help please!!2 arias never seen em b4

[christoyoyo]

hi,i have 2 arias amongst others that have an explorer headstock and trapezoid inlays,double cutaway. Solid wood and beautiful craftmanship.

Any ideas?

[christoyoyo]

does anyone at all know anything about these?i posted them hoping someone had one like them,that knew a little about them,how about a hello then?

[ejs]

I have no idea about those, but they look really nice.

[christoyoyo]

thanks,i cant find anything about them anywhere,do you think anyone here can translate japanese?

[VintAxe]

Hey Chris.

Unfortunately, no one at VintAxe can help with Japanese translation right now. My last translator was lost several years ago and I'm still looking for someone.

Sorry, but I don't know much about your guitars at the moment. My hunch is that they were built in the 90's since Aria used the Aria Pro II brand throughout the 1980's. I'm not sure when in the 90's they switched back to using the Aria brand name.

I simply don't have much Aria literature from the 1990's at the moment but I'm sure that over time we'll figure out what you have.

[christoyoyo]

they are definately japanese,i can inform you.ls bridge made in japan inscribed underneath.i think definaty pre lawsuit because of the shape of the headstock.if you've ever held an 80's ibanez artist,the feeling of guality surpasses that by far,the woods are intensley grained,dense maple tonewood,i should put up better pics later,maybe the pickup cavities showing the japanese writing,they also appear to individually numbed,say 30/150.i thought they may have been a custom shop at the factory?just guessing tho

[VintAxe]

Hey Chris.

The guitars are definitely not pre-lawsuit. That would place them in the early 1970's. The locking nut eliminates this possibility since this technology came much later in the history of guitar building.

There is the possibility that the locking nut is a later modification, but the guitars don't look like early 70's Aria guitar production to me. sb

[christoyoyo]

ok,,,but they have no serial numbers,they i understand didn't come in until 1978 or so,also the guitar came with a 1979/1980 fender champ,he bought the amp new in 1981,and said he'd had the guitar a few years before the amp,theres one on ebay,its version is a bolt on neck.the trem is not factory and the tailpiece was lost.the truss rod cover is typical japanese along that era as well.so is the sandwiched style body and 3 or 5 piece neck.really there is also one pic i found at another site,like the blonde one,but with a tailpiece not a trem.aria went to aria pro and pro ll then,but aria was the first of the "aria"names,so it would predate them.i was hoping someone had seen them before,and knew a name or model.maybe aria hq would be a good place to start?

[VintAxe]

Ok, the late 1970's makes sense, but that would not be considered the "pre-lawsuit" era.

Here is the cover of a 1977 Aria Pro II catalog that has the same logo on the cover that appears on your guitar:



At least now the era the guitar was produced has been established. The more information you can provide about the guitars, the better chance we have of finding some information for you.

[christoyoyo]

ok,i'll get better pics in a few days

[Bassassin]

Are there any serial numbers? These guitars are late 70s/early 80s, built by Matsumoku. This is obvious from the construction & style, although I've never seen these particular models before. I'm by no means an expert though, so

If they don't know, they will be fascinated by this pair and certainly will have some insight for you. Lovely guitars.

Jon.

[christoyoyo]