Aria Pro SB Special II, 1982.

[solo4652]

It's on the way to me as we speak. First impressions posted here in a few days time. Hope it arrives OK.

Steve

[iconic]

Do i get a finder's fee?!?

Lovely looking thing....this was a great test for me i believe i have beaten my GAS!

Good luck with it.

[solo4652]

Arrived today, Folks. When I've finished cleaning it and doing a set-up, I'll post some initial impressions in the Bass section.

Steve

[solo4652]

Got this bass last week.

It took me a whole day to strip it, de-crud it, remove years of fluff, grime and sticky stuff, check all the electrics, re-assemble it and do a decent set up. After playing it at home and at band practice, here are my impressions:

Good points;

Really nice woods. Quality alder (?) body, smooth maple neck and virtually unmarked rosewood board.
Loads of tone options with pickup blending, pickup phase switching and individual pickup tone/volume controls. Almost too many options! - I'll probably confuse myself in the hurly-burly of a gig.
Slim, easy-to-play neck. Easy-access truss-rod at heel.
Balances well - no neck-dive.
To my ears, it tends towards a more modern/middy tone but a bit of pickup switching gets it pretty close to warm/rich/P-tone. It's all there, somewhere.

Things that don't suit me, personally;

Narrow string spacing. I'm used to a wide, flat 44mm G&L nut-width, so perhaps I was expecting a bit much to play a 40mm nut-width. My hulking great paws are finding it too cramped.
Slightly odd tone-switching that takes a fair bit of learning and understanding. For me, it's made me realise I prefer something a little more simple and straightforward, especially in a gig environment.

So, in summary, this is a well-built instrument easily on a par with my MIJ Fender P for build-quality. It's light, nicely balanced, easy to play and has a wide range of tones on offer - at least as many as my G&L. It's a J size neck and that's where I'm struggling with it. I don't think it's quite right for me. It's made me realise I should keep looking for a G&L SB-1, L-1000, LB-100 or maybe a wide-necked Yamaha BB like a BB1200.

Steve
Edited February 12, 2014 by MB1

[hoiho]

Well, if you decide you need to move it on, there's more than me would happily give it a good home!

Edited February 14, 2014 by hoiho

[MB1]

'hoiho'
Well, if you decide you need to move it on, there's more than me would happily give it a good home!

MB1.
I have a feeling it will be remaining Local.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1392486780' post='2369357']
MB1.
I have a feeling it will be remaining Local.
[/quote]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/229533-aria-pro-2-sb-special-2-mij-1982/page__view__findpost__p__2366064"]It'd be nice to think the first person to ask might get first refusal...[/url]

J.