Product: Aria AW 410
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
07/08/2009
at
05:55am
by
Martin Murphy
Features
:
7
This is a jumbo-size Aria acoustic guitar that I picked up around 1993 and is still going strong, so I think it deserves a few words. It has a solid-cedar top which has shined up beautifully just from being used. The back and sides look like some sort of non-standard laminate - possibly cherry-laminate, or walnut-laminate. I'm sorry I don't have a tape-measure to hand, but this has about typical jumbo features (non-fingerstyle neck) like a Martin J-15 and so on, but it has a narrower waist on the body between bouts, which perhaps it was my imagination, but seemed to give better treble response. The neck is slim and comfortable to the touch not too much lumber to spare there. It has simple metal tuning machines, a dot sequence on the fingerboard, actually a sort of herringbone binding, and a simple herringbone rosette.
Sound
:
8
Cedar-tops are warm and grainy, criticised for lack of precision, abhorred by classical guitarists, loved by folkies, you get the picture... In the 90s I strung this baby (25.5") up with 14s strings, it wasn't good for being dexterous, but it was good for being heard in a group. I also own a Martin J15 and a McIlroy Jumbo guitar. This guitar maintains its treble clarity, which the more expensive ones do not do so well. I suspected it may be the narrow waist, and modestly small narrow bout in the body. I noticed Donal Lunny these days playing a long-scale Baritone guitar with massive bass potential (he tunes it low then capos back up to standard dropped-D for some reason best known to himself!), but his guitar also has this small narrow bout and narrow waist. Did I mention this guitar sounds great after 16 years? Perhaps it lost something in tone, but there's no way for me to really notice that now.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
No flaws - for quite a while, people like me looked to Aria as a source of fine-sounding guitars at low prices, the finishing work was always amazing, the designs were varied, not just rows and rows of dreadnoughts. This AW 410 was made outside of Japan, not sure where. I don't know how their current factories compare to the early 90s.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
What can I say, this guitar is a winner. I have it for 16 years now. I fitted a strap button at the neck, and a bone bridge saddle. Everything else was just great.
Customer Support
:
3
Aria are one those unreachable entities in either outer space or Asia - they are unlikely to want to talk to people like you or me who just buy their guitars. Dermot McIlroy answers every email and he's a top-notch luthier - so why can't companies like Aria, Yamaha, Martin and so on be the same?
Overall Rating
:
8
Yeah, I still think Aria have some good guitars, and good designs, albeit mostly copies of discontinued designs from other manufacturers. I would endorse them, but they would have to communicate first. This guitar is the one that got me hooked on playing folk. You probably won't find one since they change their models very often, but if their newer cedar-top jumbos are like this one, you won't be disappointed. www.mairtinomurchu.ie
