Aria Pro II "Les Paul" (1980's?)

That looks relatively new, not 1980s...

 

Not 80's IMHO. Body shape not exactly Les Paul either.

 

It could indeed be mid-80s, as it would have a poly finish and if it wasn't played much, would still look new. Also, that is similar to the Les Paul style guitars Aria Pro II was putting out at the time, as noted by the sloping bass bout. These are generally well respected MIJ instruments.

And with a set of Nordstrands, I don't see how you could go too wrong for the asking price.

 

This

 

Made in Japan.

 

If I was in the market, I would take it for a spin.

Probably dives like seafowl though.

 

It appears that the body weight and strap position will not balance the bass.

We call this ‘neck dive’. Common on basses with guitar body designs.

 

When you strap on the bass, and remove your hands from it, the headstock dives toward the floor. This is known as "neck dive."

It tends to happen when there's not a long upper bout that positions the strap button further toward the headstock. Also can happen if the body is very lightweight compared to the neck.

 

Just wanted to extend a welcome to you as a new member. It’s always nice when someone new joins the community.

Definitely an interesting bass. Has a body like an Aria PE-DLX guitar. But the headstock looks like the design they used for their M series guitars. I’ve never seen nor heard of an Aria bass a like yours before. Congratulations on such a rare find.

 

That headstock shape really looks more modern to my eye... I would guess a recent 'brand re-boot" made in China or Indonesia?? I vaguely seem to recall reading somewhere about the 'Aria Pro-II' brand being recycled... In any event it looks like it might be worth the asking price

 

This. I was literally about to post how the headstock definitely suggests otherwise, despite some thinking it could have been from the 80's. So far searching through the back catalogs, there were certainly regular 6 strings with that body style from the 80's, but nothing bass wise. Also, even those guitars still had the open book style headstock that was used on almost everything back then.

There are plenty of basses you can't even find any info on there, but I know even the basses they released all the way till the late 80's used similar (headstock) styles to the one I mentioned above. Also don't think they released too many instruments back then with an FMT-looking style finish.. or a dark purple finish of that tint for that matter.

Source:
Aria/Aria Pro II Basses

 

Does he mean it looks like a Les Paul from the 80s maybe?

 

As mentioned already, the body looks like an elongated (could just be the angle of the picture though) version of the PE guitar bodies which were definitely made in the 80’s up until, I believe, the present day. The headstock, however, is different from any Aria I recall seeing. Looks more like a modern Ibanez or Cort. None of that means that it wasn’t a Japan only model or something like that. There must be an Aria serial number decoder somewhere on line for when you go look at it.

I’d certainly be interested, depending on the price.

 

I had an MIJ Aria Pro guitar with a similar body style. I agree that looks newer than 80’s.