Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Aria RSB deluxe 5 string. Any out there ?


weepaul
 Share

Recommended Posts

There's a few dickheads out there defretting decent 5 string basses lately. Need to hunt them down and curb stomp them ✌🏻

Not tried the 5 string Aria SBs, loved the 4 strings and owned one of the original £500 Cliff Burton basses years ago, loved it! Definitely quality basses but wishing I had a 5 string to try too. 

  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5er RSBs seem to be very rare - in fact the only one I ever saw in the flesh was a brand new example in the big Rose Morris shop in Denmark Street, shortly after it opened in 1980-something. First 5-string I remember seeing for sale, and of note to me as I'd recently bought an RSB Deluxe II.

Did see one come up recently - can't remember where, although chances are it's the same de-fretted one the OP saw.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bigsmokebass said:

There's a few dickheads out there defretting decent 5 string basses lately. Need to hunt them down and curb stomp them ✌🏻

Not tried the 5 string Aria SBs, loved the 4 strings and owned one of the original £500 Cliff Burton basses years ago, loved it! Definitely quality basses but wishing I had a 5 string to try too. 

That'll be me then; had a de-fret done on my Fernandes Gravity 5'er.

Because, y'know, I'd played fretless before. But when I came back to playing bass, I decided I wanted to try 5 string. So I bought a cheapie off eBay rather than spend a lot on an experiment.

It worked sooooo well that I went after a Bass Collection SB to go with the 4-string that I liked so much. Except now I was playing 5-strings all the time. I didn't sell the cheapie because, for the small amount of money I'd spent on it...why would you?

And then I decided I wanted to try fretless again. So rather than spend a lot on another experiment, I had the cheapie 5'er de-fretted.

It worked soooooo well that I currently use it with the jazz workshop band with which I play, because the sound is perfect for that.  Obviously, that will probably change now that I've acquired my Spectors, but I won't sell it.

Don't see that there's an issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@mangotango surprisingly not you then, you're safe 😂👌🏻

Honestly seen some butchered fretboards out there on what I'd consider decent basses (ranging from £500-£1500) Clearly frets being pried off with pliers without any experience or knowhow of performing a defret. Chips and tear outs on the fretboard 😰 recently seen something go from £900 to £200 on what I'd safely assume was a bad job defretting it. Just a shame people can't just get them done professionally or simply buy a fretless bass.

Anyway, not going off topic.... 

@Bassassin I think he's more so after an Aria SB1000/5 kind of model more than anything else 5 string Aria sb10005b_sbk-500x500.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, bigsmokebass said:

@mangotango surprisingly not you then, you're safe 😂👌🏻

Honestly seen some butchered fretboards out there on what I'd consider decent basses (ranging from £500-£1500) Clearly frets being pried off with pliers without any experience or knowhow of performing a defret. Chips and tear outs on the fretboard 😰 recently seen something go from £900 to £200 on what I'd safely assume was a bad job defretting it. Just a shame people can't just get them done professionally or simply buy a fretless bass.

Anyway, not going off topic.... 

@Bassassin I think he's more so after an Aria SB1000/5 kind of model more than anything else 5 string Aria sb10005b_sbk-500x500.jpg

These are about £2k 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, bigsmokebass said:

@mangotango surprisingly not you then, you're safe 😂👌🏻

Honestly seen some butchered fretboards out there on what I'd consider decent basses (ranging from £500-£1500) Clearly frets being pried off with pliers without any experience or knowhow of performing a defret. Chips and tear outs on the fretboard 😰 recently seen something go from £900 to £200 on what I'd safely assume was a bad job defretting it. Just a shame people can't just get them done professionally or simply buy a fretless bass.

Anyway, not going off topic.... 

@Bassassin I think he's more so after an Aria SB1000/5 kind of model more than anything else 5 string Aria sb10005b_sbk-500x500.jpg

Cheers feller, I can live without a stomping. 😉 And there was no butchery with the de-fret job on my bass; either; it was done by a fine luthier, Jerome Davies, who has a deservedly good reputation. 👍

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, bartelby said:

Headstock shape is key for me, though it doesn't sound like it is for the OP.

I like both, although I think the original 2x2 batwing was best!

I like the 80s 4-a-side, always thought it was an elegant shape that complemented the body - but I might be biased because it was my first Aria. Shame the modern RSBs don't have quite the same shape, slightly spoils otherwise great-looking basses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...