Aria Pro II Flying V

Black flying v with the Aria style headstock, twin humbuckers, floyd rose type trem system. Quite light bodyweight but well balanced. Nice slim neck with a good fast rock action. A few chips and scrapes on the fins and a missing locknutwhen bought but no matter. Coil tap. No idea how old (pro II series)

Plenty of sounds here from ringing metal chords to screaming rock and blues, - what do you want? If your looking for a strat type sound forget it, this is for a rocker, - a Mick Schenker wannabee.Doesnt cut through as well as Id like with the original pickups, when theres a few of you blasting away, but otherwise cant fault it.

Well, as it was used when bought its had a bit of wear and tear but all that matters is there and put together well.When new it would have been a beauty,- havin said that, - it still is to my eyes!

Only played this at jam sessions (cos thats all I play!) It is a bit light but as long as you dont throw it too often itll be OK.
I like to play with my leg in the V, other players might have to resite the strap button for a better balance.

N/A

I'm not sure how old it is (probably between 5 and 15 years), but I think it's Japanese. I bought it about 6 months ago as my second guitar (not that I play my other one anymore). It has 22 jumbo frets with arrowhead inlays. The body and neck are glossy black, the neck is rosewood and the hardware is all black. It looks very similar to the B.C. Rich 'V' that Kerry King is pictured with in the Slayer "Seasons in the Abyss" album inlay, but with a plain black finish. When I bought it, it had the standard passive humbuckers and related wiring with an imitation Floyd Rose locking tremolo. I have since replaced the bridge pickup with an EMG-81 active pickup (only the best!) and disconnected the neck pickup but left it on for show. I also had to move the jack socket so I coulb fit a 9v battery in there somewhere. I disconnected the pickup select switch (3 way), and I am left with one volume control, and one tone control. On the plate on the back which bolts through to the neck, underneath the logo it says "Accurate bolt-on system". The Floyd Rose tremelo is annoying to when replacing strings as it seems to take forever to get it all the strings balanced and tuned.

You should hear this BEAST!!! This is the dog's bollocks of guitars when it comes to the real heavy shit! I put it through my Digitech RP-7 effects unit, then into my Peavey Bandit 112 amp with a Peavey 4x12 cab, scoop the mid right out and thrash it to hell! Playing my guitar with this sound feels like being hit in the balls by a nuclear missile. The boosted bass and treble is great for rhythm and lead, but the best thing about it is when you play an artificial harmonic... mmmmm. Tuned to C# or drop B, I find I can almost get the perfect Machine Head "The More Things Change..." sound, and Vision of Disorder with some slight adjustments. A lot of people have told me that the EMG-81 is no good for clean stuff as it gives too much output. Bullshit. With my set-up it gives a very nice clean sound and the tone control gives the effect of switching from bridge to neck if you ask me. I think the sound is mostly down to the EMG-81, so as much as I want to, I won't go on anymore.

The guitar was used when I bought it, and wasn't set up amazingly well, but I sorted it out. The workmanship on this guitar is top quality - everything is routed and cut well, filed and chamfered, joints are almost seemless - there is nothing wrong is this department. There is a tiny dent on the body which can't been seen unless you look really closely, and a few hairline scratches on the back. The locking nuts and the Floyd Rose trem have rusted a bit though. The finish is fine in my opinion.

I know this guitar will withstand live playing as I have played live with it. From the looks of it, the hardware has already lasted a long time and still has a lot of life left in it. The finish on the body probably wouldn't come off with a blow-torch, but my strap broke a couple of months ago sending the poor thing to the concrete which chipped the head and one end of the body 'V' slightly, but that's all. The strap buttons are solid, and very good in fact - I just need to buy a decent strap. I can definately depend on it, and the only reason I would take a backup to a gig is in case I broke a string. Of course it would have to be a very similar guitar.

To tell the truth, I'm not sure if Aria Pro II still exist.

I have been playing for about 2 years now, and I have never had the pleasure of playing a nicer guitar. I've played ESP, Jackson, Ibanez, Washburn, B.C. Rich, Fender (eurgh!), and Gibson guitars, and the only guitar I can compare it with is the ESP Kirk Hammett signature model which feels great and sounds great, but just doesn't look as mean. I wish I had've asked how old it was before I bought it... for all I know it could have been made before I was (pre '81 - maybe). I don't know what I would do if it were stolen or lost - I rated it higher than last girlfriend. I love the sound of the EMG-81 pickup, I love going nuts on the whammy bar, and I love thrashing it as hard and fast as is humanly possible. I hate putting new strings on it. I wish it had an EMG-85 at the neck, an original Floyd Rose tremelo and some decent artwork on the body, oh yeah, and a c*nt (joke). My next guitar will have to have a fixed bridge I think.