Aria Pro II PE 150

yI thought I'd shared this, but can't find it so here we are! On the move to NSW we stopped at Dons' for lunch and he forced this on me at what is a very reasonable price, considering I've been harping at him to sell it to me for ages....


Aria Pro II PE150 from about 1978/79, in beautiful condition.



... really riffing on the Gidson LP Junior double cut from the era when the Japanese were copying other manufacturers products.



I played this when he first got it, and was deeply impressed by the playability, tone and workmanship that was evident... he acquired an APII PE-Supra at the same time that I also handled and which has to be the most over-engineered guitar I've ever played - the fit and finish were beyond fabulous! - but this wee thing sounded SO much meatier, and aggressive!!

Some more..


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Those are Schaller tuners with pearloid buttons, so before Gotoh was involved...




I know very little about wraparound bridges; anything I should be aware of??

A few more detail shots...



.... I love the little details like the pointers under the knobs!





So there we are; yet another old guitar has snuck into my care.... bear in mind that I have only two guitars  with me presently as everything is in storage in Queensland until we get ourselves sorted out, so I have this, and the Corsair.... and no amplification!!

Very nice instrument...wish I had one... ....just as good as the Gibson. If not better.

Just a name on the headstock.

Made those early Aria's as a real good copy. Top guitar. Bet your pleased.

Oh mate, what a beauty, you lucky bastwerd!

An LP junior has been on my wish list it seems forever. I particularly covet the single pup version in TV yellow and tort pick guard. But hey! I ain't picky! This is just a gorgeous machine.

As for wrap around bridges, many can suffer from bad intonation problems since they are often a solid bar, with or without compensation facets. In those cases you have to rely on those set screws at the ends to fiddle about and try to get it in tune.

But our Uncle Mats is all wise and will have none of that nonsense! You have not only the benefit of the wrap around bridge, but also individual string adjustment. Excellent.

And just for the hell of it, you also have the set screw adjustment if needed. Can't get much better than that.

It does feel wrong though, bending a new string in such a tortuous way.  

That is beautiful!!

Thanks, chaps; yeah, Damian, well chuffed, eh! From memory, this thing absolutely rips - quite a different sound compared to the Toneriders P90s in my Avenger; really brutal! And it is a gem to play....

Thanks, Barry - I'll set to with a rule and some tools soon and sort out the action and intonation; the action is a bit low for my liking so that needs to be addressed.

It's a sweetheart, eh!!

So.... breaking it down a little for general cleaning and some anomalies come to light...



a Leo Quan Badass bridge. German made. Not sure what to make of this... I know nothing about them.



One of these things is not like the others... one screw lost and the replacement needs a wee spring to keep it in place!



... the bridge post holes look pretty ragged, and I must assume that the Badass posts were a different size to the OEM. However, someone has taken some time and care to line the bush hole with individual round pieces of wood, and then lacquered into place.

Pickups....



...no markings from factory.






Output readings seem bang on from my reading about P-90s?!

Lastly, 



Pots straight onto a PCB!!



3 part knobs?! That sleeve is rubber; attention to detail much!

...a Leo Quan Badass bridge. German made

So...Uncle Mats was not all wise after all? 

Barry wrote:

...a Leo Quan Badass bridge. German made

So...Uncle Mats was not all wise after all? 

I don't know what was on there as OEM, but given that was an inch perfect copy, perhaps it was a straight copy of the Gibson bridge?? 

Badass bridge seems to be well regarded, according to what I can find on the electric interwebs...

I wouldn't be upset about your bad ass Johnny.

It's head and shoulders above the usual wrap around bridge.
Rock it baby , rock it!

That was my guitar, I sold it to Don.

For a combo bridge/tailpiece it is hard to beat a Leo Quann. The stock was the same as the Gibson where the intonation was fixed. I have been using them for decades.

The knobs I changed. StewMac used to sell them. That rubber ring gives you a very positive grip on the knob even under sweat producing stage lights.

I could kick myself in the nuts for selling that thing but at least I know it went to a good home.

When I got it the stock tailpiece was still on it but mounted horribly. Some double digit IQ'd inbred hillbilly stacked 3 nuts on top of each other and literally crammed them in BOTH post holes.  I had to remove the nuts, install a dowel, and bore it for the Quann bridge.

There is something unique, one of a kind about that guitar. The neck P-90 is reverse polarity (not stock). If you open up the neck pickup and roll on a little bridge pickup or vise versa you can get a pretty nice Tele squawk out of it. Both pickups are triple dipped (all my pickups are) so you can stand right next to the cab with no squeal. Also those are not your normal P-90s. Crank up the gain and they can get pretty rude!

I could have spent more time on the tail piece issue but the work would have been long and difficult to hide that kind of idiot damage. The felt rings are from a car battery kit. I couldn't stand seeing the damage when I was playing it.

I've recently retired. I got tired of the "man" telling me what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Now I do what I want when I want and how I want.    

Some years back my arthritis got bad and I quit playing (hence selling the guitar) but with new meds I am getting back into it.

That guitar is definitely one I saved from the scrap heap. I still have the PE-450 I raised from the dead. All the rest have gone to good homes.

I'll post links when I am allowed.

On another note the tuners and tuner knobs are not original. That guitar was in sad shape when I got it. One tuner was missing, two others the rear cap was gone exposing the gear.

The Schallers were a direct replacement for what was on it and I bought the pearl knobs separately. It added a little bit of class.

The truss rod was so tight the neck had a back bow in it. I completely loosened and left it hanging for a week to let the wood in the neck settle before I could set it up.  

The Quan bridge is one I had for probably 20 years in my parts bin. It came off a Gibson LP Jr. SC that was stolen by a once good friend when I had it apart. Meth changes the best people into the worst you'll ever wish you never met.

Is that you Neal?


Great to see you here, the place can benefit from your experience! Hope you stick around for awhile.

Yuppers, guilty as charged.

Found this when I was looking for another PE-150. Sadly the ones I did find were "rare" or "vintage" and had price tags to match. I like my steaks well done and I don't drink wine so rare or vintage do not appeal to me.

It's good to see it is still alive and well.

Yeah, I'm fed up seeing everything advertised as "rare" and "vintage" too.

Just because the seller hasn't seen any other models like his doesn't make it rare.
And hell, I have underwear older than many vintage guitars out there.

LMAO!!!!! Well said!

Here is a little history on this guitar.

http://www.therathole.org/guitar/here/pe150/guitarinfo.html

Sweet!