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Aria & Aria Pro II Club

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#601
Has anyone tried or heard an Aria SB303? I'm interested in buying it.

Specs:
Body:- Ash top and alder back
Neck:- Maple, bolt-on
Fingerboard:- Rosewood
Frets:- 24
Scale:- 864mm (34")
Pickups:- 2 x BD-4 double coil l
Controls:- 1 x Volume, 1 x active treble, 1 x active middle, 1 x active bass, 1 x 5 way rotary pickup selector switch
Bridge SDX-4 2 way
Hardware:- Black

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#606
achtung jackass said:
Hmmm... I'm not too mad on Schaller's. I actually bought a set of black Dunlop Straploks for it. I already have gold ones on my Elite II, it came with some in the case. :cool:
Click to expand...

I recommend these every chance I get:

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They are kind of ugly but I love them because I'm the kind of guy who doesn't like to modify my basses in any way. I guess I'm getting old! Ha ha ha. Any way, they don't require any installation. You just tighten the set screw and that's it. I never had a problem with them. They're cheap too!

The only bad thing: In its original hard case my SB is molded to fit pretty tightly. I have to take the locks off to store it in there. I usually use a gig bag so it doesn't really matter to me. I don't store my SB very often! :smug:
 
#607
Hey FishHead Joe...

That's a very nice Matsukomu bass. The body is identical to Univox, Epiphone and Lyle basses, and the bridge with its distinctive flip-mute on the bridge is pure Matsumoku. That's a darn nice bass and their Ebay prices have been steadily rising for the past few years.

The font on the neck plate is also typical for Matsu instruments of your vintage.

The trick to work on the electronics is that no service plate is needed. To get at them, carefully remove the pickup, remove the retaining nuts and tie strings of monofilament to the pots and jack, and then pull them out through the pickup cutout. When you're done, use the monofilament to pull the electronics back into position when you're done. You can also use surgical tubine stuck over the shafts on the ends of the pots as a way to pull them back.

It's not a bad idea to put something over the front of the bass while you have the electronics pulled out so that you won't drop them onto the body and damage the finish.

Here's the brother of your bass - my Univox, made in the same factory and with a similar color burst. Note that the bridge and tailpiece are identical to yours:

Univox335copy.jpg
 
#608
If anyone has any info on these PLEASE let me know!!

This bass has an interesting history. From the eBay seller:

>>>Up for auction is a used Aria Pro II bass guitar. This Super Rare Bass has a cream colored Steinberger style body.
This bass was part of Gary Shea, bassist for metal pioneers, Alcatrazz, personal collection. For those of you unfamiliar with Alcatrazz, they were a metal band that featured Yngvie Malmsteen, and Steve Vai on guitar at times. Gary was an Aria endorser, so he played more than a few of their high-ends basses with a vengeance through-out his career. This Bass was Aria's first attempt at a Steinberger style bass. Later versions of this bass had no headstock. But truly a unique piece!!<<<

The setup on this bass is fantastic. There is a tapped ferrule in the bottom for a knee rest. It hangs on a strap nicely and is very light and easy to play. As the seller mentioned it's a tone moster!! I LOVE these Aria pickups :bassist:
 
#611
Mines in the shop right now, getting righted so I can play it! Talked to them yesterday and it should be ready by Friday. I'll post some more pics once it's back... and hopefully my photographic skills will be better!
I really like the neck on it and the fact that I don't have to plug it in to play it!
Also, it just feels "nice" in my hands!
Thanks for the info...
fishheadjoe!
 
#612
Sorry for the double post... Pilgrim you mentioned that these basses are doing well on the market these days... now I have NO interest in selling it, it is a family heirloom that I fully intend to pass along to my kids, but for insurance values, do you have any ball park suggestions?
Thanks,
fishheadjoe
 
#613
Fishheadjoe said:
Sorry for the double post... Pilgrim you mentioned that these basses are doing well on the market these days... now I have NO interest in selling it, it is a family heirloom that I fully intend to pass along to my kids, but for insurance values, do you have any ball park suggestions?
Thanks,
fishheadjoe
Click to expand...

In that kind of condition, I've seen them sell on Ebay anywhere from $250 to around $600. It varies a lot and depends on who's watching and what hits their hot button. Aria is often a better selling brand then Univox or Lyle. Two years ago you could get a nice Univox for under $150 if you watched carefully. if you estimate $600 you should be able to find a comparable replacement if something happens to it.

BTW - I'm going to put an original style pickguard on mine, but I've been lazy and been toting the template around for more than a year without doing anything. I need to send it to a custom PG maker. Mine won't fit yours because I have a two-pickup and yours is a single, but I could probably scan and email you the double PG template and you could make a cardboard dummy from that and play with it till you're happy.
 
#614
That would be awesome Pilgrim... one of the things I asked my repair dude about was a replacement pick guard and he suggested that it would cost too much to have him make one, but that I should keep my eyes open for one on the open market... your scenario would fit the bill very well!
PM sent!
Also, again, thanks for the value info as well... I'll be calling my insurance company to be sure to get a separate rider for this bass and my others!
Man, this is just a great place with fantastic people... to all TBer's
THANKS!
fishheadjoe
 
#615
Below are pics of the headless. Been looking for one for years. Still looking. These are from an old ebay auction 4 or so years back. I missed being high bidder. Only saw 2 of these ever on ebay.
aria-headless.jpg
 
#617
lowbass68 said:
Below are pics of the headless. Been looking for one for years. Still looking. These are from an old ebay auction 4 or so years back. I missed being high bidder. Only saw 2 of these ever on ebay.
aria-headless.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks again for the pics and PM. That's cool. I LOVE the variation I have. After closer inspection, it has a 3 piece neck, you can see it through the finish.

BlountEdge said:
Here's my 1977 Aria Pro II Primary Jazz Bass:
Click to expand...

That's really nice. I'll bet it plays incredibly well. I always keep an eye out for one of them. I'd love to have a Jazz version to go with my Primary P bass!
 
#618
FL Knifemaker said:
Thanks again for the pics and PM. That's cool. I LOVE the variation I have. After closer inspection, it has a 3 piece neck, you can see it through the finish.



That's really nice. I'll bet it plays incredibly well. I always keep an eye out for one of them. I'd love to have a Jazz version to go with my Primary P bass!
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's probably my best bass overall. The neck is incredible and since I had the Barts installed, it basically kills most of my other basses, including some of the active ones.
 
#619
BlountEdge said:
Thanks. It's probably my best bass overall. The neck is incredible and since I had the Barts installed, it basically kills most of my other basses, including some of the active ones.
Click to expand...

That's how my Primary P is. It's better than ANY Fender P I've ever played. The neck is a full, fat P bass neck with a wonderful feel. It's also dead quiet for recording. I just put a set of LaBella Deep Talkin flats on it and it's to DIE for :D
 
#620
FL Knifemaker said:
That's how my Primary P is. It's better than ANY Fender P I've ever played. The neck is a full, fat P bass neck with a wonderful feel. It's also dead quiet for recording. I just put a set of LaBella Deep Talkin flats on it and it's to DIE for :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, my Aria Jazz gets more attention from me than my Fender Jazz. I'm away from home for a few months and it's the only bass that I brought with me.

Hopefully, I'll find an Aria P Bass and you'll find a Jazz....
 
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