kayDUB Wondering if anyone knows anything about/has an opinion on this guitar. Think it is 1980's MIJ. A friend of mine has one, is it worth fixing it up? http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/ts/ts.html
AlanRatcliffe No, it's not worth it. Give it to me and I'll dispose of it. ;D They are the lower range of Arias from the time - not particularly amazing, but the build quality was very good (all the Matsumoku-made Arias were). Still much better than the newer Arias. I have a friend who has a similar one (just with an all ash body) and he loves it - we changed the bridge and pickups, I refinished it and there is nothing wrong with it at all.
kayDUB Alan Ratcliffe wrote No, it's not worth it. Give it to me and I'll dispose of it. ;D Funny, that's what I told my friend... ? So compared to an Epi LP Custom how does it fare? He either wants to get a new Epi LP or fix up the Aria. Thanks Alan
AlanRatcliffe The Epi is a set-neck and nato/maple body, so they're quite different. Probably the Epi... The better model Arias of the time had through-necks, and those are really worth doing up if you ever find one (particularly the RS models).
3ight8all I have a TS-300 that I am busy working on now and am looking for a new bridge for it. What replacement bridge did you use?
AlanRatcliffe A standard hardtail Strat bridge like this one. If it were mine, I'd probably go for a Hipshot Hardtail bridge though - which is a very comfortable bridge for the right hand.
mannydingo Hi, all I can comment here is that back in the 80's, I loaned a friend of mine a non-expensive guitar. He loaned me an Aria Pro II. I can't remember what body type now. We felt they were about the same in price range. After having it for about a month, I kept hoping he would like mine and want to keep it and me keep the Aria. I found it to feel very professional and the strings wouldn't go out of tune. It had great action and sound. He finally said "Hey, when are we trading back". I had to return it. I wanted it.
