Well here's a shameless speed slap solo played on my mate's Aria SB-R80 (I think). Fab bass, sounds crap with the stock PUs but plays like a dream. I'm tempted to buy it off him and mutilate it in every sense.
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I have a lovely Aria Black & Gold. Ive had it in its case for the last 20 years, so its really in great condition. What a bass! Looks fantastic and the sustain is great.
Only problem... The pups dont work as they should. Sounds strange but, the bridge only works on d/g string and neck only works on e/a string. When i use them togheter it sounds really nice, but a bit limited. Can anyone help??
I have contacted Armstrong for new pups, but if possible it would be nice to use the originals.
Only problem... The pups dont work as they should. Sounds strange but, the bridge only works on d/g string and neck only works on e/a string. When i use them togheter it sounds really nice, but a bit limited. Can anyone help??
I have contacted Armstrong for new pups, but if possible it would be nice to use the originals.
Hey all- I've posted this one before, but I thought I'd repost some recent shots of this '77 'Precise Bass'. It remains a real Fender killer. I found a nice tort guard for her. These pickups just smoke!
Check the skinny ass nut spacing...
Check the skinny ass nut spacing...
OEM one was marked 500K
A little hard to find a replacement as the outer shaft is smooth(knob held on with a set screw) and the centre shaft is split with a push on volume.
A little hard to find a replacement as the outer shaft is smooth(knob held on with a set screw) and the centre shaft is split with a push on volume.
Hey all- I've posted this one before, but I thought I'd repost some recent shots of this '77 'Precise Bass'. It remains a real Fender killer. I found a nice tort guard for her. These pickups just smoke!
Check the skinny ass nut spacing...
I LOVE that bass!!
As I've mentioned before, my Aria "Primary Bass" is the BEST P bass I've EVER played.
Hi,
I just got my second Aria Pro II bass and I'm curious about it. Serial begins with 6, so it is obviously manufactured in 1986. There is some information about RSB:s available but I haven't found any information about these active Formula basses. The bridge pickup seems "fatter" than in other RSB:s I've seen. The pups are original with text "Aria". Neck plate has text
Aria Pro II
Accurate bolt on system
6080026
Made in Japan
Can anyone tell me more about this black beauty? I love to play it, it is medium scale and the neck is quite like J-bass, nut width 1.6 (41 mm) and thickness at first fret 0.9 (22 mm) (as compared to my Squier JB: 1.5 (38 mm) and 0.8 (20 mm)).
The overall dimensions are almost perfect for me, although the action is a bit high. it feels a lot like my Music Man Sterling with a same touch of high quality (wishful thinking). Haven't played through a real amp yet but tomorrow I will.
BTW: Which strings do you recommend for this kind of bass? I replaced the old ones with Rotosound Swing Bass 66:s, 43-65-80-110.
I just got my second Aria Pro II bass and I'm curious about it. Serial begins with 6, so it is obviously manufactured in 1986. There is some information about RSB:s available but I haven't found any information about these active Formula basses. The bridge pickup seems "fatter" than in other RSB:s I've seen. The pups are original with text "Aria". Neck plate has text
Aria Pro II
Accurate bolt on system
6080026
Made in Japan
Can anyone tell me more about this black beauty? I love to play it, it is medium scale and the neck is quite like J-bass, nut width 1.6 (41 mm) and thickness at first fret 0.9 (22 mm) (as compared to my Squier JB: 1.5 (38 mm) and 0.8 (20 mm)).
The overall dimensions are almost perfect for me, although the action is a bit high. it feels a lot like my Music Man Sterling with a same touch of high quality (wishful thinking). Haven't played through a real amp yet but tomorrow I will.
BTW: Which strings do you recommend for this kind of bass? I replaced the old ones with Rotosound Swing Bass 66:s, 43-65-80-110.
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BBell, I can't tell you much, other than what you aleady know. Like that they are really comfortable to play! That bridge p'up almost looks like a MusicMan type, or two Js stuck togther. I've seen one other like that, but all the others had regular J's. I have an '86 catalog and the standard P/J config is listed. If you read Japanese you may be able to glean a little more info about it. BTW, do you look as cool with your RSB as Richard does in this catalog shot? (If you're reading Richard, sorry, not trying to dis you - I know it was the '80s!)
