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Aria- making a comeback?


Grahambythesea

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1 hour ago, atsampson said:

I quite like the shape of that blue bass - not my colour, though!

So where in Japan are these made? Do Aria have their own factory, or are they contracting to someone else?

Contracting elsewhere - Aria have never had their own factory. No idea who makes them now - most of the Japanese manufacturers who were prolific & respected in the 70s & 80s are long-gone. From memory, Fujigen, Iida, Dyna, Moridaira, Tokai, Terada are still going, and there will be others.

The classic MIJ Arias were predominantly from Matsumoku but examples have turned up that are from Kasuga & Fujigen. After Matsumoku closed in '86, apparently some high-end MIJ production went to Tokai, while midrange & lower went to Korea.

 

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15 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

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.

 

 

15 hours ago, prowla said:

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

Still love my ‘700! 

88039689-B153-40BE-A0A7-87EA28200828.thumb.jpeg.9ad3c2a781a7ce9066e55d68d7580964.jpeg

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Thank you for returning this thread to the subject and getting away from the motor bike manufacturer. I wish I’d bought the SB too, though I remember them as rather heavy beasts. I took a friend to Wapping Bass Centre to buy his first bass and we picked up an SB for £250. He only had £200 and I had to lend him the other £50. Bargain or what!

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

Thank you for returning this thread to the subject and getting away from the motor bike manufacturer. I wish I’d bought the SB too, though I remember them as rather heavy beasts. I took a friend to Wapping Bass Centre to buy his first bass and we picked up an SB for £250. He only had £200 and I had to lend him the other £50. Bargain or what!

 

 

That SB700 was my first ever bass too. And yes, it weighs a ton but balances perfectly! Still, it meant that when I picked up my Wals back in pre-Internet days I never worried about their weight... I just thought all basses weighed 10lbs and that was perfectly normal! :D

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1 hour ago, Grahambythesea said:

Thank you for returning this thread to the subject and getting away from the motor bike manufacturer. I wish I’d bought the SB too, though I remember them as rather heavy beasts. I took a friend to Wapping Bass Centre to buy his first bass and we picked up an SB for £250. He only had £200 and I had to lend him the other £50. Bargain or what!

 

 

Piano manufacturer, originally.

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2 hours ago, TrevorR said:

That SB700 was my first ever bass too. And yes, it weighs a ton but balances perfectly! Still, it meant that when I picked up my Wals back in pre-Internet days I never worried about their weight... I just thought all basses weighed 10lbs and that was perfectly normal! :D

The main issue I had with mine was that it was too big for me.

The fact that it doubled up as a free workout was just a bonus; I used to hump two Marshall 4x12 and a Burman valve amp around in those days.

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On 11/01/2019 at 06:42, 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.

A0BE4358-1C4B-40A9-81D8-B5EA91D47AD5.jpeg

Wow - Dodge Viper in bass form. Me like!

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On 13/01/2019 at 06:57, TrevorR said:

 

Still love my ‘700! 

88039689-B153-40BE-A0A7-87EA28200828.thumb.jpeg.9ad3c2a781a7ce9066e55d68d7580964.jpeg

What @TrevorR doesn't mention is the reason that picture looks a bit squint is because that bass has tilted the axis of the Earth as it's so heavy.

It's an amazing bass though it's just unfortunate that you can only lift it with something that contains hydraulic fluid.

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15 minutes ago, prowla said:

I drove one of those 'round Mallory Park - great fun!

The only time I've seen a viper outside of a car show, it was in the carpark of Showcase cinema in Coventry. 2am after a late night showing of the first Lord of the Rings film. It was doing doughnuts in 2" of snow. At first I thought that was quite amusing. But I then dawned on me that maybe the guy was just trying to drive the bugger in a straight line, but couldn't :D

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On 12/01/2019 at 18:52, AndyTravis said:

nothing to see here 😉

I am sure the yamahas are great (I have no doubt), but they are not the prettiest things are they, and that headstock is most certainly in the top ten ugliest.

That white one, the stupidly expensive one, that looks better (and the white tones down the headstock), but that is a bit expensive.

 

I think the arias (at least the 80s styled ones) win by quite a margin on looks

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1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Oh dear this madness seems to be contagious and spreading throughout leading Japanese makers. Just praying that Yammy stays immune...😀

image.png.88ba94b587fa2c43b157ae125eb910f2.pngimage.png.a7812994665512717b2b23344a6c801e.png

Aria have previous for this sort of thing:

289828221_ariasbr60blue.thumb.jpg.5620b13a65df1ac0852d47644a830a2a.jpg

1985-ish SB-R60, unusual but original finish. I think it looks great. Apart from the bodged repositioned strap button.

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