Aria

Japanese-made, hollowbody without the neck-through body that was characteristic of all Aria Pro II guitars. Bolt-on neck, no vibrato. It's hard to consider one without messing everything up, IMHO. Two humbuckers, volume and tone knobs. 3-way toggle switch: 1, 2 and 1+2 22-fret neck, some frets aren't flush and mus be filed on the bottom part of the neck. Sometimes the high E string gets stuck after a bend downwards. Some other times they grates my fingers. I should've done it already but I can't be bothered to do it and I have other guitars that also sound fine. Mine is brown, with a more natural color, even if I'm not really sure that it's the real color of the wood itself. UTILIZATION The form of the neck is very pleasant, except for the tiny finish details, but don't forget it's an entry-level guitar. The weight is balanced, no problems in this regard. On the other hand, you have to fix the strap to the headstock or you'll have to mount a strap lock yourself. Easy access to the upper frets, up to the 19th fret, thanks to the neck and the thin hollowbody design, too. After the guitar got wet in my cellar, the neck isn't perfectly straight anymore, even after three attempts to fix it at the guitar shop. So I tune it for it to be right up to the 5th fret, a compromise that makes everything unpredictable. But anyway, blues isn't Beethoven. SOUNDS I must admit that I thought it would die after the flood in my cellar. I cleaned it up well, applied a bit of silicone lub and the pots recovered their health, the electronics survived, and the sound is the same as before. Namely: Blues, blues and blues. Fat, crunch, sweet with the neck pickup and powerful, sharper and more aggressive with the other. No annoying sounds, you can get harmonics if you look for them and you have new strings. It sounds well with open strings, too. It has a good sustain despite the bolt-on neck. Amp: It sounds better with the Fender Rumble 100, which has more lows and no overdrive, than with the VOX AD30VT modeling amp. It's great for jazz, as well. OVERALL OPINION I've had it for a long time and I take it up from time to time when I get bored of my other guitars. I didn't try many others before buying it, it flirted with me in the store. It's robust (do you know many electric guitars that can be 10 days underwater and can still be played afterwards?), with a nice sound, it's easy to play and to get nice sounds out of it (anything you play sounds good). The only flaw: The finish and the frets that had to be filed. Another drawback is that I want to change the pickups, but a good pickup would cost me today more than the guitar itself!!

I bought this in the mid 80s when BOSS ruled the show and everybody copied their design and aesthetic. Price on sticker on box reads £33 and I remember the limited choice of budget pedals in the store on the excited Saturday morning I had some spare cash to treat myself (I was unemployed at the time and the bills came first!) but were disappointingly limited to this PH-1, an ARIA CH-1 Chorus and an ARIA FZ-1 Fuzz or ARIA Bass Boost... so the PH-1 it was. I had always liked the Phasing on recordings and in my nativity,thought this pedal would offer that - Think 'The Groundhogs' Snowstorm stylie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7x-Txo8AxI Anyway, of course it didn't do that(!) and all I could ever hear from it was Dub style Reggae tones... So, never employed it. A couple of years later the BOSS ME-5 appeared and I got one (my fortunes changed!) and as that had so many FX options, the Aria got forgotten. Come 2015, I need a Phaser to get near the Thin Lizzy Rocker song tone to demonstrate to a guitar student of mine and so pulled it out not expecting much and suddenly realise that I can use this to good effect with a couple of other pedals in the chain after all... Is not an MXR beater, but I found it can also run stacked with a Vibe or UniVibe-style unit and add more density... Glad I kept it then! Oh and is now considered a vintage in it's own right as of course it has that all important 'Made in Japan' backplate sticker! Most usable setting seems to be consistently 2-oclock, 4-oclock, 2.30 on the dials L-R See my blog and dedicated page to upgrading a BOSS ME-5 to render those essential 70s/80s SIX Vintage unit tones... https://boss-pedals.jimdo.com

The Aria 6 String Lap Steel is a rare instrument, the model of which I've used was made in 1965. The studio that I worked at before the one I'm currently at had this, and I still use it every now and again as I still work with the producer that owned the studio. I don't know much about the make up or the origins of this lap steel, but it's got dual single coil pick ups. It comes with it's own legs for standing it up on it's own if you so choose but I'll usually just put it on my lap without the legs. UTILIZATION Playing the Aria 6 String Lap Steel is a real pleasure and it feels good to play and doesn't hinder playability in the least - if anything it helps those just starting out. The pick up has tone and volume control knobs, although petty much what you hear is what you get since there isn't much in depth control. This doesn't matter too much as I find the inherent sound to be quite good... SOUNDS The sound of the Aria 6 String Lap Steel is pretty awesome as I've used it on a number of recordings for both my own songs and for other bands. I'm not the best lap steel player in the world, but have recorded with it myself and have also had more experienced players use it on some of my recordings and others. I've primarily used it with a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb and usually have it up with a few pedals like a T-Rex Replica and Dr. Swamp for extra effects. I love the sound I get with this steel. OVERALL OPINION You won't find too many Aria 6 String Lap Steels out there, as the one I've used is the only one I've ever seen. I don't know how many were made, but there isn't much information out there about them on the web so I think it's safe to assume it's quite rare. I'm glad that I have access to one but if I didn't I'm sure I could replace it with something comparable somewhat easily. If you do come across an Aria 6 String Lap Steel it's a great instrument and one to check out and/or buy if possible.

