messiah twice since I got it using Thomastik Plectrum and Spectrum strings. The Thomastiks have a softer tone than the Elixrs that I use on the Taylor. The next restring will be with the original Elixr Nanoweb lights.

The Messiah is a truly beautiful instrument but I wonder if a Jumbo configuration would give it a beefier sound.

Heaven with 12 strings – Hi, I read the review here while I was waiting for my Messiah, but I really think it deserves a higher than 4/5 rating overall, this guitar is pretty close to perfect for 12 string configurations! Really moving sound and I use it for church and the natural amplification is sufficient for the building to hear unplugged, but has AP5 Pro pickup and that sounds great too through an amp. Never could I part with such a fine piece of workmanship, design and musical bliss. Great Job Maton! Now all I need is a Messiah 6 string as well ;-) Quality Workmanship, sounds Amazing both unplugged & amped, Exceptional attention to detail For me, not much! But for the average user, they might say size/weight, wide fingerboard (but that allows you to press a string down without interfering/muting adjacent strings)

Good – A beautiful guitar just wish I could have had more info on the dimensions available then I may have got a custom done with the narrower board The finish and tone are beautiful... Still getting used to the wider fret board and increased string spacing over my other Maton 12 string....maybe I just need fatter fingers