Maton have had their share of celebrity users, but none perhaps as well-known as Keith Richards. He picked up a Maton SE777 in 1969 — one of a limited run of 453 SE777s that the company made from ‘63-‘64. And despite Keith’s comment that it was the type of guitar that was ‘right for one particular track, with absolutely no relevance to everyday playing’ he put it to good use on the album ‘Let it Bleed’.
Plugging the Maton into his Triumph Silicon 100 with its built in tremolo circuit (how engineer Glynn Jones hated that amp!), gave Keith exactly the sound he was after for one of the Stones best tracks: Gimme Shelter.
Unfortunately for the Maton, the neck pick up literally fell out on the final chord of the song— but by then the SE777 had written itself into rock history. Before the take that spelt the end of the guitar it had also found its way onto several other key tracks on the album, including one of my favourites: ‘Midnight rambler’.
Here's the sound of that mercurial Maton SE777:
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