The Nexter features: - Alder body - Maple neck - Rosewood fretboard - HSS configuration - Vintage-Style tremolo - Mini toggle for HB coil split UTILIZATION I'm a big fan of the older Japanese Arias. They are extremely cheap on the used market and sound and play amazing. I saw this on my local Craigslist one day and decided that, even though it was a cheaper model and much newer than the ones I know and love, the price was worth a shot. I emailed the kid selling it and we actually ended up working out a straight trade for some old computer hardware I had laying around that I wasn't using, and probably never would use again. I was actually very surprised by this guitar. For the "price" I paid, this guitar is easily the best I've played under $500. The neck is very fast and smooth and the fretwork on the guitar is better than any Epiphone or lower end Ibanez guitar I've ever played. For a relatively unknown brand, Aria has been along for a very long time, and seems to be still making quality instruments. One thing I was very impressed with was, I ended up refinishing this guitar, mine had plenty of dings in it when I got it, and I wanted it to look like a new instrument. When I stripped all the paint, I was happy to find out that the wood you see on the top is, indeed, the same wood that is used for the rest of the body (it's not a veneer). Most lower end guitars like this, you find that the company uses a veneer to make the guitar look more pleasing to the eye. Aria actually uses a quality cut of Alder on these (though, I did put a flame veneer on it once I refinished it). SOUNDS Sound-wise, I was actually fairly impressed with the stock pickups. Epiphones and Squiers often come with pickups that sound good at low gain, but really come up short at high gain. The pickups in this guitar sound great for the price you pay. Nice, chimey clean tones all the way up to high gain leads with ease. The HSS configuration makes it easy to switch between a vast array of tones with the flick of a switch, and a mini toggle allows for splitting of the humbucker, so you essentially have an HSS and an SSS configuration. Definitely something you don't ever find on a "cheap" guitar from other brands. I actually ended up changing the pickups out for a set of EMG 81/S/S pickups, just because after I refinished my guitar, I decided I was going to upgrade the electronics too. I'm not really a big fan of EMGs, but I got them cheap, and they look great with the purple flame top I put on it. OVERALL OPINION Overall, this is an excellent guitar for a beginner to intermediate level player. While I wouldn't suggest it for the professional as a main guitar, I'd certainly suggest it if you're looking for a guitar for some different tones on the cheap. This guitar is certainly not "professional quality," and could use some upgrades if you wanted it to be really great, but for the price I see these for on the used market, there's not a single other guitar out there that can even touch it in its price range!

Features — 7 Bought used from a musician, don't know the manufacturing year but I would guess around 2009-2010. It's got a solid alder body and 22-fret maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard, bolted into the body. We have your typical Strat setup with 3 single-coil pickups, a tremolo hardtail bridge and 5-way switch. No other fancy features, it's pretty much designed to get you playing as quickly as possible. The neck is a little fatter than I expected and has a rough satin finish. It's a little raw and unrefined. Sound — 7 Suited my blues and classic rock style fine, the sound was a little thin and treble-y. But it's loud and could be played clean or dirty without issue. Played it through a Marshall combo. I didn't use any effects with it and just cranked up the gain a little when playing AC/DC, Hendrix, etc. It's not a noisy guitar. You can get a wide variety of sounds, although I wouldn't play Metal or anything too heavy. The pickups really are basic but considering the price on this guitar they're good value for money. Action, Fit & Finish — 7 The guitar was not set up by the previous owner. I needed to adjust the truss rod several times to get it right, as well as changing the strings. Wiring and finish were all fine, there are no complaints. The hardware is just ok and holds well. Overall the finish was fine for the price point, for a budget guitar I never expected much anyway. But it feels solid and put-together enough for you to start playing your first riffs. It's a no-nonsense finish and anyone looking for something different would be ill-advised. Reliability & Durability — 8 I would use this as a second live guitar, or rehearsals and home practice. Reason being the sound quality could be better but it's unbeatable at this price point. Durability is fine. It's dependable and looks ok. I have fun using it and it has never let me down. I still own it, I actually prefer it over the Squier Bullet as it's got a little more personality. It's great feeling and sounding for the price, and will be a good introduction for someone starting out. It will do the job just fine for you. Overall Impression — 7 The underrated Aria STG-003 isn’t as popular as the Squier Bullet or Affinity alternatives, but the reliably basic quality is on par with those models. It sports decent pickups, good construction and a nice neck, which is a little thicker than on most Strats. It’s a good guitar to start on, although you would not gig with it as is. Despite this it’s quite reliable, so if you can find one used at a good price then do go for it. The pickups are warmer than the Squiers, which is good thing. You could upgrade the pickups longer term.

