Aria Pro II Cardinal Series

I probably need a little feedback on what year this guitar was made, it is stamped "Matsumoku G800059 made in Japan" on the neckplate and and reads "Cardinal Series Original Custom Body, Pat.No. 555719 on the Machine head. 22 frets on rosewood, five piece mahogany body, five piece maple neck, looks like dual humbuckers, probably stock tuners but stays in tune rather well, string through body bridge,I dont know whether it is passive or active electronics, if it is passive it is passive agressive, this guitar is an animal, fun to play and far exceeds my expectations, I only paid $30.00 for it! and I would trade three Squires for it in a heartbeat, in fact I missed my 74 strat (sold in 96) till I got this one and hav'nt played a sweeter electric, yea! It makes me look forward to practicing even on those otherwise humdrum days and I hav'nt even got er cleaned up or fine tuned yet! What a deal!

I am not used to this instrument yet and am playing through an early model Seymore Duncan 84-40 tube amp which could be a contributing factor to the sound , ya Think?. It is a pretty versatle set up and I have been able to get a wide variety of sound out of it from crisp bright and clear to down and dirty distortion. I like the fat strat sound and play alot of blues, but I also play alot of stuff that normally sounds better on acoustic and have been leaving my acoustic at home, this guitar/ amp combo really works well for me.

This guitar was made in Japan, Whaddya want fer thirty bucks?, It's pretty EZ to see that it was hardly used, real comfortable to play, frets are in near new condition and it is pretty well made for a riceburner, I am pretty happy that noone used it to reinact an early WHO concert, one of the tone pods is a little scratchy and it seems to be wired backwards. The action was "hit" when I picked it up but I fixed that right quick and I will take er down to the city for a major O haul pretty soon, might even get a case for it.

I played a gig with this guitar on new years eve and was a little worried about my equipment, I usually play slide/dobro and sit out the ones that dobro does'nt fit, though I am kind of expendable and there by the grace of the band I played more on the Aria and played hard and was happy and complemented on the sound, I was really stoked when the guy with a beer in each hand fell backwards over the monitor exclaiming, "Dude you sound just like Clapton". If I were to need to depend on this guitar to make a living I would like to have two of them, but that is the same thought I would have about any Guitar.

Never dealt with the company, I do'nt speak Japanese, but I am sure parts are available and know a pretty good mechanic.

I have been playing 30 years off and on and definately not a natural, I pretty much got a cool deal on this guitar and it woke up the Rock and Roller dreams I had as a kid that were kinda shut down by the reality of my lack of talent. I am glad I got this guitar, but more the thirty years of experience that has taught me that "It's not a contest, It is Music,,,,,Sweet, sweet music! Thank You Goodnight.

Cardinal Series Model CS250 Ser.No. 1110354
Made in Japan. 1981
Same as other CS 25o above, Yes mine has a bolt on neck

I use it for jazzier stuff with the HUMBUCKERS, never really played it live, lounge room guitar.
Fender 40w valve
A bit noisy, may need a rew wire

Bought it at a garage sale, broken saddles, I was going to replace the bridge, but UNBELIEVABLE things happen EXACT bridge found at local Music Store...eeuueuue. So made one good bridge out of two.

PUPS OK

I can see the joins ( 4 pieces mahogany).

It was a little battered sitting out there on the road, but when I drove past she perked up, so I bought her and gave her a good polish.

Replaced nut and tuners with grovers.

It's solid as.

hardware a worry, brdige is not compfy to rest palm on. Saddle are weird, bridge set into body.

I would use it live once I got the tone worked out (I'm a strat and tele girl)

Long gone

Playing a long time...better part of 30 years and more ( clearing throat)
Strats, teles, a beautiful cort CL 1500 when I had a 335 yearning...I rebuild them there are 12 around the place.

I LOVE the weight of it, I wet sanded the back of the neck and it is smooth as..have to get used to the fretboard radius though, bit flat for me I prefer 9.5 - 12 " This feels like a 16"

I wish it had a better bridge..changed the tuners and a new wiring as it is noisy.

I was destined to buy this...passed it on the road in a garage sale..had to stop..The guy said 'I am not taking anything less than $50' - I pulled out the $50 and gave it to him (No questions asked LOL)...apparently people had been offering him $10...he mentioned the broken saddles and that they were hard to get, he had tried..I said no problems I'll get some..he said "This guitar has been waiting for you" Local guitar store up the street literally has a vintage bridge EXACTLY the same for it...GUITARS pick me...take me home love me...

