Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I don't think that Aria has gotten any more popular in the USA over the past 8 years in which this thread had been buried. :biglaugh:
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I started with an Aria strat copy bought in 1984. Still have the guitar and held its stock pups. This guitar will never leave the house. It sounds and sustains like no set-in neck or neckthrough I have/had. Incredible sustain.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I was coming in to post a pic of these but by the time i got the pic i realised it was the wrong brand.

Anyway i want to post it anyway.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I own two Aria's, one's a copy of a Heritage copy of a LP in trans blue with all Schaller gear
and the other is an MM, Mario Macafferi jazz guitar. Aria was big here in Aus in the inthe 80's and 90's.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I see a lot of them around, used, in stores. I've never played one, that I can recall. But it makes sense that if I decided to go check some out, I wouldn't be able to find any.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I saw a new one once in the mid 80's
it looked nice, then I saw something else and my mind wandered
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I had an Aria in the early 80's. Cant remember much about it other than it being blue, a pretty decent guitar and someone stole it. There was a small hobby/music store not far from me that sold Aria guitars maybe 10 years ago. That's probably the last time I've seen one.
 
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Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I had an Aria Pro II XR in '88 which was styled after a HM Strat with a Kramer pointyhead and sharkfin inlays. Wasn't a bad guitar, but there were many others that were better.
H-S-S, Floyd-style trem.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

Securb said:
...said every guy that grew up in the 80's. There is a picture of Dimebag out there somewhere playing one at his first gig.
Click to expand...

And Krokus as well (a really nice old school metal Swiss band in early 80s).
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I lived in Germany at that time. The Germans valued them very high. Good guitars. Ugly, though.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

My second electric ever was an Aria Pro II RS Knight Warrior. I was (barely)smart enough to have it professionally set up shortly after i got it.
LOVED that guitar. I WILL own the same thing again one day except the floyd rose will be an OFR, not that silly act3 thing it came with.
It had a very nice warm clean tone to it. It had blade type pickups in it which i believe were the mmk45 but cant be sure.

Dont remember why i sold it. I think i just wanted something different.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

a couple months back I bought an Aria HSS strat style that has an alder body for $30 and it came with a pretty sturdy gig bag that would have been worth $30 alone. Plays amazing.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

Securb said:
...said every guy that grew up in the 80's. There is a picture of Dimebag out there somewhere playing one at his first gig.
Click to expand...

Self correction Dimebag started with a Hondo II not an Aria.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

I bought an old Aria strat clone a couple of months back for AU$60. I stripped off the poly to the bare alder and finished with Lake Placid Blue nitro. All new hardware and electronics including pups. It's plays and sounds amazing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
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Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

They were big where I grew up. Every metal head long hair in town bought a ProII with a crazy crackle finish and a Crate amp at the local shop
The other ones went an bought a new Ibanez EX350 or 360 and a Peavey Bandit 112..
I had the Ibanez EX350 and a Fender solid state with this old multi effects from Digitech.
I thought I was the king of tone lol!

The Arias were really good guitars and i would like to have one for nostalgia sake..
I jammed on my buddies a lot and really like the way it played.
You still see some of the Matsumokus pop up around here on Cragislist from time to time.
Them and the ELektras were really big here. Hell a shop in Louisville just started selling the Elektra Les Pauls again, I had one of them too.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

Gearjoneser said:
There was a period in the early/mid 80's when Aria guitars were all over the place in the US. When I started playing guitar then, it wasn't uncommon to see them. I don't know the details of their history, but are they more popular in Europe and Japan? I know SD has an affiliation with them, and I think they co sponsored the UK User Group Day.

What's the scoop? How come Americans rarely talk about Aria? I don't remember the last time I saw one in a store, in a thread on here, or a band endorsing them in magazines.

www.ariaguitars.com
Click to expand...

I wanted to buy the Retro 1532, just when they came out. (feels like yesterday)

But now, i am waiting to hear back from a seller . . . as i might get a '79 Pro II ST-400 !!!

Very excited about it.
 
Re: Why is Aria so unpopular in the US?

There was pawn shop right outside the military base gate and they had an assortment from low to high quality Aria instruments. Tried a couple, but an Explorer from the local Gibson dealer beat them out. Looking back, I realize these were good instruments. Wish I could go back in time and get a couple of them. A Gibson was a must have and in my stupidity, might have let a good guitar escape.
 
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