Aria Pro II CSB-300

I think this dates from the early 80s. To be honest I don't know a great deal about this bass... I bought it from an ebay sellar who provided a very vague item description. I'll just describe it in my own simple terms.

Firstly, the neck is quite thick like a P-bass, although typical of Aria Pro IIs, retains pretty much the same thinness all the way down the fretboard. I found this pretty unusual, but feel indifferent towards the feat. I can access all of the high frets with ease, but then I can't recall any difficulty accessing them on any other bass with a wider fretboard towards the bottom of the neck. The fretboard is rosewood.
The tuners look a little tacky, with a chrome look, but do the job just fine. I think I'd prefer brass tuners (if they exist?), but the standard issue ones don't bother me enough to warrant an upgrade. They stay in tune well.
The body shape is a double cutaway, and I love it. It's real thick, which probably aids sustain and feels nice and solid, but is still quite small and light.
With regards to electronics, it has one pickup with one volume and one tone control. I have never played with the tone control on anything other than full. You get a nice trebly bite with this configuration- I find it sounds too dull with the tone rolled down. I think that the simplicity of this bass is what makes it so playable.
As others have commented on, the bridge is really great on this bass, and allows for quick and easy string changes. I have never had any intonation issues with this bass.

I really love the sound of this bass. It's just really smooth and warm... there's not a great deal of clarity to it, which I suppose is to be accepted from such a relatively cheap and old bass, but I really dig the tone- especially teamed up with a valve amp and a little overdrive. I play in a hardcore-punk band with this bass, and as previously mentioned, it sounds really sweet through a valve amp. Very punchy, but without that overwhelmingly bright "active" sound.
I have never noticed noise or ground hum in the signal from this bass, and have used it live and in the studio numerous times. However, given the type of music I play, a little bit of noise has never been an issue- you'd never notice it behind the roaring guitars and screamed vocals anyway!

It's all great. A fairly low action- definately very playable, particulaly with 40s. No flaws of which to speak, but this bass is over 20 years old, so I'm not sure exactly what has been mended in it's time! I love the natural finish (I have the "Walnut" model), it's a lovely colour. I have never really liked painted and glossy finishes on guitars.

This bass is really reliable, I have dropped it, umped around on stage with it, smashed it into things and all sorts... and it still manages to stay in tune! The electronics are so simle and sturdy feeling that you don't have to worry about anything. Also it's a passive bass, so no dead batteries to worry about on stage! It's lasted around 25 years, and still looks pretty much new. I'm sure it's got a good few years left in it yet!

It's a great bass, I'm looking to buy another Aria Pro II bass soon. They have an original look, without looking too "out there". I find them far more aesthetically pleasing that Fenders or Stingrays (Musicmen didn't sound right!). I used to play a Squier Precision bass special, but I prefer this one by far, despite it costing over ??100 less! These seem to hardly ever pop up on eBay, so if you come across one, I'd advise you to snap it up! Especially if you can get one with the Walnut finish. In my opinion, anything under $500 would be a bargain for this bass. As it happens, I got mine for under $200, with a hardcase! :D

I have two of these. one is red, one is walnut, satin finish. They are from the early 80's. They come from the famous "M" factory in Japan. pickup is like a backwards pbass, built under one square cover. one volume, one tone knob. passive. They have really cool "quick hook" bridges. the 300's have cheaper looking tuners, but are still working fine. they are medium, fast, scale. I have some trouble with short scales basses sometimes, but not with these. Limited on features, but do you really need more,tech boy?

I like the sound. the tone goes from a little dark to a little light.
But it has mostly one feel or sound. If you like it, great, if not sell yours to me.

I got mine second, third, or, forth hand. They are solid planks of wood, in a good way. They both came with very low actions, in my book anyway. They both have alot of deep nicks, dents, and scratches but no light scratches or worn spots. I think the finish is tough against player wear, but these two got dropped or smacked into alot. The back of the necks feel great. One bridge has alot of pitting in the crome but works fine.

Over twenty years old and still solid. I am hard on them and they hold up. A very, very, great bass player used to tour with one of these, not the 380, like someone esle posted.

nope

if you like the sound and then the look. you will not be let down.

To the best of my knowlage this bass was manufactured in 1982. The early 80's were Aria's prime. The CSB-300 is a midrange 4 string model. Maple Neck, rosewood fingerboard and 820mm (medium) scale. 1 volume, 1 tone and an MB-IV (soapbar kinda thing) pickup. The bass is passive, but the tone knob gives pretty decent response. The bridge is "quick hook" which I like alot, tuners are OK.

I bought this bass off ebay. The thing that really sold me was the sellers statement that the bass had, "a great Entwistle growl". That is too be believed. Turning the tone all the way over on the high side produces a very nice stand out sound very reminiscent of some live Who stuff. I dig it. Turning it all the way down to the low end gives it a fusion type thing. Its not overly punchy, but with the right attack this bass can give you anything you want out of a passive insturment. I play through a Peavey TMax /w/ a 15 inch black widow and recently bought a ZOOM 708 II effects box. Unadulterated the sound was nice, but through an EQ and compressor the sound can be very very wonderful.

I love this bass for this reason: The action is WONDERFUL. Its low, tight and sweet and everything you would could ever ask for. Nothing else I have played comes close to compairing to the feel of this insturment. Its built for speed man. The neck is straight and fast and theres great response all over the fretboard. Great great for playing. Words cannot do it justice. However, that said, the insturment is ugly. The pickups and plastic accents are not too pretty.

Its been beat around for almost 25 years. Mines had alot of work in its day and it still plays beautifully. Not much to go wrong anyway.

I've had no contact.

Its a great bass. I just purchases a Steve Bailey Aria, but the CSB is going to stick with me for a long time as a backup. I cannot recommend the early 80s line of Arias more for the young bassist or newcomer-- generally for anyone on a budget. They can be had for so cheap and play so nice. The CSB-300 is far from top of the line-- its pretty generic as far as features-- but its quality and its playability meet or surpass just about anything you can find in a shop for under $7-800. Pick em up!