About the action - have you had the truss rod adjusted since you got it? I was able to get super low action on the one I had!
The pots may be the problem like the other used suggested, but I don't know for sure either. I've had an SB pickup do the same thing before, where it only had sound coming from 2 of the strings when I had the dual sound switch flipped in one position. In the other position it worked OK, but still lacked a little bit. My tech said the pickup was dead, (well half dead I guess), so I replaced it with a spare SB pickup and it worked fine, so it makes me think it really was the pickup and not the pots. Not sure in your case, though. It could be worth a try on the pots. Just keep the old ones in case it turns out they weren't the problem. In that case, Armstrong probably is your best bet (from what I've heard). Let us know what happens.
got my Aria Integra SPT yesterday!!! this thing is almost identical tone wise to Bill Gould's on "The Real Thing" album by FNM i would say in build quality it reminds me alot of my 90's Ibanez SDGR 800. the fret board on this bass is near perfect. 
the guy who shipped it didnt pack it right at all so i think it suffered from the shipping a bit due to his lack of care. its in the shop now getting set up and cleaned ect. i had some trouble getting the neck back on and yeah it was a bit of a mess...:S
Alembic83 you were extremely right about the noisy pick ups lmao! i was recording some stuff with it and ended up getting a good ABC radio reception through it haha! i dont mind it because we do some short wave experimentation in my band and the radio feed back sounds kinda cool with some effects haha!
the guy who shipped it didnt pack it right at all so i think it suffered from the shipping a bit due to his lack of care. its in the shop now getting set up and cleaned ect. i had some trouble getting the neck back on and yeah it was a bit of a mess...:S
Alembic83 you were extremely right about the noisy pick ups lmao! i was recording some stuff with it and ended up getting a good ABC radio reception through it haha! i dont mind it because we do some short wave experimentation in my band and the radio feed back sounds kinda cool with some effects haha!
No, I don't look that cool and didn't in the 80's either.
I was wondering if this fatter pup has something to do with the active circuit, but Richard's bass is active, too, and with a regular J-pup. So the mystery remains...
Yes I adjusted the truss rod, saddle height and intonation too, and now it plays smoother.
There is some electrical fuss, anyway. When tone is turned to "high", the bass makes buzzing noise when I touch the strings lightly, but when I rest my hand on the strings, the noise ends. Something to do with grounding? Don't know much about electricity. My other Aria bass (passive TBS-400) does not have that problem and not the active Music Man Sterling either.
Here's a group shot of my SB's
Left to right
SB-R80
SB-1000 (second generation)
SB-LTD
Second SB-1000 (2G)
SB-1000 RI
Beautiful lineup! Which one do you like the best? I know it's probably a tough call. I have played all of those models as well, and I really like the RI (I have the CB version, all black), and the LTD with Alembic p'ups was amazing, too!
BTW, nice to see the cat was kind enough to tolerate you invading its space for a picture. I get the feeling he/she looks a tad perturbed...
got my Aria Integra SPT yesterday!!! this thing is almost identical tone wise to Bill Gould's on "The Real Thing" album by FNM i would say in build quality it reminds me alot of my 90's Ibanez SDGR 800. the fret board on this bass is near perfect.
the guy who shipped it didnt pack it right at all so i think it suffered from the shipping a bit due to his lack of care. its in the shop now getting set up and cleaned ect. i had some trouble getting the neck back on and yeah it was a bit of a mess...:S
Alembic83 you were extremely right about the noisy pick ups lmao! i was recording some stuff with it and ended up getting a good ABC radio reception through it haha! i dont mind it because we do some short wave experimentation in my band and the radio feed back sounds kinda cool with some effects haha!
Too bad about the shoddy shipping. Don't forget to post some pics when you get it back from the tech. Maybe you can get the guy who is setting it up to put some copper shielding tape in the control cavity, or otherwise try to control the radio reception. Unless you don't want to limit your musical palette by cutting off those radio waves!
I asked AAron Armstrong about my pup problem and heres his replay:
If it were a problem with the controls then the whole of the pickup would not be working, as it is only 1 half of the pickup this definitely sounds like one of the coils is down.
I just ordered two new pups from him.
If it were a problem with the controls then the whole of the pickup would not be working, as it is only 1 half of the pickup this definitely sounds like one of the coils is down.
I just ordered two new pups from him.
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