Aria Pro II SB-800

Made in 1978 by Matsumoko for Aria this SB 800' is identical to the SB 1000 except for having a bolt on neck instead of the SB1000's through the body "transmit" neck. It has active electronics "Noise Killer" circuit identical to the early SB1000's.
Many years later (mid to late 90's) Aria recycled the SB 800 name for a passive bass of similar apearance but lesser quality (and not made by Matsumoko who had left since the guitar building busness).

1987 was the first year that the Pro II SB's were made and this model SB 800 was ONLY made in that year. Very few were built and the one I'm reviewing is one of the very first having a single digit serial number.

24 fret 4 string maple neck, rosewood board, with genuine mother of pearl dot markers

These early SB's bodies are made of ash not Sen as often stated in forums and e-bay ads (Sen was used for some (many?) later non Matsumoko SB's) the construction is interesting in that the outer "wings" are a each a 2 peice ash laminate with the back pieces profiled with a tapper that takes the body from FAT at bridge to not so fat at the neck join. The inner 2 pieces of ash (looks more like maple though) are book ended and between each main piece of ash and maple are strips of what is listed as "mahogany" in the catalogue but are almost certainly walnut (most often seen in high end German upright pianos)

The long scale neck is extremely long and very thin (top to bottom) but fat (front to back) and with a very long head stock with the "bat ear" florish at the top typical of these early SB's. It is a three peice maple laminate without the dividing mahogany strips that are seen in later SB (or even in fliers for the same models made later in the same year!)
There is almost NO taper in the string offset they spaced very narrowly and are almost parallel from nut to bridge.

This one is finished in a clear "oak" finish that is blonde in the center and the wings a light honey colour. Very atractive and hides scratches and dings better than the darler finishes offered.

It has a single pick up in the middle of the body. An active bypass swithc (puts it in to passive mode) volume and tone knows and a rotary switch that selects between the 6 active EQ presets.

Both bridge and nut are substancial peices of solid brass with slot in ball recievers for quicker string changing.

Tuners are small (well small for a bass) closed (sealed) Aria branded units.

Frets are resonably standard neither jumbo or thin.

It's sound is very much a product of it's time or more to the point this is a product that shaped the sound of it's time. Brashly bright and punching but not overly deep in the bottom end not a tone for wallflowers and the shy retiring types.

A good bass chorus or flanger pedal of suitable vintage (or apropriately emulated) and a punchy amp matched with 4x10" speakers is almost essential for the authentic 80's sound. BUT that said it will rock along nicely, if not very aggressively, with a good valve head and 15" cab or a retro 8x10" cab

It can cut though other instruments low/mids with out sounding mushy in the bottom end, this is a sound that puts the bass player front and center of the guitar(s) plus keyboard band of the era. Think Duran Duran and you've nailed it but also remember Jack Bruce (ex of Cream) and the late Cliff Burton of Metallica used these basses extensively.
It funks along nicely too and if you can get used to the very narrow interstring gap then slaping and finger popping are rewarded with appropriately cutting tones.

The pick up seems to technically be a humbucker but is probably wired to get less noise but with a brighter tone rather than the standard way that creates a darker mellower sound.

The actives are intersting to say the least. they do not give much (read "any") real signal boost and you should jack this bass in to the passive channel of your amp or you will lose both volume and tone. The rotary switch selects a series of 6 pre set tones that range from woody 60's rock (think muted rickenbacker or Gibson EB) to piercingly sharp and bright 80's pop and funk with a heavy bias toward the brighter tones.

A bit more tone variety would be nice - I tend to keep to the lower more bassy presets or turn the actives off and roll the tone back.

This may sound strange but it almost has TOO much sustain. with it's weight and solid brass bridge and nut you have to learn to mute the strings so they don't ring on too long in quick string crossing passages.

An 8 due to lack of deep impact floor shaking bottom end but it's an 8 with high distinctions.

Original factory setup has long gone out the window .

