Aria Pro II PE-600 1980s Vintage Matsumoku Japan
Gibson Les Paul style guitar.
Condition: Excellent
Color: Japanese Brown
Body: Sycamore
Frets: Like New
Set Neck: 3 piece maple w/ Rosewood board, straight as an arrow, no buzzing.
Hardware: Chrome, Supermatic bridge, 1V, 1T, 3-way
Pickups: 2 x Humbuckers -
Seymour Duncan SH-1 ’59 model neck
Seymour Duncan SH-4 jb model bridge
(original T Top Protomatic IV pickups
will be included in case).
Hard Shell Case included
See Harmony Central User Reviews below
From Harmony Central User Reviews
Product: Aria Pro II PE 600
Submitted 04/10/1999 at 07:39am by Jim Einarson
Email: jimidmagma dot ca
Features : 8
1978, Japan. This IS NOT one of the Les Paul copies currently made by
Aria; it is one of the post-lawsuit PE's and represents a break from
the Les Paul copy mold that distinguishes the majority of this model
line. This model was only made for about three years, and is more like
a cross between a Bluesbird and a tele than a typical LP. The
carved-top, all-maple body construction includes the easy access
"heel-less" neck joint and strategically located volume and tone
controls (one of each) and three way switch (which is located by the
pots on the lower heel bout). It has a unique and highly effective
one-piece SuperMatic Bridge, ProtoMatic Pickups, and quality MG-55C
machine heads. The "Old World method Violin Finish" appears to be an
environmentally unfriendly nitrocellulose. This guitar has a 22 fret
rosewood fretboard with a bone nut and large, beautifully set abalone
dot inlays, on a wide, medium depth C-shape neck. This guitar is
distinctive and classic at the same time - a beautiful instrument, but
relatively simple in it's approach and execution.
I'd give it a 10, but that's a grossly overused rating...
Sound : 9
I've used this instrument with a number of tube and solid-state
amplifiers. The pickups are mid-power, warm, very "vintage" sounding
(think 60's Les Paul/SG, 70's rock). They articulate well when driving
a distorted amp, and are clear and full on clean. Very nice... Does
that whole Les Paul thing better than many 'Pauls I've played...
Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
I bought this guitar when it was 19 years old, so I certainly can't
speak for the factory set-up. But a number of features on this guitar
make it easy to set-up and maintain, such as the exposed "bullet"
truss rod and the very effective SuperMatic bridge. The construction
and finishing is flawless, and the quality of the electronics work is
very, very good. After twenty years, the switch and pots are still
smooth and silent, which ought to tell you something about the quality
of this axe. Find me a Strat that can claim the same thing!!
Reliability/Durability : 9
This thing - like most LP style guitars - can withstand pretty much
anything short of being dropped on the headstock without a problem.
The fixed bridge means you can keep on playing even if you loose a
string, but gigging without a backup is strictly amateur hour.
Overall Rating : No Opinion
I own a lot of guitars (maybe 15 right now) and this is a great one.
I've had it about two years now, and finally decided to add a Harmony
Central review because I STILL think it's one of the nicest
instruments I've ever played. A large Japanese vintage guitar site
lists this instrument as one of the top-ten most collectable vintage
Japanese guitars, and it's easy to see why when you play one. This is
the only one I've ever seen, so I doubt I'd be able to replace it were
it lost. This guitar compares favourably to any Les Paul I've ever
played. If you find one, try it. Then buy it. You won't regret it.
More info at Matsumoku.org
http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/pe/ptype/pe_400-800.html
http://www.matsumoku.org/models/models.html