i was looking for a second electric guitar for around £250 and decided to go for the aria based on looks and reviews, and i was right in deciding to buy this. i love the pure rock sound you gain out of the bridge double humbucker, i am in a grunge rock band at the moment and this guitar was perfect for me and all the styles i played in the band, lead solo's, heavy metal solo's, rythm, punk, blues, the lot! also it comes in 3 stunning colours one thing i could criticise about it was the fact that it marks very easily as the paintwork looks very delicate, also i had fret buzz/echo on around 6 of the frets, but which did not havea dramatic effect of playing. This guitar is built to the highest standard and has a far better build quality than other manufacturers in this area, for exaple the yamaha pacifica, cort X series etc. It just feels like you have more quality when playing than others. Brilliant for a second guitar, typical rock guitar, 9/10! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this guitar off Ebay for $265. Came with origional reciept and warrenty card. This guitar is basically ARIA's version of the Les Paul. It has the same basic shape(slightly different) and all the same features. But the body is thinner and contured for comfort with a heal-less neck joint for easier accessabillity to the higher frets. The sound is big, full and rich. The feel is great, it practically plays itself. There really isn't anything I don't like about this guitar. But now that I know how great it is, I feel that I want to get the "Anniversary" model which has a set neck as apposed to the bolt-on system that this one has. Great quality. Solid construction. Has a 3 bolt, bolt on neck. I had my doubts about it at first but this guitar is now 3 years old and shows no sign of weakness. Also, a great looking see through blue finnish on a alder carved top body. Its a great guitar. Great looks, great sound, great value. I have 6 guitars and this is my favorite. I have a lot of guitarist friends as well, and everyone who has played around with this guitar has had nothing but positive remarks about it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased my Aria online at music123 for an outstanding price of just under $400. My friend introduced me to his and when i picked it up and played this thing, I JUST HAD TO HAVE IT! First off she's a beaut, i got mine in the metallic red and its one of the hottest looking basses in my opinion. The feel is what really gets to me, its fairly lightweight and short which makes it very comfortable for me, not to mention the sound quality is phenominal for any style. You just cant go wrong with the price either, all around its just awesome. There's nothing i dont like about this baby. The igb 50 is built to last, i've been to hell and back with this thing and it still looks as if i just took it out the box. The body is made of ash, the neck is made of maple and is a bolt on, the fingerboard is made of rosewood 350r, and with all the matt chrome hardware.......just awesome! Again all around exellency in the material dept. If you've got a budget to keep and are looking for the best bang for ur dollar, this bass just hits the top of that list. If ur still unsure about it all u have to do is pick one up and play it. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

First let me explain that I have been playing guitar for 33 yars now and i have been in numerous bands.As a seasoned guitarists I am always on the lookout for new gearwhen i happened into a local music store. I noticed the Pe-Spl immediately as i was looking for a guitar with no trem .the owner then asked if i would like to try it out ? Of course i did and the rest is history , What first caught my eye was the flamed maple face. Upon handling the instrument imagine my suprise to find it was also a set neck with a heel less mount . It is a mahogany boby with an excellent finish multibound body , neck and head stock . And the price was unbeleivable for the quality. All in all one great package for the price of $570.00 I own numerous guitars electric and acoustic and for recording this is my choice over all .Fit, Finish And Playability are all excellent! I would highly recomend this guitar to any serious player. no drawbacks that I can find! Mahogany body, set maple neck w rosewood finger board . flamed maple face, gold hardware, Dual humbuckers and diecast tuners I like my toys and at that price I can afford more! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

