Aria 1984 5 string

[tomthebass]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255515609714

 

This looks like a bit of a bargain for someone...

[Max Normal]

Looks heavily shimmed - it's got quite a strong backwards break angle on the neck/body joint, which should usually result in a lower action (or choking on the higher frets).

 

This isn't the original bridge by the looks, you can see that it doesn't fit the routing where the original bridge would have been. If the saddles are too tall, this might explain the need for the backwards break angle.

Or there's a problem with the neck?

 

Looks like you can't do a factory setup on this bass without a bit of work. I'd pass.

[Bassassin]

8 hours ago, Max Normal said:

Looks heavily shimmed - it's got quite a strong backwards break angle on the neck/body joint, which should usually result in a lower action (or choking on the higher frets).

 

This isn't the original bridge by the looks, you can see that it doesn't fit the routing where the original bridge would have been. If the saddles are too tall, this might explain the need for the backwards break angle.

Or there's a problem with the neck?

 

Looks like you can't do a factory setup on this bass without a bit of work. I'd pass.

 

I think the neck shim's a consequence of the swapped bridge - the original would have sat in a shallow route which appears to have been filled & the replacement just plonked on top. Action's pretty brutal although the saddles are bottomed out by the looks. These were rare basses so finding the proper bridge would be close to impossible - and even if you did, you'd need to re-route it. It's also been de-fretted (which won't help the action) although that looks like a decent job.

 

Pity - first 5-string I ever saw in the flesh & played was one of these.