Given that this 26 year old vintage instrument is still in excellent shape for it's age and for being regularly giged for most of it's life (5 to 7 days a week of 3 to 4 hour cabaret shows often 2 shows a day) proves again that this was built up to a standard not down to a price.

Neck is rather sensitive to string guage and if you change guage by more than one gauge rating you will certainly need to adjust the truss rod and make minor intonation adjustments.

I ALWAYS use straplocks of one sort or another but the big brass strap pins on this make them pretty redundant though I keep with the habit to save my other guitars and basses from me getting slack.

For sit down cabaret and jazz no backup required - however if I was playing for more than an hour standing up wouldn't use it with out a lighter bass for backup simply for relief from the weight. If trying to keep with the 80's tone I found an original pre Gibson Steinberger headless bass to be a perfectly complimentary backup. If playing MOR or hard rock band a P style bass would be handy for more agressive deep grooves.

meh! Forget it. This rare bird is long out of production and Aria US or Japan don't even list the original SB 800 in its archives - you can only track info down from previous original owners and/or locating the rare Aria Otaku (fanatic).

I've been tracking down this very model or a 78/79 SB-1000 for 4 years to replace a similar bass I sold in the early 90's and finally nailed this one. Thankfully they don't have the ridiculous collectors price but people do tend to hold on to them. Matsumoko made Aria models come up occasionally on ebay and pawn shops so keep an eye out for a what must be one of the best bargain premium quality vintage instruments.

Certain maiming would befall a thief if I caught them on the job.


I don't want to sound hyperbolic here but this is my personal opinion after handling and owning many basses including Matsumoko made and non Matsumoko made Arias.

Build quality here is seriously stunning, it goes far beyond being simply "well made" or "good" it is an amazing, no corners cut, no compromises made, top quality from front to back, top to bottom - like Matsumoko decided they had a point to prove in building it and then set out to prove it.

Along with the Ibanez Musician basses it was, in its day, a state of the art high quality premium prestige instrument that shamed many established big name and custom guitar builders. In this day and age it is still a prime exibit of what many manufacturers and custom shops SHOULD be able to build quality wise but still, all to often, fall far short of the mark.
I own, have owned, or leased many other basses by Fender, Rickenbacker, Musicman, Washburn, Gibson, Steinberger, Wal, Ibanez and Aria and this one is the best made with only an early custom Pre EB Musicman Stingray coming close.

OK enough of the "happy ever after" stuff - it's not all love and roses here. There are a few downers on this bass.

Tonality if this were my only bass I'd miss not having that deep agressive bottom end that you need for harder rock grooves. I simply couldn't live with this as an only bass.

This bass is seriously heavy. I do not meen Rickenbacker bass heavy I meen almost double neck guitar heavy. It weighs almost as much as my Rickenbacker and Fender Jazz put together. I actually have to use two wide straps running parrallel to distribute the weight if I have to gig standing up with it. The fact that it is so well balanced does help a lot as you're not trying to keep the headstock from swinging downward like many basses of that era (the SB actually stands for "Super Balance" and the thick heavy body counter balances the substancial long scale neck)

The active electronics are run by 2x 9 volt batteries (yes 2 of them!) and it sucks them dry in under 8 hours of use. Fortunately you CAN switch to passive mode which still gives a sound very much in the same field as the brighter active presets. But you have to remember to unplug the jack when your practicing and jamming so when that 5 minute coffee/beer break turns in to a 3 hour football talkfest you don't have flat batteries when you return.

Lastly you will not get this bass in to a standard bass case it is almost 2 inches longer than a Fender P bass... they came with a custom shaped case that was tougher than most but by now if gigged hard will be showing it's age.
You will need to have a flight case made or custom pad a SKB fredom case (or similar)

Inspect with care those SB's with the walnut (mahogany) strips in the neck as I know of and have seen a few SB's who's necks have partially delaminated after taking forceful blows to the headstock.