Aria Pro II Mac Series

Mac 60
1. two or three piece alder body
2. Flamed maple veneer top
3. Maple kneck with 24 fret rosewood fingerboard
4. Two single and one humbucking pick-up (Duncan designed)
5. One volume and one tone control
6. Fiveway pickup selector
7. Wilkingson V50 tremolo bridge
8. No name tuners

Have two of these in amber and blue

These sound ok as they are very good for anythiung from country to thrash metal but could be better in some areas (i'll get to that soon)

set up very well only need a slight adjustment on the action, nice attention to detail

Have used these now for about 3 years very reliable, very tough get giged about twice a week, no problems

N/A

Playing about 30 years als own Les Paul standard flametop, 3 strats lots of stuff really but keep going back to these.
Now i must tell you that although these are very good guitars as they are, i always mod mine replacing the humbucker with a Di-Marzio Tone Zone replace the tuners with sprezel locking tuners and slap on a set of strap locks. Do this and as good as these things are, they play and sound fantastic and totally stay in tune played a charity gig last weekend and a few bands were at it most guitars on show were strats and fat strats this thing blew them all off stage. highly recommended, buy one today, great value

The guitar is brand new,(2004) it was made in China.

24 fret maple neck,Rosewood fingerboard, medium frets, sculpted heel, solid carved-top Alder body.

H-S-S pickup configuration. Pickups were factory installed shit.

Non-locking tremelo

The tone and sustain of the guitar is great! but the output of the pickups was weak so I have since replaced the humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Full-shred. The output has improved dramatically while preserving the guitars awesome tone.The single coil pickups buzz like a wasps nest, but I basically don't use them anyway. the control cavity was not shielded at all, I have since fixed that and this guitar now ROCKS!!!!

I got the brown sunburst with quilted maple top. The finish was flawless accented by gold hardware, and the overall construction ( body and neck ) was nice and solid with no apparent sloppiness. The 24 fret neck was slightly fuller in profile than a Wizard II, but was easily negotiated with my smaller hands after I adjusted the action slightly to my tastes.

This guitar is rock-solid in its constuction, and feels great when you strap it on. Some corners were definately cut in the hardware department; the bridge, tuners, knobs and electronics were cheap but functional crap. The gold finish was pale and thin and had already been scuffed off in spots, especially the tuners, where I assume the automatic string winder did the damage at the manufacturer. ( this guitar was factory sealed when I recieved it.)
minor stuff, but really annoying because it could be so easily avoided.I have also replaced the bridge with a nicer Mighty-Mite, and the tuners with some Gotohs.

I bought the Aria Mac-50 because its shredder design suited my hard rockin musical style. I have had great success with Aria quality in the past and the price was in my range at this time in my life.I have had this guitar for 9 months, it is my 12th guitar. I have been playing for 22 years.

I did not expect more than I got when I purchased this guitar. I expected good quality costruction and to replace many lacking components after I received it. I love to customize my guitars this way, especially since I can not plunk down $2000.00 for a guitar I really deserve. So in the end what I have is a very solidly costructed axe with good hardware, killer tone and sustain and I love it!!

My guitar is a Japanese MAC50Q. It's got that great blue colour that caught my attention in the first place. It doesn't actually say "proII" anywhere on it but I played one that did and I prefer mine. It came with aria stock pickups (two singles and a coil tapped humbucker, guitars don't come any more versatile). It's got 24 easily accessible frets.

I play punk, metal and blues. It looks the part for all 3 genres and sounded alright too. I replaced the aria humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Invader and now it sounds fantastic. I never blend pickups so I can't speak for those settings but on it's own each pickup is pretty firm sounding and I have no complaints. Even the pickup I replaced was kinda likeable.

The action is good, the standard you get on the average Epiphone. The paintjob was good, great volour but it had a few little faded bits that nobody will notice but me but are still annoying. The pickups were way too low.

It's a more angular guitar than a strat s it tends to chip around the edges if you drop it. The hardware is totally reliable though.

I love this guitar. It's hugely versatile which is something I need for my playing style. The tremelo doesn't accomadate big whammy solos but I'm not that kind of guitarist anyway. If I lost it I would probably buy the same guitar again. If you're planning on buying one I would recommend getting the model with the stock aria pickups and replacing them with better ones rather then paying an extra 100 for duncan designed ones. It's deceptively cheap for such a great guitar.

