Vantage MULE for Aria Pro II

Hey ho,

My TV Yellow 86 Vantage 'Mule" is gone.

The new baby is a 1982 Aria Pro II RS Deluxe-V strat clone, MAPLE neck, stock electronics and machine heads, MMK single coils s/s/s, gold hardware, trem, 5-way selector, candy apple red body with white pick guard and single coil pups, plays, sounds like a strat, neck truss rod adjust. Issues - needs a new 1/4 " jack. This is a nice instrument. The gold hardware is pretty grimey.

Ian

P.S. Pics to follow, when I can find some time.

Hi Ian

Sounds like a good call, the dark forces of UK ebay keep putting temptation in my way in the shape of Aria Pro IIs. My resistance is weakening!

A local guitar shop (now sadly closed) had one with a green flamed top. Unbelievable finish, at least as good as a high-end PRS. Nice player too. Don't want to talk prices up, but the 80s Arias keep appearing on the 'bay and don't seem to get as much attention as early MIJ Washburn wings/ Westies. There's surely room for just one more

Thanks Norfolkin',

Yeah, I have coveted one of these (RS cat series, strat lookalikes) Aria's for about a year. In my town, people really undervalue them - you see them at garage sales, hiding in basements. This one was no exception with a list price of $160 and the guy willing to go way down. The previous owner was a nice guy, played in a local Celtic band and felt the glitter paint on this old Aria wasn't in keeping with the "theme". I love her, she's worth 6x the price paid, and sounds every bit the Black Fender for sale down the street ($1800 CDN).

In fact, I think the MMK pickups are better than stock American Fender single coils. Certainly louder! I love the combo sounds you can get especially that in position 2 (adjacent to neck selection) or 4 (next to bridge selection) on the 5-way switch. Has the nice hollow tone you can only get from this set up.

I spent a day cleaning her up and polishing, replacing parts. The biggest issues were a mismatched knob set, no trem.

A friend of mine donated some NOS (white) hat-style knobs and a trem bar, and she's as good as new.

Best,

Ian