NBD!! Aria Custom Shop 5er!! (finally)

[VillageIdiott]

So... I've been lurking about waiting for one of these to pop up in Japan for a while now.

Made in the early 90s (this one is 1991), Aria had a short lived custom shop. They made very high quality instruments in small numbers.

This one originally sold for 185, 000 yen. About $1800 Can$ or so.


Piezo bridge, and proprietary custom wound Jazz pickups. Ash body. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Lots of sound diversity. 34" scale.

Not many people have heard of these basses.

 

[CletusMarley]

Nice score!! Congrats!

 

[StevieMac]

Very, very nice!

 

[RSBBass]

Drool worthy!

 

[flannel cat]

very sweet!

 

[VillageIdiott]

Thanks. I can't wait to dig into it and play for a while. It has a wider neck for sure than my Fender Jazz 5 and my Ibanez SR. About the same feel as my BTB1005.

Lots of fun to be had I think.

 

[VillageIdiott]

I have no idea how to use or dial in a Piezo pickup. Seems bewildering to me.

 

[Killing Floor]

Sweet!

 

[Altitude]

If you do Facebook, find Vernon Porter there. Great LA bass player who played with Kenny Loggins in the 80s. I got to know him when he lived in Austin around ‘88-‘89, and he was a big Aria endorser then. I bet he could tell you some stuff about this bass. It’s very nice.

 

[songwriter21]

So... I've been lurking about waiting for one of these to pop up in Japan for a while now.

Made in the early 90s (this one is 1991), Aria had a short lived custom shop. They made very high quality instruments in small numbers.

This one originally sold for 185, 000 yen. About $1800 Can$ or so.


Piezo bridge, and proprietary custom wound Jazz pickups. Ash body. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Lots of sound diversity. 34" scale.

Not many people have heard of these basses.View attachment 4861664 View attachment 4861665 View attachment 4861666

What do the buttons on the bottom do?

 

[Altitude]

If you do Facebook, find Vernon Porter there. Great LA bass player who played with Kenny Loggins in the 80s. I got to know him when he lived in Austin around ‘88-‘89, and he was a big Aria endorser then. I bet he could tell you some stuff about this bass. It’s very nice.

I dug up a video of Vernon playing with the iconic Austin funk band Extreme Heat way back in 1989. He has a 5 string Aria but it’s different than yours. He does his thing at 4:10.

 

[VillageIdiott]

Thanks for the replies. Really nice to hear more about these basses.

The two buttons on near the bridge are for midi settings/samples? It has a midi input next to the jack input.

I'll get a picture in a few minutes.

 

[VillageIdiott]

 

[J Wilson]

Looking at the back panel: All those are trim pots (gains) for the piezo system, and I'm guessing the MG is a trim for the MIDI output.

The five in a row are to even the output of the five strings in piezo mode so one doesn't stick out or be too quiet for the other 4.

The PZ Gain is overall output for the piezo system, if there is (or isn't) a gain knob on the front for it. Then the PZ Treble and PZ Bass preset the basic tone of the piezos. The MG Guitar is a trim for MIDI gain.

You'll have to fill in the blanks as to the front panel control scheme.

Another footnote in the 'Aria Coulda-Beens' vis-a-vis Aria's salad days with Matsumoku production and amazing instruments like the SB Basses and PE guitars. Oh well . . . .

 

[VillageIdiott]

Thanks for the video. Great to hear an Aria in action.

 

[Spidey2112]

Beauty! Love the headstock!

 

[VillageIdiott]

I think this the first bass (of about 35) that is made from one piece of wood. In this case Ash.

It's not a big deal of course but just noticed it tonight. It's not the lightest bass I have for sure but haven't weighed it yet.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Very nice grain! Congrats, rock it hard!