Mine is a CS-200, which would appear to be one of the rarer Cardinal models. It is similar in spec to other Cardinal models, with the twin humbuckers, but it has only 1 volume and 1 tone control, a 3-way selector switch, but no coil-tap facility. Like the others, the body is ash, with a bolt-on neck. The finish is "walnut", which is effectively a brown varnish, with a matt finish, so you can feel the woodgrain. Nice!
The CS-200 was made from 1981-83, in Japan, although the serial number on mine would suggest 1984 (the numbering sytem though was evidently not hard and fast).

I'm not a good guitarist (I'm being honest not modest), but I can get great sound out of it. Imagine what a good player could do with it! I bought it without giving it more than a rudimentary try-out (just to check that it worked) so I was pleasantly surprised when I got it home. The lead sound in particular is amazing. Good sustain, and a consistent sound across the fretboard and strings. Not quite as silky smooth as a Les Paul, but then not as heavy or uncomfortable either! It's smooth, but with balls. Like the difference between a poncy French brandy and a down-home Southern whisky!!

I didn't buy this guitar new, so can not comment on the way it came out of the factory. But I'll say it's very comfortable to play, the pick ups are easy to adjust, and all the equipment, while not showy by today's standards, are of obvious good quality. I'm especially impressed with the pick ups.

My CS-200 is 20 years old or more. I can tell from the "tired" condition of the factory-fitted case that this instrument has had heaps of use. Yet the guitar itself is in exceptional condition. The thing gives every indication that it will just go on and on forever! A lot of guitars now incorporate flash gimmicks, but it's true - they don't make 'em like they used to!

Never dealt with the company. It's not a new guitar, or under warranty, so unlikely to do so.

This is where I really get misty-eyed. I've always been on the look-out for a guitar that I would fall in love with. Not even something you can put your finger on - just a guitar that would make you go - yes! I've had 2 Squier Strats (yawn), 2 Super Strats (not really me), a Les Paul copy (surprisingly good), but the moment I saw the CS-200 I knew it was what I'd been looking for! I'd always fancied a PRS guitar, but couldn't justify the expense. Now I've found something just as good for a fraction of the price. In fact, I'd say better than a PRS, because it is comparatively rare, and is a talking point with other musicians. I've long been a classic car enthusiast, and prefer to drive a well-looked after old car than a new boring one. Now I can say I drive a classic guitar as well! It probably won't be the last guitar I buy (shall keep my eyes peeled for other CS models!) but I certainly won't be selling this baby.
Oh, I don't suppose it's perfect (seems to go out of tune more quickly than others!) but while it's logically an 8 or 9, the smile it puts on my face makes it a 10!

japan made year 83 i think
22 frets
solid top
3 -way selector
the previous owner says it's a di marzio humbucks but i didn't really checked on that because it already gives me a great sound
passive electronics

i play mostly heavy tunes in low end (NIN, staind) and i think the humbucks really suiy=ts this type of style
i tried cranking it with a tube rectified mesa but it sounded more heavier with the marshall jcm80... i think the pick-ups work more like a fender strat of some sort.

fret wire were a little off plus the body paint easily fades.

i've used it twice but i never really push its power to the limit... it really serves me more like a back-up
the hardware will seem to last considering it was made a decade ago

i've been playing for 7 years now... and this is the first guitar that i'm really going to keep.
before, i was thinking of whether to get this or a strat but i figured to try a different type of guitar since i've been using a strat way before this guitar.

Aria ProII Cardinal Series model CS-250 guitar. I bought this guitar brand new in 1983 from CC Music in Glasgow after a long, long search for a guitar that I would like to own that I could also afford.

This is a solid bodied, Made in Japan guitar with double cut aways, slightly sculpted body, not unlike a Gibson SG in looks. The body is three pieces, with the main section making up the bulk of the centre section....and about the same thickness as an SG too. The body and head are a kind of terracotta/tile red. The guitar has a matt finish that shows the wood grain through, again not unlike the matt finish of some models of Gibson SG. The colour really suits this guitar and the gold Aria ProII logo looks good against the red.

