Maton MS501 Mastersound, black. made in Australia 2003. Bill May founded Maton more or less out of a garage in Melbourne in the late 1940s, but it was the 1961 launch of the MS500 Mastersound that really set things in motion for the young company. It's a great shape: smooth round curves, comfy and compact, lightweight and easy to handle and very fetching. The Mastersound series got a re-boot in the late 90s, and became extremely popular with Australian bands well into the next decade. In 2003, there was a model with a single bridge humbucker, the MS501, paired with the signature short scale bolt on neck. This example has been refinished in black, but was previously blue, and has had a bunch of hardware replaced. Aside from being modded, it's in great shape and presents and plays really nicely. The original pickups could sometimes be a little dark, so the addition of a handy number by UK winders Bareknuckle is welcome: it sounds snarly, warm and articulate now, with a great mix of punch in the mids and slice on the top. When we score these, which is seldom, they tend to leave the shop in a hurry, so if you've been meaning to score yourself a Mastersound, I hope you're feeling saucy: don't dither!

Model: Maton MS501 Mastersound
Made: Melbourne, Australia; May, 2003
Serial: 05032547
Finish: black, gloss poly, refinished
Body: quandong
Neck: maple, rosewood fretboard, 24.5" scale, 12" radius, slim C shape 
Weight: 3.24kg
Mods: refinished, pickup, pickguard, knob, bridge and tailpiece replaced
Pickups: Bareknuckle humbucker, exact model unknown
Accessories: DCM moulded hard case

Cosmetic condition notes: used electric guitar with mild finish wear. Starting at the headstock we can see some finish wear by the nut, light scratches across the face and some finish wear along the top edge. The back of the headstock presents some checking in the clear coat with a few dings along the top edge. Tuners are in good order. We have checking down the neck with a few evenly scattered dings and dimples. The most noticeable wear is around the 7th fret and seems to be ring wear in the top coat as well as a dimple at the 4th. The neck is pretty smooth and you can feel the grain. Around the edges of the body we have pretty uniform scuffs, scratches and clouding of the finish. Wear on the front of the body is mostly confined to the guard with scattered play wear and scratches near the controls. There is more minor clouding near the neck, bridge and edges, a few dimples between the bridge and elbow area, and a ding between the bridge and tail piece. On the back we have clouding near the edges, lots of light rub wear all over and a few dimples around the centre. The refinish seems delicate, so we recommend a very light touch when polishing.
Overall: very good condition (8/10)

Playing condition notes: action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 10/52 strings.
Fret Life: 7/10, level and smooth with plenty of life left