Aria LP Gold on Gold Metallic Sparkle

[Lennon]

I just picked up this LP copy today - it plays super nice. Great tone. Looks amazing. The paint is in good shape. The top, back, sides and neck have all been sprayed with sweet gold metallic sparkly goodness. The hardware is also gold and is aging quite beautifully. Bolt on neck. It weighs a ton. The only downside is that the selector switch is a bit wonky and is going to require me to dig around in there a little to figure it out.

I like it. Are there any other Aria owners out there? Know when this was built? there aren't any serial numbers on the wood...

 

[iainmc]

I had a black one - my first electric. I did heaps of mods - pickups, coil taps, Kinda wish I still had it. great guitar.

/i

 

[Jesus freak]

I had a Aria SG copy for years, it was a sweet sweet guitar! My buddy has it now in pieces he lost all hardwear and pups. I was sad to hear that. Your LP looks awesome though!

 

[ef_in_fla]

Obviously it was strung by a true professional.

 

[Lennon]

Obviously it was strung by a true professional.

Oh that was me, first thing I did was change the strings when I got home and I don't ever cut the ends off

 

[musicofanatic5]

Oh that was me, first thing I did was change the strings when I got home and I don't ever cut the ends off

OSHA sez: safety glasses required when in the same room as this guitar!

 

[mc5nrg]

latter 70s.

 

[Lennon]

according to this web archive: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/aria.html it's probably some variant of a 5522G which dates it between '70-74. Also, I've read that the open book headstock style was phased out in '75 (released through '76), that would make sense if it coincided with the brand name change to "Aria Pro II" in '75. However, I've also read that the headstock change occurred in '77 (released through '78)...

idunno, it's fun doing the research - but as the website says, it's all kinda sketchy.