Aria Pro II Avanti Steve Bailey 6

Sweet Bass! I recently picked this one up used, because I wanted to try a 6 with humbuckers, also because I'm looking for a lighter axe. I'm impressed! It's a Korean made (so what, so's my Conklin BD-7), alder-bodied, ebony over maple necked 34" scale 6 string bass with black Gotoh topload bridge and tuners. Black strat-style jack on the face. Pickups seem to be dual humbuckers--Seymour/Basslines with a 9V Seymour/basslines 2-band pre. Controls are simple--a concentric pot controls volume and blend, a second concentric pot give you bass cut/boost and treble cut/boost.

Design, construction and ergonomics on this bass are all excellent. There are no wood flaws in body or neck. The neck pocket is extremely tight on all sides. The 4-piece, dual-trussrod laminated maple neck attaches directly to the body with 5 bolts. There's no mounting plate. The 24-fret neck is satin-finished, perhaps oiled. In feel it reminds me of a tung-oiled Warmoth neck. The Gaboon ebony fretboard is unusually thick--much thicker than a Fender's, and has MOP face and side dots. Scale length is 34 inches; the neck is flat, thin and very, very fast. It's a skosh wider than a Yamaha John Myung 6, but quite a bit narrower than a TRB-6. if you're accurate, there's enough room to slap and pop, but any multistring bass will force you to be more accurate.

The overall design is a big, modern iteration of the Fender "J" concept--slightly swoopier, but overall quite conservative. The headstock is fender-shaped (almost), but the tuners are 3/side. The body is a lovely piece of straight-grained alder finished in a tobacco sunburst. Balance is perfect. The bass is relatively light for its size, hangs well and ALMOST feels like it wants to neck dive. It doesn't--it stays where it's put. As noted above, the body's big, although not inordinately so. More on this in a bit.

My one beef is the cheesy tortoiseshell pickguard. This bass cries for a five-layer Fender-quality guard. Instead, it has a bevelled, single-layer surface-printed piece. It still looks good from a distance, but is a bit of a disappointment up close, detracting a bit from the smooth richness of the thick, poly sunburst

I play in a cover band (there, I've said it). We span the gamut from classic R & B (with brass) to Chicago, with stops along the way for AC/DC, the 'Stones, Judas Priest, Floyd, and even some SRV and TBone Walker. We tend to put our own spin on everything we do, rather than just imitating the originals. In the course of a night, I have to do everything from the Jamerson thud to Marcus-style slaps and pops--even occasionally fighting with the guitars up high. Given the tonal capabilities of the two band cut/boost preamp, this bass is a natural for my needs. I used it for the first time on a gig last night (no big deal, I usually play a 7). It is exceptionally lively for a bolt-on. The large body and dual trusrods seem to support the tone and sound of the bass. It's hi-fi modern, but "woody." It doesn't have the electronic sound of an Ibanez. Run through my rig (Trace Elliot GP12SMX pre, Soundtech PS1300 biamp powering a Trace 2103H 2x10/horn and Trace 1153 single 15, while lined out through a 10kW 4/4 Klipsch over JBL PA--2"/15 over 15/15), it speaks with authority. This bass will stir your guts. You can feel it vibrate as you play. Strung with GHS stainless medium lights (.126 "B"), The B string is clear, articulate and tonally similar to the E string. No Fender muffled thuds, here.

I bought the Aria used, and had it shipped cross-country. I can't speak for the setup (which was good, by the way), but it came out of the case in tune, after spending a week in the gentle (snicker) hands of UPS. This, I think, speaks to the quality of manufacture, as well as to the toughness of the SKB hardcase it was shipped in. I've had other basses arrive as kindling when shipped the same way. Fifteen hundred miles of truck-travel under tension did it absolutely no harm. This unit is solid. As noted above, with the exception of the cheesy "tortoise" pickguard, the aesthetics of the bass are flawless. It is a pretty piece. The black hardware works beautifully with the tobacco sunburst (the headstock face is finished to match, too). It's an elegant looking bass. Fretwork is good. Ends well manicured, few file chatter marks on the edge of the fingerboard. After all, it is a production piece, not a boutique axe. Just a few more points: Neck alignment was perfect--one of that Fender "pull toward the 'B' string" stuff. The nut spacing was correct for the string relationships, as well as for the neck width. No humps, dips or "S" curves. Frets are "medium," bigger than vintage "mandolin," smaller than the popular gumdrops. All-in-all, an extremely playable bass that will be a good working axe for me.

This bass was obviously designed as a working axe. It is well-built and solid. It has well thought-out features that appeal to a working player, and no unnecessary frills or gimmicks. The finish seems durable. Though the bass was used, it arrived with no major scratches or dings, just some very light playwear. This speaks to what must be a tough finish. I've already commented on what I perceive as exceptionally rugged, well thought-out construction. I'm a working musician. While I don't abuse my instruments, they do see hard use. If an axe is not comfortable to play, or is too fragile to stand up to the rigors of travel in the gear truck, night after night of playing and the odd collision with a cymbal or a light tree, it goes. I have no doubt that the Aria will hold up. It's a good design

I've been at this close to 40 years. Current bass complement is a Conklin GTBD-7, a Bill Deiss (luthier custom) headless 6 (both incredibly heavy for an old man's back), a Warmoth Jazz 5, a Warmoth Dinky Jazz 4, Fender Custom Shop Jazz, 1970 Rick 4001, early '80s P Elite, Arbor Stiletto, Peavey Foundation (the latter two are for my kids), and now the Aria. The Conklin and the Deiss are going to get some wall-hanging time. Amps? Besides the Trace rig, an old SVT and a pair of ancient Sunn Sorado tube rigs (6550 outputs, plus a huge, heavy cab with 2 Altec 418s, each). Attempt to steal this bass, and we'll find out what kind of suppository its Fenderesque headstock can be. As far as features, the Aria has everything i need to do my job, and nothing that I don't need. It's light for its size, sound and functionality. It's well designed and well-made. The strat jack is a nice touch. I've always hated the edge-mounted jacks on boutique pieces, and am not much fonder of having the jack perpendicular to the face of the bass a la Fender. When you're strapped in, the plug gets put under tension and run into stuff. For the price--this is an exceptional bass from a relatively obscure maker. FWIW Carol Kaye uses the 4-string version.