The Aria Mac 60 was made in Korea. It has 24 good quality frets, a carved top. 1 great volume control, tone, 5-way selector, and a coil tap switch. It is fitted with Ducan designed SC-101 pickups - 2 singles and a bridge humbucker - HB-103. Good pickups for what I need. The body is Flamed Maple on Alder, the neck Maple, Bolt on, Heel-less joint, and the fingerboard is Rosewood.
It is a Strat shape - but the flamed body really makes this guitar in a class of it's own. It is also a double cutaway and has an arched top body.
The finish is a see-through blue. If I had a car - it would be this colour!! The bridge/tremelo is a Wilkinson VS-50. Really good, and it doesn't make the guitar go too much out of tune.

I play most styles of music - rock/clasical/jazz/heavy metal etc and I haven't yet found a style that it doesn't suit. I use a Carlsbro GLX 30 amp, with an Alesis GuitarFX multi-effects. Befor this amp the guitar didn't sound that good (I had a tiny Squire 10W!) but now it sounds like a brand new guitar. I don't find this guitar noisy at all.
The sound really varies with the different tone settings, and pick-ups, unlike some guitars that i've had!

I've read other reviews for this guitar, but unlike them I didn't change a thing. Excellent! The only fault (if you can call it that) is a miniscule mark (about 0.5mm squared!) on the back of the guitar!!!

I am carefull with this guitar, but onced I dropped it on the floor just before a gig - but nothing happened I didn't even have to re-tune it. The finish is really of a good quality. I've had mine about 2 years - no chips.
This is the only guitar that I use - I can whole heartedly depend on it.

I have been playing guitar for 7 years. If this guitar got stolen I would replace it with an exact replica!
I really love the look of the guitar - the blue colour (I've never seen an amber one up close) and the matt chrome hardware really complement each other. I compared it with a Vintage guitar, and a couple of Ibanez guitars but I prefer this one.
It really feels nice to play - and makes even the trickiest of solos easy (well easier) to play. The Mac 60 is much better for value than the other guitars in the MAC range - Mac 35, 50, 55, and 57.

just a quick update on my new blue Mac 60 Aria purchased last week. I was told these guitars are set up and checked up in the USA after they arrive from Korea. When I received the guitar I thought the pick up height, intonation and string height were all correct. However the pick up heights were bad for all 3 pickups upon closer inspection. String to pick up distance with USA made Duncans is not that critical because the magnets are so powerful. These Seymor Duncan copys have weaker magnets making the string to pick up distance critical in getting a good tone. With the pickups readjusted closer the guitar sounds much better! It sounds like a different guitar now. I will not have to replace the pickups after all with those expensive USA made versions.

This is a new Aria MAC 60 series guitar made in Korea. The body is made of alder with a thin blue transparent flamed maple top. It has a humbucker- single- single pick up cofiguration similar to a fat strat. It has Duncan designed pick ups that sound like stock pickups to me, nothing special about them at all. The guitar has a strat body shape not heavy or to light, just right for me. A Wilkinson bridge is installed. The bridge is not like a floyd rose it is not well suited for wild whammy bar effects. The neck is rosewood with no binding.

I bought my first Aria in 1986. This guitar does not sound as good as that Japanese Aria I used to have. This is an average sounding guitar nothing special about the sound or tone. The pick ups are suitable for practice but not really for any kind of performance. They do not have the balls and tonality of real Seymor Duncan pick ups. I would hope a pick up change could transform this guitars sound from average to very good or even excellent.

This guitar looks much better than some of the lower priced flamed maple guitars. It does not look cheap at all. The body has real nice sculpted lines. The guitar is set up well no problems with that. Aria did a good job with the finish. The only way you can tell it is an import on inspection is the very poor paint finish on the recessed holes that the neck bolts go in. It looks very bad there is no real reason to have a poor finish in that area since it is plainly visable. A USA made guitar would not have a flaw like that.

the guitar looks very sturdy. If the guitar had an accident it does not look like it would break. The neck joint is the best of any bolt on I have ever seen. Well suited for live playing.

has a limited lifetime warranty. This is a quality guitar.

