Bill May (1915-1993), luthier, completed an apprenticeship in cabinetmaking and taught woodwork before founding Mayton Stringed Instruments and Repairs in the early 1940s. His brother Reg soon joined him as a full time guitar maker, and the pair established the Maton Musical Instruments Company in 1946. Three years later they opened their first factory in Canterbury, Melbourne, where over the ensuing forty years they were to make more than 300 models of guitar and establish an international reputation. They expanded to Bayswater in 1989 and Box Hill in 2001. Maton Guitars, now directed by May's daughter Linda Kitchen, is still an entirely Australian-owned company. Having established Maton as Australia's longest running and most successful guitar manufacturer, and pioneering the use of many Australian wood species in guitar construction, Bill May is regarded by many Australian luthiers as the founding father of their industry.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2005
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Max Loudon
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