New Aria Pro II SB700

[LemonCello]

Has anyone tried one and what do you reckon?

 

I know they are made in Indonesia and prices vary from £865 for the Oak version (no case) from BAX to £1200 with a case elsewhere.

 

TIA

[Hellzero]

As they even recreated the original bridge, it should sound like the original, just hoping it's not a 15.5 mm strings spacing anymore, but at least an 18 mm strings spacing like all original chrome bridge models.

[JJMotown]

6 hours ago, LemonCello said:

prices vary from £865 for the Oak version

Not many stringed instruments made from Oak! Bloody heavy.

[LemonCello]

47 minutes ago, JJMotown said:

Not many stringed instruments made from Oak! Bloody heavy.

Think they are referring to the colour dude

[LemonCello]

I went and played one today at A Strings in Pontypridd.  They do play very nicely, build quality seems a cut above, no rough edges of corners.  Neck quite skinny front to back.  Lovely rosewood fingerboard and frets very neatly installed.  The only negative I can see is that it is boat anchor heavy!  I can't recall if my 1982 SB600 was that heavy?

 

If you like a quality neck thru retro passive and don't mind the weight you could do worse.

[Hellzero]

My mate of the bass duet plays an original one: it's damn heavy, and they've always been whatever SB series model...

[Skybone]

The weight was always a downside to the SB range. They always were darn fine basses though, and the current repro's look great. Shame they're not doing a twin pickup version at the moment, as I'd be very tempted.

[dudewheresmybass]

where have you seen them for £865 pls?

[LemonCello]

13 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

where have you seen them for £865 pls?

They have an Oak one for £865 and a Walnut one for £955 in Bax Music.

[Bass Direct]

We can get these, but have only bothered with the SB-1000's so far, as thats where most interest seems to be.

[mikebass456]

On 26/01/2025 at 18:24, LemonCello said:

Think they are referring to the colour dude

The neck on my self-build was from oak window ledges that nextdoor were chucking in the skip.🤪👍

[mikebass456]

On 26/01/2025 at 18:24, LemonCello said:

Think they are referring to the colour dude

Actually, the Paduak Red model looks remarkably similar to my Westone Thunder 3 that I'm in the process of moving on.......😎

[dudewheresmybass]

4 hours ago, LemonCello said:

They have an Oak one for £865 and a Walnut one for £955 in Bax Music.

Thank you. 
I did msg bass direct a while back about these and was told that they had no plans to get the 700s in. 
looks like things might change 😉

[BassAgent]

4 hours ago, LemonCello said:

They have an Oak one for £865 and a Walnut one for £955 in Bax Music.

Bax is a Dutch company and I always discourage people to buy from Bax. The company has been in the news in recent years for bad working circumstances, low salaries, people being put under too much stress, overtime not being paid... I have to say those stories are from a few years back but there are still employees that report bad stuff happening just to earn more money for the company.

 

On 26/01/2025 at 18:36, JJMotown said:

Not many stringed instruments made from Oak! Bloody heavy.

But an SB is supposed to be heavy. Just like a T-40. If Peavey ever reissues that I hope it's over 14 lbs.

[TrevorR]

On 27/01/2025 at 20:04, dudewheresmybass said:

where have you seen them for £865 pls?

 

On 28/01/2025 at 10:04, LemonCello said:

They have an Oak one for £865 and a Walnut one for £955 in Bax Music.

25% discount on the Oak colour one. 
 

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/complete-assortment?keyword=Aria sb

 

Was looking at them in Rose Morris the other week when wandering past Denmark Street. They look very nicely put together and really very similar to my ‘82 SB700

[LemonCello]

Update: So having played the Aria, nice though it is, I can't get away from the weight issue.  Would be fine sitting down but put it on a strap and well, my 62 year old shoulders would feel it.  It's also quite a lot of money for what it is and no gig bag/case in the UK.

 

Also, wanting to get away from Fenders for a while.  Nothing wrong with them and I've had a few but not overly impressed with the Player II's.  So I've bought a Sadowsky Metro Express Verdine White.  Great January sale deal at Andertons.  Great bass, really like the neck profile and its good and punchy in active mode and light too.  A problem however is that whilst noodling I discovered that the treble knob seemed to feel a bit sloppy so took the back plate off and found the pot rotating with the knob! Easy fix I thought take the knob off and tighten the locking nut.  Having taken the grub screw out of the knob it refused to come off even with some fairly strong pressure.  So phoned Andertons and the bass is going back tomorrow for their techs to look at it.  In fairness they were pretty good about it offering a full refund or swap or fix and keep it which is my pref.

 

Andertons will phone me when they've looked at it with eta for return.

[Hellzero]

Aren't there 2 grub screws on the Sadowsky knobs?

[LemonCello]

7 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Aren't there 2 grub screws on the Sadowsky knobs?

Apparently so, but I could only see one on mine?  It's all back in the box waiting for the courier tomorrow so I'm torn now whether to get it back out and check lol!

[Hellzero]

@LemonCello, there's an original one in excellent condition, with all the goodies, the invoice and the original case at a super price, in the ads.

 

It's even a very light one.

 

Worth checking this:

 

 

[LemonCello]

Just now, Hellzero said:

@LemonCello, there's an original one in excellent condition, with all the goodies, the invoice and the original case at a super price, in the ads.

 

It's even a very light one.

 

Worth checking this:

 

Thanks bud I did see that one 

 

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, LemonCello said:

Apparently so, but I could only see one on mine?  It's all back in the box waiting for the courier tomorrow so I'm torn now whether to get it back out and check lol!

Here are the knobs coming from some Sadowsky MetroExpress basses, and as you can see there are 2 grub screws (on all of them), just like on any American or Japanese Sadowsky.

 

 

So maybe worth checking instead of being taken for an ... idiot. 😉

[LemonCello]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Here are the knobs coming from some Sadowsky MetroExpress basses, and as you can see there are 2 grub screws (on all of them), just like on any American or Japanese Sadowsky.

 

 

So maybe worth checking instead of being taken for an ... idiot. 😉

I've had the Bass back out of the box and there are indeed two grub screws.  So I've taken off the knob and it looks like the locking nut might be cross threaded and I'm not going to mess about with it and risk making it worse.  The instrument is under warranty and will be returned tomorrow as planned to let the tech sort it out.  So far as your "being taken for an idiot" comment goes, might you be at risk of being taken for a pompous t*#t ?

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, LemonCello said:

I've had the Bass back out of the box and there are indeed two grub screws.  So I've taken off the knob and it looks like the locking nut might be cross threaded and I'm not going to mess about with it and risk making it worse.  The instrument is under warranty and will be returned tomorrow as planned to let the tech sort it out.  So far as your "being taken for an idiot" comment goes, might you be at risk of being taken for a pompous t*#t ?

Nice way to thank people helping you!