I have been playing for 16 years. My first Aria was special thats why I bought this one with money I got from selling another guitar. This looks a cut above the other imported low priced flamed maple top guitars. The finish is beautiful and flawless except for the poor paint job they did inside the bolt cavities that secure the neck. This guitar was purchased from daybreak. Expect to wait over a month to get a guitar from daybreak not the one or two weeks that they show on their website. This guitar is average sounding nothing special about it soundwise. The beautiful transparent blue finish make it worth considering over other guitars in this price range. I just hope the guitar sounds better after I swap pick ups later on. Any other questions my email is mahogany09@yahoo.com

24 frets, volume and tone controls, 5 way selector, hum-sing-sing setup, all stock pickups. all pretty average, all i need though. beautiful quilted red finish with gold hardware, looks well good.

i play through a Marshall VS100 combo, and a bunch of footpedals (jackhammer, marshall 2 button footswitch, wah wah). considering i only use the bridge humbucker, i cant really comment on the 2 singles. anyway it sounds quite good, although a bit plain, im going to change the bridge pickup for a seymour duncan invader. actually the stock bridge pickup is a bit shimmery, sometimes sounds a bit like a single coil. also sounds ok when split but hum is well loud when split, so i keep it on hum. should hopefully be more inspiring when the invader is fitted.

very well set up, although the single coils were set too high, otherwise the setup was fine.

pretty robust, although the finish will proabably chip off after a while. the top strap button is a bit too small, thought thats common with Arias. im using it as my number 2 guitar along with an Aria Magna (see my review on that, the one with the higher marks) but yeah id depend on it.

aint dealt with them, wouldnt bother either.

ive been playing for a while now and have owned an Aria STG-004 (piece of shit) a De'armond M55 (piece of shit) and a Fender standard strat that i modified. this guitar is my 2nd fav after my Magna, although thats just cuz ive had the magna longer. this one looks a lot better and basically feels the same. i love the looks, ive put a strap with spikes onto it, it looks class. i want to get the blue version of this guitar as well, cuz they are tried and tested. i would fucking kill the person that stole this guitar (which they wouldnt). the only gripe i really have is the stock pickups, but the invader will change that problem.

Features
Build:2000
Frets:24
Solid top
Controls:1 Volume,1 Tone,5 way switch
Pickups:s,s,h (Very if not the most versatile combination)
Make and model: (brand X)
Passive electronics
Wood:Body :Alder as for as i know Neck: Maple
Finish: Beautiful Blue greenisch Burst
Body Style: Strat modelleled and very sleek (Compare a volkswagen with a porsche)
Bridge: Tremelo that goes one way like a stratocaster i like this bridge cause its easy tuning and rather stong springs.
Tuners: Non locking 14/1 Ratio tuners in gold
Frets: Very delicate(small) Needs some getting used to but play's light
Included accesories:depending from dealer to dealer

The feature rating is a little low because of the pickups but I am going to replace them for SD Pickups or Dimarzio's or some of both worlds (Witch i Reccomend in almost every guitar). On the other hand, I am very pleased with the colour, and the bridge! The neck etc because I dislike floyd Rose trems (had a very nasty experience with my much more expensive Ibanez) because it's such a problem to tune them correctly (If you experience the same problem try a tremsetter It works)

It suites my style very well, I play a lot af rock, metal punk, blues but the sound is a bit thin because of the pickups.
I am using this guitar trough a Marshall G80 R CD (great amp for its price). The guitar is a bit noisy because i doesnt has a lot of shielding.
The sound of this guitar is rich but very well ballanced, you can get a lot of sounds out of this guitar, I am only using the marshall, but i manage to get more sounds out of this guitar than out of my much more expensive ibanez RG 470.
I Like the sound of this guitar but it isn't spectacular or something, i hope changing the prickups will correct that problem. Sound is mostly a pickup matter (I think 50%), but this guitar has a potential to sound very good ( This is of course a matter of taste)
when it is shielded properly etc.

