Aria Pro II PE-175 Herb Ellis

This a 175 style but with a rounded cutaway, 16" across lower bout. It seems to have mahogany rims and maple back and top with some slight birdseye in the top. It has a beautiful shaded sunburst and not template teardrop like on new Gibsons. The neck is shaded brown and you can see wood grain through paint surfaces. My guitar has the tapered headstock so I'd guess it's from 1980. The neck profile is what I'd consider thin and very easy to play. The guitar has an ebony fingerboard with split blocks like Super 400 with Herb Ellis on the last block The fingerboard has nice flat contour and frets are low jumbo. it has 2 tarnished gold humbuckings, 2 volume and tone with black knobs and an L5 gold tailpiece. My guitar has a plain black pickguard with no Herb Ellis initials on it. I also noticed that the f-holes are single bound. Overall, this guitar has much upgraded features to a stock 175, ebony fingerbrd, split block inlays, bound F-holes, L5 tailpiece. And also very important, a soundpost under the bridge to handle feedback issue so common in full jazz guitars.

I use this baby through a Roland Blues Cube 60, Princeton 65 and Polytone. It sounds excellent through any of these amps with very little adjustment. I've also plugged straight into a Carvin mixer and have gotten good sound. I mostly use the neck pickup with the tone half open. It sounds very full, clear and not muddy or muffled. Sometimes I use the pickups together adding more treble to the mix and get very clear distinct tone. I play without effects or pedals so I hear the guitar as it really is. This one sounds mellow, yet clear and with a touch of reverb very pleasant to my ears. I had a newer 175 when I bought this guitar and Aria sounded better so gave my 175 to my son. The new guitars just don't sound like this oldie. The body is resonate and I practice around the house acoustically and can still hear it. I've had many jazz guitars but this is my best buy and it sounds better than many very expensive guitars I've owned. I'm never gonna part with this baby. When these guitar came out in the late 70's I wanted to buy one but at that time I was a total Gibson snob. I'm glad I actually found one of these beauties at last. The sound is excellent and very versatile for jazz, blues, bebop.

The construction on this guitar is top notch and shows lots of workmanship and care. At this time, Aria was trying to build a guitar similar to Gibson 175 but with upgraded features and better constuction and this guitar is a fine example. Herb Ellis would not endorse a guitar unless it was too his liking. I do say that this guitar though has a very slim neck shape. It reminded me of the first Ibanez 175 copies and who knows, maybe this was built in the same Matsumoku factory. As far as wood, I would say that the maple top has some birdseye figure to it and I really love the shaded sunburst color. I think through all these years, people forgot what a sunburst is supposed to really look like. The action on this guitar is low and fast. I use 11-50 strings, flatwound or wound. This is a beautiful instrument made by people who cared about the product.

I play this guitar without a backup and that's the way it should be. I don't jump around or play my guitar like I am pounding a hammer. I am a senior, working player.
My gold hardware is tarnished and worn and there are scratches on the pickguard but I don't care about things like this. The gold plating on the tuners are worn right off but it also doesn't matter to me. Someone added a strap button under neck at the cutaway and it does it's job. I attach my strap at the headstock so I don't use it. This guitar is dependable and pretty straight forward.

Long out of warranty.

I have been playing for 45 years from the mid 1950's. I have been looking for a guitar like this for 30 years and it was worth the wait. It would very hard to find another if i lost this and I would not be happy about it.
Most important feature is the soundpost under the bridge which cuts down on feedback and adds a little sustain to this guitar. On stage, I tape the upper F-hole with black duct tape and I can play very loud without feedback. This guitar has a very high end classy look to it. Only the top of the line guitars would have these features, ebony fingerboard, split block inlays, bound f-holes and L5 tailpiece. But when it comes down to it, it is the sound and this guitar has it. It might be that this guitar is nearly 30 years old but I am glad to be the owner of this. I will own this guitar until I die. I play Hwn shows, light jazz, country, bossa nova music and this guitar will do it all with ease. As mentioned before, I use no effects or pedals and I am old school, just guitar, one cord and amp.

Original 1981 Aria Pro II PE-175 Herb Ellis model in mint condition! Made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory known for its attention to quality and construction techniques. Maple top and body, fixed neck, ebony fingerboard with beautiful inlay work, sunburst finish, 2 Al-7 humbuckers, the smoothest tuning machines I've ever encountered, 16-inch body, L-5 style tailpiece, tunamatic bridge, 20 frets, all gold plated hardware, and a soundpost under the pickups to hinder feedback. A stunning instrument! Everything a great jazz guitar should have.

The PE-175 has "the jazz sound"...played through a Fender tube amp or Acoustic Image or Roland solid state amps, you couldn't find a better jazz sound for any amount of money. I have jazz boxes in my collection from the "big name guys" that can't hold a candle to this guitar. The PE-175 has that clear "punch" that you used to hear in the old Guild X-500's. No matter how much you turn down the tone and roll the treble off, it never gets muddy or fuzzy...only mellower, but still precise. I've never seen pots like that on any guitar. It's the full, rich, jazz sound I've looked for for 40 years. It would be a sin to change any of the electronics on this guitar. After 25 years, they were clean and clear as a bell. If there was an "11" for sound, this guitar would get it.

Well-constructed, as good as any guitar I've seen...production or custom built. Pickups were adjusted fine and everything fit snuggly and was finished off properly. The attention to detail on this model is amazing. This is a 25 year old guitar and it looks like new...no scratches on the pickguard, finish like the day it was new, and no fret wear. Maybe this one stayed under a bed for many years? The gold plating was like new with no wear at all. I tried to find any flaws...glue stains, bad fitting anything inside or out, and couldn't. Action was as smooth as could be with no high frets or buzzing anywhere on the neck. They don't make them like this any more.

