How much is a Aria ZZB worth??

[Metalmoore]

I bought a fretless Aria Pro II ZZB back in May from Delberthot and after playing it for a while i have decided fretless basses arent for me.

So i have decided i am going to sell it as i need the money and im sure someone else could give it plenty of love and care, but heres my problem... What is the going rate for one? Its in good condition but just not for me.

I looked on here and none have sold apart from the one i bought from Delberthot which is this one and on eBay there is only one which had the wings sawn off...

If anyone is interested in it give me a PM but until i can find how much it would cost to send to someone and how much its worth i cant put it up in the for sale section

Cheers

[Bassassin]

Vintage JapCrap such as this doesn't have a specific value - it's really worth what someone will pay for it.

So that being the case, I think whatever you paid for it might be an excellent starting point.

Jon.

[Muzz]

A [i]fretless[/i] ZZB? Wow, never, ever seen one of those. Presumably defretted by Delberthot? Difficult to see the target audience for a pointy fretless, tho in EBay-speak this makes it ULTRA RARE!!!!!

I had a ZZB Custom (the half-black half-white one) back in the day, and it was a lark, but a fretless one? Hmmmmm.

Any pics?

Edited August 13, 2010 by Muzz

[Metalmoore]

I will get pictures up as soon as I get home. It's a great bass but I've decided I dont get along with fretless basses. I still have the pictures and info from when I bought it.

[LukeFRC]

was that the one in fife on the edinburgh gumtree for a while?

[Metalmoore]

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='924530' date='Aug 13 2010, 11:39 PM']was that the one in fife on the edinburgh gumtree for a while?[/quote]


Dont think so, got it here in the forum.

[Metalmoore]

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The next bit i copied from Delberthot's description (i hope he doesnt mind)


Finished in blue-black sunburst, this particular bass was built in 1983 going by Aria's website and features:

*
Gold Hardware
*
GB7 tuners rumoured to have been made by Gotoh with Aria's name on them
*
Alder body
*
Maple neck with rosewood fretboard
*
2 double coil pickups with volume, tone and 3 position pickup selector

Before I go any further i am going to let you know about something unusual but which absolutely suits this bass: It has been professionally defretted at some point in its life prior to me owning it. Its been done really well as the fretlines have been filled with something very close to the colour of the rosewood board but there have been small white fret markers slotted into the fret board nearest the top to make it easier to see where you should be playing.

Designed as a rock bass, this is one clear, articulate, punchy bass and the fretless angle to me gives it a sound similar to Tony Franklin. There are a surprising amount of sounds to be gained from the simple control layout from deep bassy tones to classic fretless Jazz bass honk.

Anyone who's ever owned a pointy bass knows that they tend to pick up more dings and dents than a more conventional shaped bass and this is no exception. Luckily the majority of the marks are either on the back or the edges where no one can really see them and they have been touched up with black paint to match the black of the edges as closely as possible.

The gold plating on the tuners has started to bubble slightly as all gold hardware does, even £3000 basses do this eventually. The bridge shows some tarnishing and the gold has worn off on part of the neck plate, presumably due to rubbing against the owner when playing.

Everything is original except the input jack as i had to replace it due to it being a bit crackly. Everything on this bass works perfectly. The previous owner also moved the front strap button from the neck plate to where the top horn would be on a normal bass to help balance the bass.

The bass could easily be refretted by a professional or by yourself if you are confident enough.

These basses were made between 1982 and 1987 so this one is one of the first being made in 1983. Unfortunately, there is no way of dating the bass down to the week or month as this didn't occur at Aria until much later.

And finally, this bass was made at the now legendary Matsumoku factory in Japan, home of some of the finest Japanese basses in the world and something like this is going to continue to appreciate in value due to the connection to this factory.

This bass comes with its original branded case which is very slim as far as bass cases go. It has a few marks on it but then a case is meant to protect what's inside it when in transit. All hinges and catches work perfectly.

[Metalmoore]

Now has its own For sale thread over [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=98846"]HERE[/url]

[Bassassin]

There's a ZZB body on Ebay at the moment if anyone fancies a project:

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320573957099"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=320573957099[/url]

I've got a neck that would suit that down to the ground...

J.