The 22 fret, bolted on neck is made from maple with a rosewood fretboard. Slim and well finished throughout. A treat to play. The Neckplate is engraved (Like Fender)with the Aria Pro II logo and serial number. The machine heads were a slight let down quality wise but actually lasted well. In 2002 I changed them for a set of Grovers which suit the guitar well.

Hard tail bridge with separate saddles per string. Through body stringing too. The Guitar has two Zebra (open) humbuckers and the usual Gibson layout of two Volume and two Tone controls, each with a gold Gibson style speed knob. An attractive guiatr that looks like it means business too.

One of the most exciting features of this Aria is that it has two coil splitting switches to independently switch each humbucker to single coil if required. Along with the 3 way switch there are many combinations: S+0ff, H+off, S+H, H+H, S+S, H+S, Off+H and Off+S. Wow, this is REALLY versatile. You can easily switch from a convincing Tele Quack with two single coils in teh middle psition(S+S) to a full on Les Paul Humbucker (Off+H)lead solo with the bridge 'bucker. The pickups have no name on them but they are powerful and have been wax dipped so there are no unwanted microsonics at high gain settings.

I give this guitar a high features rating. Maybe a tremolo would have made it 10 but it isn't that kind of guitar, I guess

I play Rock & Blues mainly and take turns at rhythm and lead. This guitar sounds good at any setting. The neck pickup is woody and warm and the bridge has a definite edge which stand up well against my friends Les Paul. Certainly the Aria is as loud and as 'cutting' though the Les Paul has a sweet tone edge where the Aria's tone is more like sharp steel - I love it!

The Single coil sounds are very Strat/Tele like and the 'buckers well into Gibson territory. Mix them up for some really interesting tones. The 2 Vol & 2 Tones make it all very interesting & versatile too. Yes, this guitar is a real treat and a great find. Also, it is not heavy and I can play long gigs without it weighing me down.

I give it 8 for sound overall.

This Aria Pro II was well built and has lasted me for many years. The paint job hasn't faded and even the odd belt mark on the back hasn't gone through the finish. The electrics have never been touched. No problems at all. The pots have no crackles or pops and work as well as ever. I would say that the hard tail bridge is a bit rough in places and the saddles are not that well machined but are functional enough. Also, the machine heads were not as good as I would have liked but I have Grovers fitted now and they are really good indeed. Overall this guitar was well made and well screwed together, with a good action (whether that was Aria or the retailer I can't recall. No flaws have emerged over two decades which is a real testament to Aria.

I'll drop two points for the Bridge & Machine Heads for the reason given above. Otherwise - I am truly delighted with it.

This guitar has lasted me well. 20 years plus and it still looks and plays as well as ever. I can't fault it except I did change the machine heads after 20 years (for Grovers) and this has added to teh overall quality of the guitar.

No, I will have to give it top marks for durability. It has never let me down, ever.

I have never used customer support as such but I did e-mail Aria direct on a number of occasions when I was looking for information on some of their other products - but I did not get a reply. How annoying! - Not even the courtesy of "Here are our agents"
So I cannot comment otherwise. I'll leave this one blank

I own an Epiphone Les Paul, a USA Fender Stratocaster, a (self built) Telecaster (with a Seymour Duncan Little 59 at the bridge and a 5-way selector) and a (self built) Strat type guitar with 2xP90s )ie my own brand of Strat-o-sonic). The Aria sits well placed in my collection and is still one if my favourites though I guess I neglected to play it in recent years and have often left it at home when gigging with the other guitars. But I took it with me to a gig recently (almost on a whim) and I loved playing it again and using the versatile tones again.... It caused a bit of a 'stir' with some of the younger players who had never seen one before (how can they all afford Gibsons and Fenders at their age eh?). I enjoyed showing them this "Vintage (1983!!)Aria ProII" with its strange array of features. Yeah it is different from the norm and fairly rare - so is a talking point with the youngsters. I like it a lot and I plan to keep it.

I BOUGHT IT SECOND-HAND FOR #20 LAST YEAR.IT HAS A KAHLER TREM FITTED AND LOCKING NUT.THE BODY IS LIKE A CROSS BETWEEN AN SG AND A PRS.I LOVE THE POLISHED WOODGRAIN FINISH AND THE GRAIN HAS NEAR-PERFECT SYMMETRY DOWN THE WHOLE BODY.

