Aria- making a comeback?

[Grahambythesea]

After years of producing budget instruments and abandoning their iconic 80’s basses are Aria trying to compete for the quality market again? I see they are offering Japanese made basses for a little under a grand but have they left it too long?

This is from the GBL website.

[AndyTravis]

13 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

After years of producing budget instruments and abandoning their iconic 80’s basses are Aria trying to compete for the quality market again? I see they are offering Japanese made basses for a little under a grand but have they left it too long?

This is from the GBL website.

Sorry to say that this looks like a £149 bass...🤭

[Delberthot]

I don't know what it is but whenever I see p&j pickups with exposed poles on a bass that isn't a p or a j then they always look cheap to me

[Old Horse Murphy]

59 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Sorry to say that this looks like a £149 bass...🤭

Wow.  That much? 😂

[Newfoundfreedom]

It's got Ford F40 Stripes. I bet it plays fast. 

[Al Krow]

What do you reckon this one should cost then?

[Wilco]

I reckon £4310. Roughly. At a guess. Ahem...... 😬

( I wasn’t on their website when your post came through - honest....🤔🤫)

Edited January 11, 2019 by Wilco

[Al Krow]

That's not a bad "guess"!

Now why would you get that and not a Status, MTD or a Shuker (or frankly a Yamaha...)

Particularly as it's missing a string...😂

 

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Al Krow

[TheGreek]

I like the shape of these basses but not the headstock - still waiting to find a neck through version with a broken headstock to convert to a headless.

 

[WHUFC BASS]

16 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

After years of producing budget instruments and abandoning their iconic 80’s basses are Aria trying to compete for the quality market again? I see they are offering Japanese made basses for a little under a grand but have they left it too long?

This is from the GBL website.

That is hideous. I'd rather play air guitar than that monstrosity.

[Grahambythesea]

It isn’t my taste either but I thought it was a slightly better shape than this one! 😱   I guess by the reactions so far it won’t be much of a comeback. Hope GBL have them on sale or return. 

 

 

[lemmywinks]

That blue thing looks bloody awful and I'm a fan of that shape, the old standard IGB 68 looked better than that. They used to do the odd limited run of nice looking basses, dunno if they were just for trade shows or if any made it out to shops on a regular basis. Stuff like this:

There was the Rosie which was pretty easily available a few years ago:

 

Bit puzzling why they've gone for such a cheap looking bass for their new flagship when they can clearly come up with much better designs. The RSBs look cool, shame the cheaper models don't have the clear pickguards though.

[Baxlin]

5 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

It isn’t my taste either but I thought it was a slightly better shape than this one! 😱   I guess by the reactions so far it won’t be much of a comeback. Hope GBL have them on sale or return. 

 

 

The OCD in me sees the strings as not being in the middle of the body.  Couldn’t do with that.

[Bassassin]

I don't think Aria ever stopped making high-end basses - they just haven't been exported much outside Japan, presumably due to the apparent lack of interest in anything that doesn't look like a Fender from the 50s or 60s.

I do like the sparkly blue & silver IGB, but then I'm a sucker for a bit of tacky vulgarity. The other one is (I think) their current take on the RSB - these have been available for the Japanese market for a good few years. Don't particularly like the shape (the original RSBs were the same shape as the classic SB) but the finish is lovely.

More of a fan of the home market version tbh.

[Newfoundfreedom]

9 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

That blue thing looks bloody awful and I'm a fan of that shape, the old standard IGB 68 looked better than that. They used to do the odd limited run of nice looking basses, dunno if they were just for trade shows or if any made it out to shops on a regular basis. Stuff like this:

There was the Rosie which was pretty easily available a few years ago:

 

Bit puzzling why they've gone for such a cheap looking bass for their new flagship when they can clearly come up with much better designs. The RSBs look cool, shame the cheaper models don't have the clear pickguards though.

Now those I like very much!

[lemmywinks]

That looks great! I really like the shape of those RSBs, reminds me a bit of the Avante bass they did.

[AndyTravis]

The RSb is cool.

they also make some beautiful SB-1000 exotic wood models for japan only, but they’re the same price as a Wal or Fodera.

Edited January 12, 2019 by AndyTravis

[prowla]

I've got an Aria PE Elite guitar - it's quite nice.

 

OK, so it's not an original 70s PE-1000, but I'll manage to live with the disappointment.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

I've got an Aria PE Elite guitar - it's quite nice.

 

OK, so it's not an original 70s PE-1000, but I'll manage to live with the disappointment.

Nice, very, early period, Andy Summers (bottom, mid-left).

 

[Defo]

That new model looks awful, they should do a range based on what they’ve done with the SB1000. I had a RSB Deluxe back in the 80s and it was phenomenal, neck like lightning. Last year I got a ‘86 R80 which is probably the most playable bass I’ve ever owned. MASSIVE opportunity here for a forward-thinking CEO to make a huge impact.

[Mudpup]

I had an 80s RSB Deluxe 2 back in the day too. Fabulous bass, really nice. All black with gold hardware. I couldn't afford an SB series one....

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Defo said:

That new model looks awful, they should do a range based on what they’ve done with the SB1000. I had a RSB Deluxe back in the 80s and it was phenomenal, neck like lightning. Last year I got a ‘86 R80 which is probably the most playable bass I’ve ever owned. MASSIVE opportunity here for a forward-thinking CEO to make a huge impact.

The SB1000 was probably the best Japanese bass ever made. I had an SB700 in the 70s/80s. 

[Al Krow]

10 minutes ago, prowla said:

The SB1000 was probably the best Japanese bass ever made. I had an SB700 in the 70s/80s. 

Better than the recent Yamaha TRB 5Pii or their current flagship BBNE2 or even than the older BB1200S or BB5000A?

I'm sure the Aria SB1000 was a great bass in its day but I'd politely suggest that Yammy picked up the ball when Aria dropped it and have managed to score very successfully several times since. 

[AndyTravis]

8 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Better than the recent Yamaha TRB 5Pii or their current flagship BBNE2 or even than the older BB1200S or BB5000A?

I'm sure the Aria SB1000 was a great bass in its day but I'd politely suggest that Yammy picked up the ball when Aria dropped it and have managed to score very successfully several times since. 

I had an ‘80 SB1000 and an ‘81 SB700.

much preferred the 700 and wish I still had it.

but the BB’s are much more my thing.

 

[bartelby]

17 hours ago, Al Krow said:

What do you reckon this one should cost then?

For a 1984 version, a straight swap for a mid 2000s Stingray.