Aria 1220 Hollow Body Bass

Mine is a mid 60's Aria 1220. I picked it up for 200bucks at a second hand shop. She has the tobacco bust type finish, two single coils, three way swith 2tone and 2vol controls. It also came with this string damping piece on the bridge, which I removed because it drove me crazy. Now with that said, I am completely blown away by this old japanese rockin machine. This is a hollow body bass that really has a great deal of versatility.

the tone controls still give a wide shape range. setup, resonance, fretware, all are good,,,,,much better that what i paid for it. My rig is a trace elliot series6, with carvin cabs. this bass thickens nicely.

yeah a few small fit and finish flaws like anyone would wxpect from an old jap bass, but the finish was amazing. It looked glossy like it was brand new. In fact I disputed the store clerk a bit when i bought it, about the age. Ive since found that it really is a 64, even without checking and other signs of age. Dinky bridge strungbuffer had to go. I play in a rock band and that kind of stuff just gets in the way.

always have a backup, no matter it you have a tobias or anything else. This one has not gone down on me yet.

have no idea

ive been playing for the majority of my 25 year old life, and a working musician"not to be confused with a slacker without a job" for years. I love cool eclectic gear, and this old thing hits the mark. It plays worth 3 times the money i payed for it, if you find one, get it.

1967 or 1968, Japanese made. Aria, Univox and a few other makers used the same factory to build their instruments. My friend has a Raven hollowbody guitar which also looks similar.
The bass has a nicely grained top, two-tone red/black burst finish with F-holes not cut all the way through, and I'm not sure if this was an aesthetic consideration on Aria's part to make it look just a little different from the other makers' knockoffs in the same factory, or if it's for added strength. Built with two single coil pickups. The holes were probably cut for humbuckers, but Aria did a nice job with surrounding the pickups with the black/white/black pickguard material, with what looks to be supports underneath made of rosewood! 2 tone knobs, 2 volume knobs, 3-way selector switch, found on the lower horn. Wierdly shaped pickguard, the switch has it's own pickguard. There's a thumbrest made of rosewood! Bridge has a neat string damper. Body and neck has white binding, nicely faded to a cream color.
The bass was built with a maple neck, with a rosewood board, dot inlays - instead of being positioned in the middle of the board, they're on the side - European style? The frets are tiny, so the first thing I did when I bought this baby was install flatwound strings, hoping to put off a fretjob. The tuners are typical of the era, but these pegs were made of bakelite. Top of the peghead is covered in Black pickguard material.

It made a real difference switching from rounds to flatwound strings. The sound is muddier, but I'm more interested in preserving my frets! That being said, though, I've pulled some ballsy tones out of this bass. I play through a Trace Elliot Commando 12, and if I boost the midrange and crank the volume, KILLER tone! This would all depend on the room, however. There is the usually annoying 60 cycle hum (they're single coils). I've found I use the bridge pickup more often, it's brighter.
This wouldn't be my full time bass, I have three others, including a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz, and a Univox Hi-flier. The Jazz is more of a workhorse. But the Aria would definitely fit with R&B, 60's pop (especially a retro act). And what a looker! It gets comments wherever I go.

After using it for about 6 months, I finally had it taken in for a setup. It's always a good idea anyway. The volume pots were probably just dusty, but they'd completely cut out. I found that by wiggling them a little they'd kick back in. The repair guy must have had a hell of a time gaining access to the pots, as the bass is a hollowbody with F-holes. Fit and finish is impressive on this bass, the only flaw existing on the binding, there are some areas where the glue wasn't properly wiped off before the finish was applied. These things must have been built in a hurry. But otherwise the quality is mind blowing, for an instrument that sold for beans in its day. To have something built like this today, even from a place like Indonesia, what would you be charged - a grand? The Japanese, in the 60s and 70s, whether they were building radios, TVs, guitars, cars, they were SERIOUS!

If I used this thing regularly playing live, I'd have to be very careful, since it's a hollow instrument. This is one you'd definitely need to have a good guitar stand for. You wouldn't want this thing to take too many spills. The fragility factor. There is something I just can't figure out with this bass, though. The finish was flawless when I bought it, it's a 30+ year old instrument. It must have been babied. But the tuner for the A-string is worn. Or maybe it's just the way I've got it strung. It doesn't seem to respond well when I detune slightly.

I've never dealt with Aria.

I've been playing about 15 years, and have owned about 10 basses, I'd say this is one of the coolest, hippest basses I've had. The look was what grabbed me. If it was lost or stolen, I don't know - I probably would look for another, as long as they were still cheap. Seems like the Jap stuff from the 60s/70s is climbing up in price. That's good if you own the stuff, but to buy, it gets a little ridiculous after a while. I mean, Ibanez Jazz copies going for $500 US?! You couldn't GIVE that stuff away five years ago, you know what I mean? Does this review make you want an Aria 1220? You can find them easily enough. But should something like this cost $600 in a couple of years? I'd say no. Stop the insanity.