Bargains can be had….

[Rayman]

I bought this last week, and I just got around to cleaning it and setting it up…

 

’90s Korean Aria GTB II J.

 

 

Pretty tatty on collection, but the seller assured me it sounded amazing, and all was well with the neck etc…. he was correct 

 

 

Having just spent an hour working on it, new (old but newish) strings (yes they need trimming down a bit) put on it, cleaned and oiled etc, it’s a belter. Fantastic pickups, very jazz like, but very bright and punchy. I really do love these 90s Aria pickups, they’re very potent and very clear as they are on all my old Aria basses. My Integra 4 string, very similar to this, is also a beast.

 

 

Not light, but not heavy, just a sold piece(s) of wood.

 

I saw it on Gumtree and knowing what I know, I had to add it to the stable, I beat a lot of folks to it apparently, there was a bit of a queue by all accounts.

 

It was £50.

 

👍🏻

[lemmywinks]

That's a great score, has the old stock MIJ Aria bridge on it as well.

[Rayman]

20 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

That's a great score, has the old stock MIJ Aria bridge on it as well.

Yep, always a plus point with these.

[TheGreek]

I remember Arias being highly regarded in the 80s.

No idea if they lost their way or if its just a flavour of the month thing but others with long memories should agree.

[NancyJohnson]

I told a friend of mine about an Integra that was on eBay about a year ago.  It was about £100.00.  Mental.  It needed a bit of a set up, but it was stonking.

 

[Rayman]

41 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I remember Arias being highly regarded in the 80s.

No idea if they lost their way or if its just a flavour of the month thing but others with long memories should agree.

Yes the SB series, MIJ, were great basses. Subsequently production moved to Korea, and they became more intermediate, good, but not quite up there with the Japanese made instruments. The 90s and early 00s MIK Integras were great. I have a couple, my 5er is an IGB68, great bass. 
 

Now, they’re made in China I believe, but even Chinese production is getting good now.

 

All that said, there’ll be more knowledgable Aria enthusiasts on here with more accurate information than me. I’m just a big fan.

[Rayman]

35 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I told a friend of mine about an Integra that was on eBay about a year ago.  It was about £100.00.  Mental.  It needed a bit of a set up, but it was stonking.

 

Get a good one, they’re really great. Worth every penny.

[TheGreek]

I have an Aria 4 string with a MM pickup which I don't play  - nothing wrong with it (in fact it's nicely balanced, good tone, nice neck) - I have several other 4 string basses I don't play. 

The resale price of these is ridiculously considering how well built they are and how good they play. 

I would have loved one as my first/ second bass.

[Rayman]

Yes my IGB68 5er is a MM pickup bass. Bizarrely, they used a ‘neck’ position pickup in them as standard, so the pole pieces don’t quite align with the strings.

[TheGreek]

[Rayman]

Oh yes, very nice 

 

 

[MichaelDean]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I remember Arias being highly regarded in the 80s.

No idea if they lost their way or if its just a flavour of the month thing but others with long memories should agree.

The first Aria I came across was in the music department at my school in the late 90s. I think it was a cat. The roundwound strings were horribly old (I think they were rusty too), and it was played through a 90s Fender bass amp which wasn't great itself. It wasn't until I joined Basschat that I learnt that they weren't all terrible. I think that one probably just had the bad luck of being abused by kids and living in a static caravan sort of a thing.

 

I wonder if a lot of people were also introduced to them like that. Might have reduced the brand reputation?

[Rayman]

The history or Aria and the man that started it is really fascinating. High end instruments made in Japan that rivalled the other Japanese builders. Down the years its been relegated to a perceived budget brand, which is a shame. I have no idea if the new Chinese stuff is any good or not.

 

All said, there’s a lot of very affordable MIJ & MIK basses that punch well above the used prices.

[ezbass]

3 hours ago, TheGreek said:

 

Ooh, that’s nice 😍.

 

 

 

My first good  guitar (sorry about the G word) was an Aria Les Paul. I wish I still had it now, it was awesome, especially with the 2 DiMarzio SDHBs I fitted.

[Thump]

Excellent find!  can never find bargains like this, lord knows I keep looking too.

 

That looks like a real beauty cleaned up from the pics you posted. Very nice indeed

[TheGreek]

TBH if it was a 5 string it would get more use. The only 4 string I play is a Mania fretless - another bargain. 

 

[Rayman]

Manias are fantastic basses.

 

So having played this little Aria a lot over the last few hours, I love it even more. 
 

The only change I’m going to make, and I think it’s worth it because I’m absolutely keeping it, is a new set of Gotoh GB7 tuners. Everything else will stay as is. It’s great.

[TheGreek]

The mother of all bargains..

 

 

[Rayman]

……….

 

😧

[Bassassin]

22 hours ago, TheGreek said:

 

STB-GT, mid '00s. Basically a Stingray with a P shaped body & a skinny maple/blocks J neck. These are probably Indonesian or Chinese but very nice quality. Paid £100 for mine...

 

[Rayman]

I’m loving this…..

 

An antidote to the extortionate prices of some of the gear out there at the moment.

[TheGreek]

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

 

STB-GT, mid '00s. Basically a Stingray with a P shaped body & a skinny maple/blocks J neck. These are probably Indonesian or Chinese but very nice quality. Paid £100 for mine...

 

 

Bargain...I paid £150 which I thought was OK when I played it. 

[stu_g]

Here is mine,I think I paid between £30-40 for it!

[TheGreek]

Now that was a real bargain...

[PaulThePlug]

£20...