If this guitar was played extensively, it doesn't show it. Everything was solid with no rattles or loose anything. Check back with me in another 25 years and I'll let you know how it's holding up.

Never had to deal with the company...bought this one on Ebay from a reputable dealer in Canada. Long out of warranty, I'm sure. I would not hesitate in buying another Aria Pro II level instrument if this one is any indication of how they hold up. I probably would never have to deal with any guitar company since I can fix most things on a guitar myself, leaving the tricky things to my tech.

I've been playing for over 40 years and have owned, bought, traded, sold, fell in love with, fell out of love with over 250 guitars. I buy for quality and style and not for price or brand name. I have owned some of the finest jazz guitars available...Gibson, Guild, D'Angelico, Eastman, Epiphone, and others. I was totally shocked at the quality of this Aria instrument. You can see and feel the attention to detail and love of the art that went into making this guitar. I have an Epiphone made in 1976 from the same factory in Japan that has the same quality "feel." This PE-175 is far superior to any Gibson ES-175 I've ever seen, heard, or played. I'd buy another one if I can find one.

One of the original PE-175's, my Aria Pro II Herb Ellis model has the Gibson-style headstock that disappeared a couple of years after it's introduction, making it a rarity in it's own category. According to manufacturer's specs, it has a maple top, maple body, maple fixed neck, rosewood fingerboard, Al-7 pickups, 20 frets, 2 volume and 2 tone controls, pickup selector switch, individual die-cast machine heads, gold plated bridge and tailpiece, and brown sunburst finish.

I play finger style jazz, for which this guitar is perfect. I've used it with either a 1978 Roland Cube 60 or 1969 Fender Deluxe Reverb, with great results - nice, fat, woody tone with a little treble bite rounding it out. Usually I use the neck pickup, with tone rolled back a bit. If necessary, the other pickup or combinations give a lot of versatility to the sound for other genres of music.

Action is fine, neither too high or low, and can be adjusted easily, and has been since I bought it. Pickups are set up nicely, with no obvious hot spots or wolftones. The guitar is beautifully finished, with the kind of attention to detail that these Japanese guitars were famed for during the late '70's and early '80's. Even 26 or 27 years later, it still represents a fine guitar, and I like it better than the current Gibson Herb Ellis Es-165, aesthetically.

Everything is tight and reliable on this guitar. It shows a little bit of wear on the tailpiece's and the bridge's gold plating, which is to be expected after a quarter century.

I've never needed to have any work done, though I imagine the warranty has expired.

I've been playing over forty years. Currently own a 1954 Martin
0-18 (wonderful tone, great player) and a 1993 Gibson Howard Roberts Jazz Fusion II (smooth player, fantastic versatile tone), and the amps mentioned above. This Herb Ellis model is a terrific jazz/blues guitar, and if I could find one again, I would - but only with the rare Gibson style headstock, which is really aesthetically pleasing (especially compared with the tapered headstock that followed). You really couldn't get anything close for the money today, and I've only seen one other one in excellent shape selling for $1250 Canadian - which probably still is a bargain by today's standards for an attractive, dependable, and solid jazz instrument.

First of all, this is the first review here on this guitar, since everybody else tend to belive this is an Aria brand guitar! However, Aria switched name to Aria Pro II in -75 and for someone to find your review you should use the proper brand name: Aria Pro II!!
The Herb Ellis signature model was made between 1978-86 and mine is from -80. Some short facts:
16" body width; sunburst finish; double humbuckers; split block inlay in bound ebony fingerboard; heavy L-5 style tailpiece; tunamatic bridge; gold hardware. It also has a soundpost mounted under the pickups to prevent feedback. All features are of top quality.
I bought the guitar from a friend in -98 for 780 Euros.
I'm playing Thomastik flatwounds .12 strings.

I'm playing the guitar through a fender all tube amp and the sound it produces is very flexible due to pick-up position, from jazzy-warm to funky-clear, however I rarely use anything else than the neck pick-up. Due to the soundpost, it is possible to turn the volume all the way up on stage without any hum or feedback problems. It also make it possible to play with distortion for blues crunch etc with very good results.
Due to the very sturdy and robust built body, it does not have the same "wood-charchter"-sound as some of the older archtops might possess, but on the other hand it has a very solid and distinct fat sound that gives just the warm jazzy sound I am looking for. The mics are of top quality with a nice high output level, however I have found other mics, like the gibson PAFs to have a higher output level.

As previously described, the guitar is very robust built with a wonderful finish. It plays very well, actually the smoothest played guitar I have ever tried (have played Gibson ES-models as well).
The model I bought was already perfectly adjusted, but if needed it is easy to adjust and tune the guitar. The tuning will keep it's condition very well. The only drawback I can come up with is the knobs, that are just standard knobs, but could have been a bit more exclusive according to the rest of the guitar.

Of course, some of the gold finish on the hardware has faded, but otherwise it is on mint condition still. It is a very well built guitar - I have played it for seven years and there's no disturbing signs on the frets and I have had no problems with the electric parts.

I never had the need to call customer support, but I belive their homepage could need some update, especially for the archive site, which is very poor. There is actually not much information on the Internet on this guitar, which is a shame, as there is a second hand market for it and it will give the Aria pro II brand a boost if it became more known how fabolous this guitar really is.

Herb Ellis played this model around -78 and have put his signature on the model to assure top quality. The guitar is a fantastic value for money and I would not pay the double amount just to get the Gibson Herb Ellis model as this is almost as good in my opinion. I have been playing guitar for 20 years and am mostly playing jazz. I use it with a fender all tube amp and have found the perfect match for my needs.