review
Tradition MTA 500 Flame Top
Before Leo Fender and the 1950’s brought us the solidbody guitar revolution, electric guitars were mainly hollowbody designs. Popular with jazz players, these guitars were typically large, acoustic instruments, with added pickups, that produced warm, fat tones. Unfortunately, they were also were susceptible to feedback at loud volumes, as the top of the hollow body vibrated sympathetically with certain frequencies. To solve this problem, Gibson introduced the ES-335, a semi-hollowbody guitar with a block of Mahogany running down the center of the body cavity on which the pickups were mounted. This design helped keep feedback in check, yet still produced a warm hollowbody tone thanks to its two hollow chambers on either side of the center block. The ES-335 still remains popular with jazz, blues, and rock guitarist looking for fat tone without feedback.
Following Tradition
The Tradition MTA 500 Flame Top is based on the time tested Gibson ES-335 design with a few small differences. Instead of the common “F” type soundholes typically found on this type instrument, it has distinctive “cat’s eye” soundholes that set it apart from the norm. It also features a “pearliod” pickguard, and the input jack is on the side of the instrument instead of the top (an improvement, in my opinion.)
Construction
The Tradition MTA 500 Flame Top is built in Korea and features an arched flame Maple top and back, and a Maple neck with a Rosewood fingerboard. The review guitar I received has a Natural finish and the body and neck are both bound with cream color binding. The neck inlays are Tradition’s own “T” design. Construction was flawless all around.
Appearance
The flame Maple top was subtle, but very attractive. However, I wasn’t impressed with the cream-colored “pearloid” pickguard. I thought it made the guitar look too feminine. The bass player in the jazz group I play in said it looked “cheesy.” Basic black would a better choice in my opinion, since it would match the black headstock. But this an easy change if desired, and beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.
Hardware
Tradition uses chrome hardware on the MTA 500, including Grover tuners and its own Silver Medallion Humbuckers. It comes with a stop tailpiece and “tune-o-matic” style bridge.
Setup
Out of the box, setup was just right. The action was comfortable and the neck was ruler flat. No string buzzes or other problems were found. This guitar is a joy to play.
Tone
The Silver Medallion Humbuckers produce nice fat tone that works in a wide variety of styles. With a little overdrive on your amp, this baby begs to play blues. And once you tear into the intro of Johnny B. Goode, you’ll feel like you time-warped back to the 50’s. The MTA 500 nails the Chuck Berry tone. It also handles early Beatles timbres like a champ. Clean up your amp and roll off some treble with the tone knob and you’ll be ready for that next jazz gig.
In Use
I recently had a two set jazz gig covering old standards and newer “smooth” type jazz, which gave me a chance to put the MTA 500 to the test live. The band included piano, guitar (me), bass, and drums, and I alternated between melody and rhythm playing on most songs. I brought along my Samick JZ-4 hollowbody for comparison. I found the Samick better for rhythm work on the slower, old standards since it had a “warmer” tone with its medium gauge flat-wound strings. But the Tradition held its own for rhythm and I actually preferred it on the faster tunes. Because its strings are lighter and wound, the MTA 500 had more attack, and single note melodies popped out of the mix better, yet were surprisingly fat and warm. I would have no problem using this guitar the entire night at any jazz gig.
Final Thoughts
The MTA 500 Flame Top features attractive looks and solid construction. It is a pleasure to play and works, tonally, in wide variety of styles. If you are looking for a fat hollowbody tone without the hollowbody feedback, you owe it to yourself to try one out.
Reader Comments
Better Guitar encourages your input. Agree with this review? Think I’m crazy? If you have played a Tradition MTA 500 Flame Top, email me your comments and I’ll post them below. The more opinions we have available, the better our buying decisions will be.
stats
- • Maple body / Maple top
- • Maple Set Neck with Rosewood Fingerboard
- • 2 volume and 2 tone controls
- • 2 Silver Medallion Humbuckers
- • Transparent Flame Maple Top
- • Black, Tobacco Burst, Cherry Burst, Natural, and Wine Red finishes available
Positives
- Solid construction; tonally versatile.
Negatives
- None.
Estimated Street Price
- $749 (Prices are set and vary by dealer)
Rating
- Performance: 9
- Sound Quality: 9
- Construction: 10
- Overall: 9.3
Ratings Key
- 0 = Worthless
- 10 = Excellent
Company
- Tradition