THIS GUITAR SUITS MY PLAYING STYLE PERFECTLY. I PLAY A LOT OF ROCK AND BLUES.I USE A PEAVEY BANDIT 112 AMP. THROUGH THIS AMP MY GUITAR IS VERY QUIET.THE SOUND PRODUCED IS VERY FULL, ALTHOUGH DUE TO THE COIL TAPS THE GUITAR CAN PRODUCE NEARLY ANY SOUND.I THINK THE GUITAR IS SUTIBLE FOR NEARLY ANY STYLE OF MUSIC.

WHEN I BOUGHT THE GUITAR IT WAS QUITE WELL SET UP BUT DUE TO THE TREMOLO THE ACTION IS A LITTLE HIGHER THAN I WOULD LIKE IT TO BE. THAT SAID, THE TREMOLO WORKS EXTREMELY WELL AND THE GUITAR NEARLY ALWAYS REMAINS IN TUNE WHEN I USE IT. THE QUALITY OF THE FINISH ON THE GUITAR IS AMAZING CONSIDERING IT IS NEARLY 18 YEARS OLD. THE ONLY FLAW WAS THAT ONE OF THE MACHINHEADS HAD BEEN REPLACED WHICH DID NOT MATCH THE OTHERS.

IF I GAVE THE GUITAR A SLIGHT OVERHAUL, SUCH AS STRENGTHENING THE NECK A BIT (IT'S COME LOOSE OVER TIME, NEED RE-GLUEING), ALSO THE TRUSS ROD NEEDS ADJUSTING, AND IT NEEDS A NEW CENTRE NUT LOCK. APART FROM THAT IT HASNT SUFFERED BADLY CONSIDERING 18 ODD YEARS OF ABUSE. IF THESE MINOR THINGS WERE DONE, NOT THAT IM LAZY OR ANYTHING, I THINK IT COULD GO ON QUITE HAPILY FOR MANY YEARS (PROVIDING I CHANGE THE STRINGS). I WOULD NEVER DO A GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP, OR A STRAT TO DO STAGE SMASHES (CUS THEY'RE CHEAP).

I DO ALL MAINTINANCE MYSELF (EVENTUALLY)

I'V BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT A YEAR, BUT I HAVE EXPERIANCE GUITARING FRIEND, WHO SHARE MY OPINIONS ON THIS GUITAR.

This a Aria Pro II "made in Japan" CS-250 Cardinal series made in 1981, probaly made from basswood with a nice dark "cardinal" dark wood finish with a "Les Pal" dual cut body shape. 22 jumbo frets with pearl dot inlay. This is a H/H taperwound/Humbucker PU wich can be used seperate or in phase with two seperate switches. The electronic are passive. The neck is a three piece maple with a Gibson style headstock and a rosewood fingerboard, although the neck feels more "Fender" like (Somewhere between a strat and a Tele)
This is a hardtail guitar with a solid bridge. The tuners feel a bit cheap but stay in tune and that is what they are supose to do.
The guitar came with a case.

This guitar sounds like any 200 to 300$ guitar when played clean, but when used with any distortion, this guitar comes to live, leaving my $1000 Ibanez way behind. The power is huge, especially when the bridge is used in phase. The sound is best discribed a rich, no this sounds at all.

I got the guitar from a colleage of mine who bought it originally in 1981. He wasn't to pleased with the set up and the somewhat bended neck. But he didn't use it much because of the way it sounded. So I redid the setup, tuned the bridge, straightened out the neck and lowered the PU's, now it sounds a lot better, even clean.
The guitar still looks great after 22 years, I don't think you will find a 200$ guitar new that sounds like the CS-250 nowadays.

I haven't used the guitar live, but I'm sure it will be up to it (If you are in a Rock or metal band) even without backup. If this were my guitar I might consider swapping the tuners with "Shaller" replacements. It seams very dependable otherwise with good solid strap buttoms.

These guitars were only produced for three years accourding to the Aria Pro II web site. So I gues after 22 years, customer sopport is out of reach.

I have been playing for about 13 years off and on. I own a lot of gear, A Fender CIJ Jazzmaster, a Ibanez 440 SSI, a SG-Master, a 60ties Tesco del Ray-ish guitar, and some other guitars. If I can buy this one cheap, I guess it will be a good guitar for my collection. I like this guitar most since it performs really good under distorted conditions on a Marshall or a Mesa V-twin.
This is a Rock guitar and perfectly for daily playing. I wouldn't use it for clean sounds, since there it isn't really suited for (IMHO) it's Build to shred and grind!!