The set-up depents on many factors:
The neck, frets etc MUST! be correct this means no tordation right angle's etc, what I'm trying to say is that the guitar most be properly build, this is the case in most Aria Pro II guitars, I don't want to be a drag but the Ibanez I had did not have this (It came strait from the factory , if you had the right action the slings would do the most horrible thins.
The Store where you buy your guitars:
I bought my Ibanez at a dealer that sold many musical instument and this dealer assured me that i had a good guitar NEVER BELEVE THESE PEOPLE IF YOU WANT TO BUY A GUITAR TAKE A EXPERIENCED PLAYER WITH YOU WHO CAN DETECT FLAWS ETC ETC. At home i started playing, for five minutes, then i Realised the Intonation was totaly wrong, did't get It right, then the action than the tuning than the AARGH RELAPSE Ok i hope you get the picture. Fed Up with my very Expensive guitar i went back to the dealer, he say's :nothings wrong I say everithings wrong I don't now what it is but. He guarantees me nothing wrong his word against mine lost case. The quest for a good guitar had begun. Finally i was walking in Arnhem (Im duth hence the grammar errors) I came across a specialised guitar shop with two guitarplayers who also where repear men and guitar cutumizers. I gave them my Ibanez the measured it played it and masuered it again. (No misterious bulshit yust plain crafstmanship) and the came to the conclusion that it was very difficult to make a decent guitar out of my guitar and that it would cost me FL 600 ($ 300) just to make it sound right. Outch! These guy's are expensive. They tried to convince me to buy a guitar in there shop (piet guitars) but i am difficult person to be persuaded. They say play this play that, then suddenly my eye fel on the aria pro II I played it and loved it but I thougt it was way out of my range. Wrong! Fl 600 was al this beauty cost then they took the whole afternoon tuning the guitar (wile telling me what they where doing, very professionably) till it played magnificent. The action is incredebly low and the strings don't rattle in any position (when amplified). There is only one flaw on the 17 th fret but they will correct this next week.Then the action etc wil be a 10 (The guy's at piet can give any good guitar this rating)

I dont play live but i am vey gentle with my guitars, when i read the other reviews about aria pro II the guitars seem to be at least a bit fragile, I sure hope nothing happens tho this One. But already it's more reliable then the Ibanez( on the ibanez the trem holding nut broke flanging the Floyd Rose trem in the pickups (one of the reasons of my argument with the dealer). I can't say how realiable this guitar is but as I say'd its a bit fragile it as a eerie bones feeling over it that say : Im a guitar not a hamer.

In Holland you don't have to deal with companies but with the music stores, this music store sels aria's because the are good guitars, they only sell good guitars at piet 40% of the guitars send there are send back to all the company, they go out from the notion:
Whe have the Knowledge and whe feel responsible, whe want to give guitar players a good instument (I believe them because they are such a small store, the can't afford unhappy costumers)
Most guitar shops in Holland go out from the notion:
You come here you decide wether this is a good guitar or not. (seems fair but it isn't becaus tordation intonation etc can only be seen by craftsmen, with specialised equipment or guitarplayers that know the are flawless and who know what to look for)
Because I can not give te company a Grade I wil give this music store a grade. And because it is so inportant to get your guitar in a good shop: Here comes the "very long" list of good guitar shops I know in holland:
1: Piet guitars Arnhem
2: Standby music Utrecht

I play for two years (electric guitar: 6months)now, I own a Bruce and wallace western guitar (very good guitar for its price),wich I have played for a year and a half. I have this guitar for a week and if it wasn't for the flaw on the 17th fred on the high E string (I yams when you bent it) I am quite content with this guitar and am planning to stick with it quite some time. I think this is an perfect guitar for customizing because it isnt very expensive and for FL 700 I think with the help of piet guitars I can make this guitar sound like a guitar of Fl 2500,- (when i have custumised my guitar i wil sumit another review) so 700+600=1300 --> I save 800, unfortuanately I bought my Ibanez for FL 1300 shit happens. I love the coulor of the guitar and the finish. I wish it had SD pickups but only the sun rises for free, and i don't believe in farrytales. I love the way the guitar looks and play's.
P.S. I hope that my old Ibanez is an exeptional bad made Ibanez guitar for the sake of Ibanez players. (you can buy the guitar for Fl 600 no more no less for real ibanez fans).
Futhermore I want to say this, dont buy a guitar thats to expensive take lessons and practice, a good guitar doesn't have to be expensive.