John Frusciante’s Maton ECW80C

John played this Maton acoustic guitar during a part of the Californication tour. The first time that the guitar was seen was in the photos published in the Guitar Player Magazine in September 1999. The photos show Maton sitting in the rack/traveling case, behind John’s electric guitars.

The only other time that the guitar was seen was during Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit concert on October 29, 2000. This was also the only time during the Californication tour that the band did an acoustic set.

Model

While most of the other online sources have the guitar listed as the Maton EM100c, based on looks, that doesn’t seem to be correct. EM100c model has custom inlays, while John’s guitar doesn’t.

After looking at various models, it appears that as far as modern Matons go, John’s guitar most closely resembles something like a CW80C. People from Maton were also kind enough to get in touch via email, and they seem to agree that it’s either an ECW80C or an EA80C.

As they explained it (thanks Tom from Maton) the main difference between the two is that the ECW80C has chrome machine heads while the EA80C has gold. Furthermore, ECW80C has a ‘flat’ finish and an ivory outer binding with a 5-ply (BWBWB) inner binding, whereas the EA80C has a gloss finish and blackwood outer and herringbone inner.

Based on photos, it’s hard to tell whether John’s guitar has a matte or gloss finish, but the former seems more likely – so it must be the ECW80C. However, it also appears in some photos that the machine heads are gold, which is typical of the EA80C model.

If you happen to come across a high-resolution photo of John with the guitar, please be sure to forward it. It will help greatly in identifying the guitar.