2) If Pete's bass is as rare as he says, I am lucky because in 2002 I found another one in Overwater in Carlisle. At only £150 I snapped it up immediately, but it needed a good fret dressing which was an extra £50.
1) Sent in by Pete Westbury of the UKPete says,
“I bought it on the 2nd March 1990 (brand new) and it's the best purchase I've ever made ... its got gold plated hardware and a different bridge from the SB or SBR series, but strangely enough it hasn't got a brass nut.
It's an active bass, there is a plate on the back that houses the electronics and the 9V battery. The pots are one pickup selector, volume and two tones, one for each pick-up.”
“There is no serial number in view, just the logo “The Aria Pro II” ... I found out there were only 8 of these made ... It's a natural finish, not a lacquered one ... the contour curves on it are LESS harsh, especially on the back, it just moulds to your body and becomes part of you when you hang it round yourself.”
2) If Pete's bass is as rare as he says, I am lucky because in 2002 I found another one in Overwater in Carlisle. At only £150 I snapped it up immediately, but it needed a good fret dressing which was an extra £50.
It is intersting to compare this bass with the original SB series. In my opinion Aria have made a more up-to-date instrument which will appeal to more players, but they have skimped on quality.
This is a bass which you just can't put down once you pick it up! As Pete says, the neck is quite superb, and it's a lot less chunky than the original series. String gap is a wide 19 mm, but the neck tapers to just 39 mm width at the nut. At the 12th fret, it's 54 mm and a mere 79 mm round the back.
Like Pete I prefer the body's slightly more rounded contours. The two tone controls Pete refers to are actually cut/boost knobs for treble and bass, and they give a huge range of tonal sounds.
I am critical, however, of the finish of this bass. The sides appear to be covered in just a thin coat of woodstain with no tough varnish to protect against scratches. If you think Pete's bass is well-worn you should see mine! That plastic nut looks horribly cheap - I replaced mine with a brass one, and I don't like the location of the jack socket.
The bridge is a modern design very similar to those fitted on some Ibanez Soundgear basses for example. It has that wonderful feature of built-in string-gap adjustment, and each saddle has a third Allen bolt which clamps the saddle in place. It's a lovely design, but unfortunately the intonation screws have a tendency to come loose and even fall out altogether. Lastly, pickup height is adjusted by screws which I find inferior to the bolts running into threaded recesses on original SBs.
3) This catalogue scan was sent in by Eero Martin of Finland. The walnut finish looks so nice when it is new! The headstock is clearly different to the ones above.