2026 Maton Troubadour Traditional acoustic guitar
I normally don't buy new guitars but I broke my own rule for this one. I really loved my EBG808 and then I saw an ad for this new model and was intrigued enough to check out some videos and reviews. In the videos they sounded fantastic even acoustically so I bought this one from Sky Music in Melbourne in early February 2026, purely based on some photos they sent me plus the videos of other ones. I was not disappointed.
- Queensland maple back & sides
- Spruce top
- Mahogany neck
- Streaky ebony fingerboard, bridge and headstock veneer
- Maton AP5 Pro pickup system
- Gold plated Grover tuners
Apparently Queensland maple is more like mahogany than North American maple. The maple guitars that I have played tended to be quite bright in tone, whereas this Maton does sound more like mahogany to my ears.
I read somewhere that the BG808 guitars are about the size of a Martin 00 guitar whereas the Troubadour Traditional is slightly larger, more like a Martin OM or 000 with a deeper body. It's a relatively new model that was only released in October 2024. Maton Troubadours also come as a mini, a dreadnought and most recently a jumbo (only released in early 2026 or thereabouts).
Maton serial numbers are really confusing nowadays (they used to be really simple) but from what I've been able to work out the month of manufacture is indicated by the number and two alpha characters on the soundhole label. My one says 2FA which decodes as 2=the '20s, F is the 6th letter so it's the 6th year of the '20s, then A is the 1st letter so it was made in the first month January. Having bought it in early February 2026 a January 2026 date seems about right.
Unusually for the mid priced Matons, the headstock logo is pearl inlay rather than their usual decals or silk screen printing or whatever it is.
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