For someone navigating the effects world and looking for a great sounding distortion overdrive pedals it can get quite confusing. There's so many distortion and overdrive and fuzz pedals to choose from so how do you really choose the right one? Many times it's going on forums or looking at reviews on certain online retailers to finding out which effects processor or some of your favorite artists or people you respect use. Many times there are pedals that really don't find their awareness in the market. And some of these nice little gems can be found on certain websites and forms with solid reviews. UTILIZATION specs Effect: Tube Distortion Tube: 12A x 7A x 1 Controls: Drive, Lo, Hi, Level Power Source: AC Size: L163 x W100 x H74mm Weight: 1.1 kg SOUND QUALITY Aria platinum Drive is a tube driven overdrive distortion pedal that has basically four control knobs. You have a drive control knob, a low and high tone control knobs which basically bring in the frequencies of the low and high tone EQ. Then you have a overall level knob and that's pretty much about it. This pedal uses a 12ax7 preamp tube which gives a nice pre-distortion tone similar to a all tube amplifier. So what you get is a nice tube distortion tone. It really sets it's voicing within the tube gain structure. This is good for boosting a nice overdriven amp or even a clean amplifier. This is a pretty good OD pedal because it's the simple features but effective features that make it effective. OVERALL OPINION These pedals are very expensive and they're not very well known yet. You can find them for right around $80 or so and they have a great sound and tone for someone who needs the solo boost or even all out gainy overdrive pedal. This is a cool pedal for the money and it doesn't get much better than this.

This particular dreadnought made by the Aria company is an almost exact copy of the famed Martin D28. I have sung the praises of the real deal for many years, so when I stumbled across what looked like a genuine D28 aside from the name and country of origin selling for $300 used, my interest was piqued enough to give it a look and a test run. It features a spruce top with rosewood back and sides, what looks to be a mahogany neck, and a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. It is equipped with a standard Martin style rosewood bridge and a set of sealed chrome tuners. I'm not entirely certain on the country of origin but I believe this guitar was made around 2006, most likely in China. UTILIZATION This guitar basically feels and plays like a Martin guitar. Mind you, the setup on it wasn't stellar but regardless, I could hear the tone and sense that it felt close to the real deal. The weight is medium and it sits on the body quite well. Dreadnoughts are not the easiest guitars to get around for someone of a smaller body frame such as myself, but that aside I would say it's not un-ergonomic. The upper fret access is okay, but there's no cutaway to really get beyond the 14th fret, so it's sort of a moot point. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is as simple as strumming it. Seriously, that's it. It has a very thick low end with a pronounced midrange and fairly subdued highs. Despite having an extremely high action and what must've been two year old strings... it still had a thunderous and full sound, great for bluegrass tone. SOUNDS I particularly like the guitar for it's Martin esque tones and feel. It's not exactly like a D28, but it is close enough that for $300 I was shocked. The Martin has a stronger sound overall and seems much louder. The Aria was generally a quieter guitar overall, but it could've been the old strings/setup too. Granted, I'm pretty sure the Aria isn't all solid wood so that would have a pretty serious effect on the tone compared to the Martin. Overall it's a great rhythm and lead guitar, and also sounds wonderful in open crossnote tuning as well. OVERALL OPINION All in all for the $300 or so used that these guitars can be found for, it's a bargain. They are hard to come by (this is only the 2nd one I've ever seen for sale near here) and when they sell they sell quick. Many of these Martin and Gibson copies are extremely well made guitars for not a lot of dosh, and this Aria is no exception. Well worth looking at if you want a D28 for almost 1/10th of the price of a new one

The Aria Analog Delay ADL-1 is a guitar effects pedal that has a 1/4 inch input and two 1/4 inch outputs. It is powered by either a 9 volt power supply or a 9 volt battery, the latter of which I have used with it. Like the name states, it is an analog pedal and isn't rackable as it is a stomp box. UTILIZATION The make up of the Aria Analog Delay ADL-1 is fairly easy to follow and I can't imagine anyone having too much trouble understanding what everything does here. The pedal simply has three parameters - a knob for time, a knob for feedback and a knob for level. These parameters seem to be enough to get a variety of different sounds, but since I'm not a big fan in general of the tones on this pedal, I don't think that any amount of parameters would satisfy me. Beyond the tones that you can get with the different parameters, the pedal is extremely easy to use and for this reason you don't need a manual for it. SOUND QUALITY I have used the Aria Analog Delay ADL-1 with a Fender Stratocaster and a '76 Fender Twin Reverb for the most part and I have to say that I'm just not a fan of the way that this pedal sounds. It will do the trick if you are just messing around, but for recording and for anything serious I really can't recommend using this pedal as I feel it will not only kill a lot of your tone and signal, but it doesn't add enough to make up for it. Like I said, if you are just trying to get your feet wet with delay and are messing around this pedal will work fine, but for recording or even for live shows I would recommend looking elsewhere. I get a pretty accurate sound because of the other equipment that I have used with this pedal and I'm just not impressed. OVERALL OPINION I first used the Aria Analog Delay ADL-1 a few years ago and I have to be honest with the fact that I haven't used it since. I played around with it for a little while to see if I could get it to make any cool or interesting tones after I realized that I couldn't get a good sounding traditional delay from it, but to no avail. The only good thing about this pedal is the price, but since these are no longer made they are pretty rare and most people wouldn't even be able to take advantage of the price anyway. All in all, I would highly recommend looking elsewhere for your delay tones.