AndyTravis Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) After a few sherbets last night, spotted something on Reverb.com. An Early 80's Aria SB-600 in Padouk Red. Having just bought an SB-1000, you think I'd be all sorted for 80's Matsumoku loveliness. Me too. But red wine had other ideas. https://guitarvillage.co.uk/products/aria-pro-ii-sb-600-padouk-red-pre-owned-circa-1981-ec Oh well, looks good, and while I'm waiting for the SB-1000 to come back to life (pickup issue) this will tide me over. Coming from guitar village in Surrey. Edited December 22, 2016 by AndyTravis Quote
GreeneKing Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 That does look nice. Red wine does it for me too, and gin. Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 19, 2016 Author Posted December 19, 2016 Just realised it's a 700 (neck through) GO ME! Hahaha Quote
MarkJB Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 I've got a black SB600 - great bass, had it for 30years! It's done me well over the years but for me it has two weaknesses, 1) it's passive pup is a bit limited in terms of tones - it's big mind you! And 2) it's bloody heavy! Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 19, 2016 Posted December 19, 2016 [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1482151319' post='3198001'] After a few sherbets last night, spotted something on Reverb.com. An Early 80's Aria SB-600 in Padouk Red. Having just bought an SB-1000, you think I'd be all sorted for 80's Matsumoku loveliness. Me too. But red wine had other ideas. [url="https://guitarvillage.co.uk/products/aria-pro-ii-sb-600-padouk-red-pre-owned-circa-1981-ec"]https://guitarvillag...d-circa-1981-ec[/url] Oh well, looks good, and while I'm waiting for the SB-1000 to come back to life (pickup issue) this will tide me over. Coming from guitar village in Surrey. [/quote] Were you after the Elite in the 'wanted' section? Because I was just about to drop you a line... Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 19, 2016 Author Posted December 19, 2016 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1482166460' post='3198170'] Were you after the Elite in the 'wanted' section? Because I was just about to drop you a line... [/quote] Still do just in case 😉 Quote
The-Ox Posted December 21, 2016 Posted December 21, 2016 nice! What do these Arias sound like? Any Alembicness about these ones? Or is it only the actual modded ones that have the Alembic sound? Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 21, 2016 Posted December 21, 2016 [quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1482338669' post='3199723'] nice! What do these Arias sound like? Any Alembicness about these ones? Or is it only the actual modded ones that have the Alembic sound? [/quote] They sound like grand pianos to me. Not very Alembic-like to my ear. Quote
TrevorR Posted December 21, 2016 Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) The 700 Andy's bought is passive with a series/parallel switch option (or is it a coil tap? Can never remember). Nothing like an Alembic. Love mine. Great playing and sounding bass. Edited December 21, 2016 by TrevorR Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 22, 2016 Author Posted December 22, 2016 Well, bad news... The pickup doesn't work. They can't/won't sort it. So I'm getting a refund. Hoping the sb700 for sale on here is still available Quote
The-Ox Posted December 22, 2016 Posted December 22, 2016 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1482347764' post='3199828'] They sound like grand pianos to me. Not very Alembic-like to my ear. [/quote] Ahh i see, must just be the modded ones then. Do you still have that Aria snd does it have mods? Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 22, 2016 Posted December 22, 2016 [quote name='The-Ox' timestamp='1482425937' post='3200518'] Ahh i see, must just be the modded ones then. Do you still have that Aria snd does it have mods? [/quote] I've still got an unmodified R60 but it will be for sale soon. Quote
Cosmo Valdemar Posted December 22, 2016 Posted December 22, 2016 [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1482425405' post='3200508'] Well, bad news... The pickup doesn't work. They can't/won't sort it. So I'm getting a refund. Hoping the sb700 for sale on here is still available [/quote] What a pain! You'd have thought the shop would give it a once over before sending it wouldn't you... Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 22, 2016 Author Posted December 22, 2016 What really hacks me off is that they've obviously taken it in p/x, and taken some wonderful photos of the bass. I paid and then they phoned to say it was going for a once over (not with their advertised 'in house' luthier) and 4 days later they say "we can't get it working, the replacement pickups are expensive and hard to find - do you want a refund?". Just seems really lax, I should've known better when they'd listed it as the wrong model... Quote
Twincam Posted December 22, 2016 Posted December 22, 2016 (edited) [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1482431260' post='3200577'] What really hacks me off is that they've obviously taken it in p/x, and taken some wonderful photos of the bass. I paid and then they phoned to say it was going for a once over (not with their advertised 'in house' luthier) and 4 days later they say "we can't get it working, the replacement pickups are expensive and hard to find - do you want a refund?". Just seems really lax, I should've known better when they'd listed it as the wrong model... [/quote] I bet they found out it was a better model or someone maybe the in house luthier taken a fancy to it and are talking bs! I would be peed off tbh. Because who takes in an instrument and doesn't test it. I mean even cash converters etc plug an instrument in. So I doubt they did not and it suddenly stopped working. Edited December 22, 2016 by Twincam Quote
pete.young Posted December 23, 2016 Posted December 23, 2016 [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1482431260' post='3200577'] I paid and then they phoned to say it was going for a once over (not with their advertised 'in house' luthier) and 4 days later they say "we can't get it working, the replacement pickups are expensive and hard to find - do you want a refund?". [/quote] More porkies. Aaron Armstrong does a drop in replacement for Aria pickups. Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Posted December 23, 2016 A direct quote "What we are getting at is that we can’t pay out to have the pickup repaired and do you the hot deal on the price as well. The boss would prefer to just do a refund and put it back up for sale." Great customer service. The boss would rather give you your money back than actually sell you anything... Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Posted December 23, 2016 This was after I'd already asked for a refund anyhow, I'd just (out of the goodness of my own heart) sent them a link to a pickup company who do a replacement... Quote
T-Bay Posted December 23, 2016 Posted December 23, 2016 Something strange there, as said earlier by others they may well be more at work than meets the eye. Quote
Monkey Steve Posted December 23, 2016 Posted December 23, 2016 that's a shame, and I'm a little surprised as I go to Guitar Village quite a lot and have never had any problems with them. But only for guitars - they are basically a shop for guitarists, not bass players, and make only a token effort for bass - they have more Les Pauls in stock than they have basses. It would certainly explain them misidentifying the model (my guess is that whoever sold/px'd it told them the model and they didn't question it) and not knowing about the replacement pup market. Though I'd be very surprised if they had listed it without checking that it worked first - my (possibly charitable) guess is that it's packed up since then. Better for them to find out now than for you to get it and have it stop working after a few days. Quote
AndyTravis Posted December 23, 2016 Author Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) I'll be dead straight, I'm not impressed with them. I've confirmed twice that I'd like a refund now over the course of two days. And it's still not happened. Edited December 23, 2016 by AndyTravis Quote
TrevorR Posted December 23, 2016 Posted December 23, 2016 I hate to be cynical but let's see if a fully functioning SB700 goes up for sale fro £200 more in the New Year? Quote
MisterT Posted December 23, 2016 Posted December 23, 2016 I've just got a bottle of Amarone on the go... should I steer clear of <insert-music-vendor-here> this evening? Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.