NoisyJules Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Hi I have a Stagg EDB-3/4 that I picked up to play a gig on Tresco (Scilly Isles) as we were going by helicopter and my proper bass wouldn't fit. It was great- did the job. I felt a bit silly with a teeny stick, and it could have done with decent strings, but hey, not half bad! I recently had a go on an Aria SWB, and couldn't tell the difference. It seemed to be the same instrument. Apart from the extra coil pickups and...price tag- the Aria is three times the money!!! Anyone have any experience or opinions? Am I missing something? I was going to offer the Stagg for sale, but maybe not now! BTW got another gig on Tresco, but this time we're taking the boat and the proper bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mateybass Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 [quote name='NoisyJules' post='765759' date='Mar 6 2010, 12:44 AM']Hi I have a Stagg EDB-3/4 that I picked up to play a gig on Tresco (Scilly Isles) as we were going by helicopter and my proper bass wouldn't fit. It was great- did the job. I felt a bit silly with a teeny stick, and it could have done with decent strings, but hey, not half bad! I recently had a go on an Aria SWB, and couldn't tell the difference. It seemed to be the same instrument. Apart from the extra coil pickups and...price tag- the Aria is three times the money!!! Anyone have any experience or opinions? Am I missing something? I was going to offer the Stagg for sale, but maybe not now! BTW got another gig on Tresco, but this time we're taking the boat and the proper bass![/quote] From what I can tell, the body shape at the bottom (possibly shorter length below the bridge) and the shoulder is slightly different. The string anchor block is also slightly different in that the strings poke out the bottom on the Aria. The Aria electronics have extra controls depending on the model and pickups fitted. Apart from possibly some higher quality woods on the Aria I can't think of anything else that is different. I suspect they are made in the same factory in China somewhere. I certainly don't think the Aria would play three times better after a good Stagg set-up... both my Staggs are a delight to play and get very favourable comments from sound engineers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 The couple of Staggs that I've played weren't finished to anything like the same quality as the Aria SWB - rough edges, lumpy paint jobs and a rather hissy sounding preamp. I've lent my Aria to a number of players at gigs when the engineer just couldn't get rid of the hiss. The stagg also has a plastic (or plastic coated bridge) where the Aria has a solid wood bridge. Having said that, if you strip out the preamp and use a decent outboard pre (like a Fishman platinum) and whack on a decent set of strings, you'd end up with a very decent sounding bass and for less money thn the Aria. The finish would still suck though..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Not all Staggs have those problems though. The finish on mine is perfect, not a single blemish. The pre is silent on mine too. The first one i got had to go back though, the neck was on at a wonky angle causing the E string to be too close to the edge of the fingerboard. It appears the Staggs have more quality control issues as well as a few idiosynchratic little faults which can be easily sorted. Didn't someone on here do a guide to modding a Stagg a while ago, including fixing the rattling endpin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mateybass Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='TheRev' post='768038' date='Mar 8 2010, 02:45 PM']The couple of Staggs that I've played weren't finished to anything like the same quality as the Aria SWB - rough edges, lumpy paint jobs and a rather hissy sounding preamp. I've lent my Aria to a number of players at gigs when the engineer just couldn't get rid of the hiss. The stagg also has a plastic (or plastic coated bridge) where the Aria has a solid wood bridge. Having said that, if you strip out the preamp and use a decent outboard pre (like a Fishman platinum) and whack on a decent set of strings, you'd end up with a very decent sounding bass and for less money thn the Aria. The finish would still suck though..... [/quote] The Stagg has a black painted solid maple bridge. Quality control issues are probably the main reason why they are cheaper than the Aria but most of the quality control issues can be sorted with a proper set-up and a tiny amount of modification. Neither of my Staggs have hissy outputs, unless you use the headphone socket where the onboard headphone amp is a little hissy. [quote name='lemmywinks' post='768046' date='Mar 8 2010, 02:54 PM']Didn't someone on here do a guide to modding a Stagg a while ago, including fixing the rattling endpin?[/quote] Er... yeah, that would be me [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52673786@N00/sets/72157622373540977/"]It's all here[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I stand corrected re: the bridge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 [quote name='Mateybass' post='768734' date='Mar 9 2010, 12:47 AM']Er... yeah, that would be me [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52673786@N00/sets/72157622373540977/"]It's all here[/url][/quote] Ah great, cheers! I had that bookmarked but formatted my laptop and couldn't remember who did it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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