Aria IGB-48

I think it was made in Korea. I bought an Aria igb-48 for ??249. In the shop I like the nice bright tone and it is very playable and quite light. However when I got it home I was dissappointed with its bottom-mid frequencies. So I took it back to the shop and got something decent instead (a very nice standard squire jazz bass for ??199).

The pick-up config was humbucker at the bridge and single coil on the neck. The pick-ups are poor and will pick up plenty of treble but not neraly enough lowmids and bass! No goo in a bass guitar!

The neck was a nice maple bolt on, good action and felt solid. Finish was cheap looking (the nut looked rough and ready and there was a very slight paint mark on the bottom of the neck)

The tuners were plastic and cheap looking. On closer inspection they felt like they were not built to last!

The overall shape is nice (ergonomic), it defo looks like a heavy rock guitar! It is fairly light. The colour was a nice bright fire red and the finish was nice. So it gets a few marks for that!

This bass has a very bright sound, but no punch in the mid or enough on the actual bass frequency!

There were 4 volume pots which considering how limited the actual tones are, I thought were unnecessary!

It did not suit my musical style (I play dub/reggae and rock)

The sound seemed clean although the single coil can pick up some interference.

The action was too low and I had to higher it, but that could have been the shop.

This bass will not stand live playing as the frequencies are not there. I had to power my amp twice louder than normal. (I did change the battery as active pick-ups, made no difference.)

The finish looks like it could were off, especially that tacky red bit on the head!

The hardware (plastic tuning heads, plastic pots) looks cheap and like it will not last.

Overall this is an awful guitar and NOT worth ??249. I would say it's worth about ??120 but even then there are nicer budget basses at this price (squire are excellent: I have owned 2 different squires and both are excellent guitars, especially for the price!)

There website is awful. Thankfully I did not need any support as I took it straight back to the shop when I realised what a duff guitar it is. There are loads better and nicer basses for up to ??249 (ibanez, squire). This is not worth ??249!!!!

There are loads better and nicer basses for up to ??249 (ibanez, squire). This is not worth ??249!!!! The pick ups are awful so it does not sound decent. The neck feels nice and it is quite light. But for ??249 I was extremely disappointed and would advise anyone thinking of purchasing the Aris IGB-48 not to as there are far nicer basses around for that cash!

Korean made (most likely) in 2004 (well, 04 are the first numbers in the serial), 4-string, standard 35? scale, bolt-on, alder body, rosewood fretboard, humbucker pickup at the bridge, single coil at the neck (pickups are with big microphones, similar to the ones in Musicmans), active electronics (easy to access battery compartment), knobs: master volume, bass level, treble level, and blend between bridge and neck PUs. Easy to access truss rod. A very nice feature is that you can feel when a knob is in its centre position. All instruments should have this. The cable jack is really snug fit; I really had to ram the plug in the first time. All in all, the features are everything I?ll ever need and leave nothing more to be desired. Of course, some instruments have more knobs and switches than spaceships, but on the other hand, how useful and easy to operate would that be? I can have a myriad of different sounds from this instrument with two active PUs and 4 knobs.

First I have to stress that this bass is not for everyone. I you love P-bass type of basses with flatwounds for retro-rock, stay away and afar. This Aria is a very bright and modern growl machine with aggressive attitude instead of ?buttah?. The blending knob gives dramatic seamless changes to sound: Using solely the bridge PU puts out midrangey sound with lethal attitude that drills through any mix. Quite unique type of sound actually. Using solely the neck PU takes you to ocean-deep roundwound heaven with sparkling crystalline highs. Using both equally (blend knob in the centre) gives a fatter sound which character resembles neither of ones above. This is best for most situations by giving a big sound still cutting through mix.

I bought this bass for a death metal band whose guitarists played downtuned, obscenely loud, with lots of low end, and through those messy sounding Line6 Pods. And with the blend a bit towards the bridge PU from centre, it?s a perfect fit! No matter how big and thick ?wall of sound? with crushing lows or screeching highs, Aria can make herself heard in any situation. The other guitarist actually asked me to cut down my treble, that?s how bright it is. :)

But you don?t have to play metal to enjoy this instrument. It suits straight ahead or atmospheric rock too, and for funk as it just yearns to be slapped. In fact, I have never liked slapping, but IGB-48 has seduced me give an occasional slap with my idle fingers not holding the plectrum. It can be inspiring for some progressive styles of music too, as the strings can very easily be made ring many kinds of harmonics, just with a tap of right hand.

The sustain is amazing for a bass of this price range.

The only negative thing is the coldness or sterility of the sound. This is in fact caused by the high fidelity of the PUs as they reproduce the sound of strings very transparently. You probably end up using some kind of mild overdrive or other harmonics producing device to add a little a bit of warmth.

The bass came from the package already with good action, even though I ordered it from Germany in the middle of winter. It?s really easy to play this thing, even though the action can?t be excessively low without buzz. The body is lightweight and ergonomic as well as the neck. The matte back of the neck lets hand slide effortlessly along.

The beauty of the looks is stunning. The unique three-dimensional body shape, and the even more unique slightly transparent black matte finish, which produces the dark brownish tint, not even mentioning the absolutely kick-ass looking huge pickups... It all adds a special atmosphere, a combination of elegance and ready-to-kill metallic vibe. I simply had to name this instrument as ?The Brunette?, and no matter how pretty to look, beware of her whip-cracking spicy attitude.

But there?s also a flipside to this; the vulnerability of the finish. It is damaged very easily, and I don?t know if it likes sweat much either. All in all I feel I constantly have to protect the bass, and I would not want to gig with her in a rowdy bar where beer glasses are flying.

As I already said, the finish does not take scratching and beating at all, but the cable jack, the PUs, the electronics, etc. seem and feel quite professional and sturdy work. Except...

...The tuning machinery. Yes, don?t ask but I ended up applying a little too much tension to strings. The G-string tuning peg made a loud *snap!* sound, and stopped making any difference when turned. That meant the pinion (the cog wheel) had broken. If you look at some more sturdy basses, like Fenders, you realize that simply won?t happen to them. I took my Aria to a luthier to be repaired. They looked down on my cheap bass, but replaced all the tuners with exactly same looking Gotoh tuners. They also offered to do a proper set-up which they fucked up, but that?s another story. And no, I didn?t even bother to try to get it under warranty, as Aria?s ?lifetime warranty? is just a funny gimmick.

I haven?t dealt with Aria themselves, but place I bought this from (Soundland.de, do check them out if you live in EU) were nice and helpful.

I regard websites as part of customer support, and Aria doesn?t give any information on IGB-48. Why? Such a good sounding and cool looking bass, and they push their other models instead?

Ok, what you get here is: killer looks (though delicate finish), killer modern sounds (though lacking warmth), good playability (though not perfect), good knobs and jack etc. (though crappy tuners and nothing-special generic bridge). All this for ridiculously low price of 300 Euros. If I wanted a better bass, it most definitely would go above 800 Euros. Think about that.

As I said it?s not for everyone. Luckily the appearance gives a good clue that this bass is not for your 60?s / 70?s retro band.

It?s probably not THE dream bass, but it?s perfect for my needs, and I couldn?t be happier proud owner of this nice Aria.