I bought a blue cardinal CS-350 in 1993 for $100US and havent needed anything else the tuners are a little cheap but it dosent go out of tune that much but the sound rules. Its a real heavy guitar too, which is a lot better than a lot of toys around, you know youve got a guitar around your neck with this thing. The output of my one is very very loud is distorts most clean amps which is great I prefer that sound and the top end is ferocious if you ever see one you gotta buy it forget les pauls that look stupid anyway get a cardinal you will not regret it. Feedback with it is also superb...22 frets super finish

rich and full with jagged top end
I play clean and distorted and its sweet for both

excellant action mine strings set up a little weird but i dont care the string spacings a little abstract but i like that
My guitars got tonnes of marks and chunks out of it but so what its a guitar

it rulz

been playing for ten years and i own a marshall 50 split channel reverb
no one can touch my guitar it will never be stolen
I used to hate it but now i love it

These guitars were made in the early and middle 80s. The Cardinal is a 2-cutaway solid body guitar, body made of 6 or 7 pieces with a transparent cardinal red paint. It has 2 humbuckers which can be splitted or played out of phase. On first view there is nothing really special about it. The body shape is comparable to other 80s stuff, like the Hamer Steve Stevens model. Mine has been used since 1985 (and believe in my early Heavy Metal years I didn't treat it that well ...) and it has plenty of dings and dongs and scratches. I didn't play it that often in the last years as I changed over to Strats and semi-acoustics. I picked it up again a few weeks ago and now read why ...

Why did I hang it up for such a long time? Perhaps because it looks too small now on a tall middle-aged man with growing belly ...
But the sound!! Wow, it has loads of sustain without that muddy touch of a Paula. You can play it clean and it will not have that lifeless appearance of so many "High-Gain-Strats". Very vivid and even usable for jazzy things. When played with overdriven amps it start getting alive even more and believe me, you can play it up to maximum overdrive and will still hear, that there are 6 separate strings ...
The sound makes it good for any style: Blues, Jazz, Rock, Hard Rock, Grunge, Metal.
Some say it is like a poor man's Paul Reed Smith. Well, at least you will not have to eat dry toast for the rest of your life when buying one used ...

Well, honestly, I can't really remember how setup was. And maybe at that time I wouldn't have even know whether it was right or wrong. I was 16 when I bought it ...

Must be reliable as it still exists after 17 years ;-)
The paint seems to be a little thin, it is very easy to create new Dings and Dongs even without a belt.
But, after such a heavy use any guitar would look like this.
The tuners are a bit cheap. They didn't withstand the long playing period. But that happens to many guitars

No idea

As I said I bought it in 1985. It was my first electric and of course I would never sell it because of that reason. Had to work 1 month in a factory laundry to afford it. But that is not the only reason why i keep it. I don't think there is any guitar at a price of around 300,- $ which could beat this little thing. The sound is just amazing. Today I mainly play my Fender Strat, a Burns TR2 and a DeArmond X-155 (recently checked out a Yamaha AEX-520, you should do so as well), but I think it will be used again more often now that I picked it up again after some time.
Perhaps if it was stolen I wouldn't buy a new one, just because the body is a bit small for my nowadays taste. But I would cry deeply, believe me. Even if I will never use it on stage anymore, I would definetly use it in studio: Pack it in its case, run into the recording room, play it, get it back in the case again and then let all the studio staff guess what has produced this wonderful sound ;-)
If you find one, buy it, I don't think they will be expensive. You will not regret it.

22 Frets 2 volumes 2 tones 3 way selector. Not sure what kind of wood used. Wonderful finish all one piece.

Amazing guitar suits any style of music from death metal to smooth jazz. I was just playing some major metal through my half stack crate 4x12 and a fender roc pro 1000 head and i switched it to clean and it sounded like a million bux. I would choose this over a gibson any day. Amazing sound, feel, everything. One perfect guitar.

Its amazing, i got this guitar from a basement that it had been sitting in for at least 10 years never touched. The second i restrung it it still sounded amazing. No tune up needed the action is perfect! Everything is properly routed no flaws whatsoever.

Never gigged but im sure it would hold up to the challenge. The finish is a laquer sort of finish and seems to never get scratched although its all over. One dependable guitar.

Amazing guitar thats all I can say.