cambi31

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

£40 is a steal, however you look at it! However £480 is wildly optimistic for the Aria - it's probably closer to half that in the real world. The Aria brand makes it a bit more collectable than the same instrument with another name, but I'd think yours is a good 200 quid's worth, particularly with the DiMarzios.

That is a little unexpected! I must admit it is my first ever guitar. There was just something I liked about the look of it. Now I need to learn to play it! 

10 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

After a bit more digging, can tell you it's the same guitar as an Aria 1932. Not sure if the Bigsby is original or not but that & the brand name are the only differences.

http://www.matsumoku.org/models/aria/solid/sg/19xx.html

https://reverb.com/item/28109394-aria-aria-doublecut-1932-1970s-natural

 

 

They are identical!! Other than name like you say. £480!! Is that a usual sum for something like that? I think I did ok with the £40 I paid for it, if that is the case. 

11 minutes ago, Bassassin said:

I suppose technically it's not the right place for it, but I have a problem with authority anyway.

That's a very nice guitar, with nice era-correct pickup upgrades. It's a Matsumoku-made guitar, which is confirmed by the "Steel Adjustable Neck" neckplate, the arrowhead-shaped truss cover, and the original pickup rings, which are for 3-screw humbuckers. These traits appear together on most early 70s Matsumoku copies of Gibson guitars, and the neckplate was exclusive to that factory.

Age-wise, it's probably 1971 - 1973. Unfortunately the serial numbers on these early 70s Matsumokus appear to be random and there's no reliable way of dating from them. The original pickups would probably have had date codes stamped underneath, so in the event they came with the guitar, those would give a very accurate idea of its age. As it is, the neck style, with rounded fretboard heel and inlays up to the 17th fret are an indicator that it's pre- 1974, and the use of a pin badge  rather than a transfer tells us that it's early 70s.

As the stickers suggest, the pickups are almost certainly DiMarzios, likely Super Distortions, and will have been fitted to replace the original Maxon-branded units, probably late 70s/early 80s. Quick way to check if they are DiMarzios is to stick an allen key in a pole piece - DiMarzios are Imperial, so a metric key won't fit. Alternatively, they should have red/white/black/green/wiring and if you're lucky, PAF stickers underneath.These are pretty sought-after vintage pickups these days.

If I haven't already bored you to death, I can also tell you a little about the brand. Eros was house-brand of London distributor Rosetti, the name seemingly taken from the statue in Piccadilly Circus, which was near to their retail premises. They were broadly good-quality copies of US designs, and initially were sourced from the Matsumoku and Fujigen factories. Later Eros instruments were Korean, and unfortunately not of the same standard.

There is some confusion about the brand itself. Rosetti used "Eros" and "Eros Mark II" for reasons that aren't exactly clear, whilst, even more confusingly, being UK distributor for Italian acoustic guitar brand E-Ros, an entirely unrelated brand made by Fuselli in Recanati, and closely associated with Eko.

And as @Stub Mandrel says, PJ Harvey played an old Eros SG back in the 90s, with her original 3 piece band.

Oi - wake up at the back!

That is absolutely fascinating! The Woman I collected it from told me a little about her late Husband. (who the guitar belonged to for decades) He was a music producer/musician. And recorded alot of local bands of all types of genres in his studio which was in their back garden. I just had to learn more about this guitar after speaking with her.

Hi I have been recommended this thread from the guitarchat forum. I have recently purchased this. Any info on it would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if the fact it a 6 string matters on here. Apologies if so.