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What bass is this?

#5
i would imagine Matsumoku made lots of similar higher-end
basses- popular w/ early '80s english pop bassists.


i think it's an Aria SB-1000 . of course , could be a Washburn,
Vantage , or other bass made in the same factory .the headstocks
are very similar for 1982 matsumoku neck-thru models.
 
#7
The Brits were way into Aria and Ibanez Musician basses in the early 80s. I suspect it was the best stuff they could get at the time unless they could spring for domestic beauties like a Wal. Fenders and Gibson weren't that affordable over there. Those Aria SBs were great. Poorman's Alembics, sorta.
 
#9
dgce said:
The Brits were way into Aria and Ibanez Musician basses in the early 80s. I suspect it was the best stuff they could get at the time unless they could spring for domestic beauties like a Wal. Fenders and Gibson weren't that affordable over there. Those Aria SBs were great. Poorman's Alembics, sorta.
Click to expand...

Yes I noticed a LOT of players from the UK with Arias while researching for my blog. John Taylor, Jack Bruce, Bruce Foxton, Tony Butler, Trevor Horn, just to name a few...I do remember John Taylor saying the Aria was all he could afford at the time.

Aria Basses: Video Links to Aria Basses
 
#10
Affordable yes, but to really give credit where it's due, I don't think Aria SB basses are a
"Poor man's" anything. They are really an entirely different animal. Superbly built, extremely comfortable, and of course a totally unique tone.
 
#11
MOTORHEADBANGER said:
Affordable yes, but to really give credit where it's due, I don't think Aria SB basses are a
"Poor man's" anything. They are really an entirely different animal. Superbly built, extremely comfortable, and of course a totally unique tone.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

The same goes for the Ibanez 800 and Musician Series. These basses were/are underrated and under-appreciated.
 
#12
MOTORHEADBANGER said:
Affordable yes, but to really give credit where it's due, I don't think Aria SB basses are a
"Poor man's" anything. They are really an entirely different animal. Superbly built, extremely comfortable, and of course a totally unique tone.
Click to expand...

Hey, I wasn’t knocking late 70s/early 80s era Aria SBs or Ibanez Musician basses. They were awesome bang for buck instruments especially in its day (just ask the Brits!). But it is true that Alembic-eque basses imported from Japan were a high quality, affordable option to yet another Fender knock off. While clearly not an Alembic, consider some of the traits, the hippie sandwich figured wood bodies, multi laminated neck-thru construction, active electronics, etc. Heck, years ago I had a Kawai 5 piece neck-thru with zebra wood top, brass nut, blah blah blah. It was my “poor man’s” Stanley Clarke bass.

To put it simply, the “poor man” was my way of saying good value; it’s not a dis.
 
#13
dgce said:
Hey, I wasn’t knocking late 70s/early 80s era Aria SBs or Ibanez Musician basses. They were awesome bang for buck instruments especially in its day (just ask the Brits!). But it is true that Alembic-eque basses imported from Japan were a high quality, affordable option to yet another Fender knock off. While clearly not an Alembic, consider some of the traits, the hippie sandwich figured wood bodies, multi laminated neck-thru construction, active electronics, etc. Heck, years ago I had a Kawai 5 piece neck-thru with zebra wood top, brass nut, blah blah blah. It was my “poor man’s” Stanley Clarke bass.

To put it simply, the “poor man” was my way of saying good value; it’s not a dis.
Click to expand...

No offense taken. I was just clarifying for those less familiar. The Kawai was definitely aimed alot more at Alembic design, while the SB's seemed quite different except for being neck-through.
 
#15
In 1979 I was helping out at my local musical instrument store where they were in the process of upping their game from Grant and Columbus copies to becoming authorised dealers for Aria, Ibanez and Fender.

The Aria Pro II and Ibanez guitars and basses were absolutely fantastic instruments, beautifully made and finished and near perfectly set up straight out of the box. On the other hand I can remember the day the first Fender instruments arrived. It was such a disappointment - badly put together, poorly finished and a large number with the necks on at such and angle that the highest string was no longer over the fingerboard after about the 15th fret. Most of them weren't fit to be put on display let alone sold.

From what I saw at the time ours was hardly a unique experience. It's not really surprising that a lot of UK players were opting for the new high quality Japanese basses over what Fender was then producing. The only way I could have been persuaded to have one of those Fenders would have been if it was being given away.
 
#16
I would lay my 1979 Ibanez Studio ST105 & my 1986 Westone Thunder IIIa against anything else made at the time, one from just about the beginning & one from just about the end of The Golden Age of Japanese guitar manufacture.

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