hi ya all some pics of my latest find ...... outa gumtree not the best deal i ever made..... but this is a sweet sounding guitar ?
fact is i needed a jazz box to add to my world music and jazz set at The Palace hotel at sun city where i'm doing a residency so went shopping ........
looked at the new ibanez ones and the epiphone ones....... not wanting to spend too much but i wanted the image and the vibe of playing fingerstyle jazz standards i do on a jazz guitar that looked the part ..........
i tried a few........ and then found this ........
an Aria ES175 copy from late 60's or early 70's....... the grrrrrr previous owner or the one before him had ripped out the glued on paper inside the f hole which had all the info......... so no serial no or even a proper model number ....... just Aria on the headstock and the truss rod cover........ but i did research on the look and found it had to be made between 68 and 74 most likely
but wow when i plugged it in it just drips pure tone....... instant jazz sound without any preamps /eq /fx/ just that fat warm round sound........ and of course a 175 looks way cool.it's one of the early jazz box designs so it's big and beautiful.......
the workmanship on this instrument is to die for. everything is bound and the finish is classic........
this guitar needs work ....... a good setup and the pots need to be cleaned out audibly scratchy...... and new tuners ....... i see the ones on are not the originals. but they will be replaced....... they not good ........
interesting to see the wooden saddle this has worn in grooves and will replace it with either a tunamatic metal one or get someone to carve me a new wooden saddle.....to same design but this one the strings have eaten into the wood over years so slightly eratic string height
so yes i may have paid more than i wanted to for this.. not really a lot in real money but i'm used to great deals ? so i do feel a litle exploited buying this.... but i fell in love with it and it's build quality is head and shoulders over any new jazz box available from ibanez /epiphone ect which woulda been my other option
check out the pics. notice he binding and neck inlays.... and lets just say if soemone walks out on a stage with it it jast says "here comes the jazz set " so the price paid is well worth i for the image it will inspire
check out the wierd wooden saddle below.....
