hamfist Posted July 22, 2013 Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Sorry withdrawn. I can't bear to part with it at the moment. A pretty unusual one here. I picked this up, really knowing nothing about these because, as you will find, there is virtually nothing out there on the www on these basses. From what I can gather the M-series were made in Korea in the late 90's. There are a fair few of the 6 string guitar versions out there, and they seem very well thought of. I can only find evidence of 2 M-series basses though. A sparkly gold one in the States with active pre-amp and 2 x soapbar pickup layout, which was sold on TB a while back, and this one in the UK. My guess is that each one was effectively a custom shop one-off. What is clear is that it has been made out of quality materials. Anyway, this is a passive bass with 2 precision pickups. Tone and volume knob for each, plus a pickup selector toggle. The neck pickup is in the classic Fender P position. Body is possibly ash or alder. Certainly not basswood or Agathis as it is not light enough for that. It's not a "heavy" bass really, just not light enough to be one of the lighter, cheaper tonewoods out there. Finish is blue sparkle and is a very good quality. In fact the bass is in exceptional condition for a 15 year old bass with a couple of very minor dinks and some virtually imperceptible swirling. The neck is very similar to a Yamaha BB in feel, so sort of inbetween a J and P. Has a 40mm nut width. Plays very nicely indeed. Currently set up with a medium action to cope with my Gorilla-like right hand playing style, but does go significantly lower for those with a less apelike touch. And set up with 105-45 roundwounds. Intonation is perfect. There are no dead spots that I can perceive. Very satisfying to play in fact. OK, what does it sound like ? Well it's pure Fender P on the neck pickup. And a good Fender P at that. These Aria pickups are great. I tried a Dimarzio Model P and a Fender Original P pickup in the neck slot and I put the Aria one straight back in. It has a lovely woody lower mid-oriented tone. Fits in awesomely in a mix unlike some P's, which can sound a bit "hollow" IME. Both pickups mixed is very similar to a PJ blended, but with more guts. Bridge pickup is, again, similar to a bridge J pickup, but with more authority. I am selling this only as I already have a PJ bass that I love, and fits me like a glove, and this is too similar. I limit myself to 2 basses (well my wife does actually !), so I would like something to contrast. I'm not into fivers or Jazzes, but I would be interested in trading for something like a Sterling SUB4, Yamaha RBX274 or Ibanez SR500. So a modern-type soapbar or humbucker-equipped bass. Needs to play really nicely and be of a similar playability to this Aria. No dead spots or weak E strings please ! Might also possibly be interested in a trade for a high end dirt box ... all depends what it is. Alternatively a straight sale is fine. Price would include P&P within mainland UK. I am in no hurry whatsoever to move this on, as it a fine bass, so no cash offers below the asking price please. As for trades ... try me. The worst that can happen is that I politely decline. I currently have some rather cool white stripes on it. These are simply white insulating tape and will peel straight off. I do rather like it stripey though. Here's some pics ....... [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-full-b.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-body-rear.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-headstock-front.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-body-front-b.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-stripes.html"][/url] [url="http://www.ephotobay.com/share/aria-headstock-rear.html"][/url] Edited July 25, 2013 by hamfist
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