Aria Pro II RS Knight Warrior

Jap guitar, i would usually say that they make **** geetars but that is Not the case here. rosewood, i believe, 22 frets, 5 way pick up selector, Kahler bridge but no tremolo. the neck itself 'seems' shorter to me and the action is almost touching fret board. hardware rusts easily, but was rusted when bought. beautiful black finish and its a solid body havin' guitar (no cut outs on back) which i think kicks **** - also has black finish on back of neck, which i thought was bad ***

this guitar sounds like death itself, be it the rust or be it the mega low tuneing i use, it sounds MEAN as hell. little excess buzz, but even that can sound good coming out of the right set up. the harmonics, natural and pinch, and unbelievable. i can literaly not play the same solos on any other guitar, its truly the most unique sound iv'e seen, sometimes kicking my dean Z's *** even. i bought this guitar from some little pawn shop for like 125$ and i would kill someone before i would give it up to anyone. playability, playability, playability.

like said i got from pawn shop, so the previous owner(s) had their way with the finish, scratchin' aria into the back but it looks just fine other than that and rust. it is built a lot like stratocaster, but pointier edges and a little heavy. i do have hella trouble adjusting strap to be comfortable. the action is extremely low, and you can get all the way to the bottom E with your pinky 22 fret, no problem- it has wicked playability, finger tapping, pentatonic scales, tremolo picking, whatever.. add some distortion and maybe a wah and you have one bad metal weapon.

ive put this guitar through some **** in the past 3-4 years, spilled pop on it, dropped it, fell on it and more. never skipped a beat. its also one big chunk of wood, very sturdy. that being said keep plenty of replacement strings because no body wants to play that low but be bizzatch

i have some extra heavy strings and dropped tuning way down so the bridge would quit breaking my ****** E string, thus creating some bad riffs. christ its so heavy, ive got a 28 watt amp and it cannot contain the rage of this machine. i use this guitar for the "dark" sounding riffs and or solo, and i use the dean for clean pretty sound. this was my first Real guitar, and i was a fool and misjudged it for being ****** because of its rusty looks and pawn shop value, but its all in how you play this bastard

This Jappanese guitar has very versital properties. The SSH configuration coupled with the coil tap of the bridge mounted humbucker gives the guitar a lot of versatility. The action is faster than my American Deluxe Strat Plus, or my American Deluxe Power Tele. It has a Vanilla white finish that is harder than a Rolls Royce hood. I don't use the Kahler Flyer Trem...b I'm just glad I kept this one... Iv'e had it over 20 years...

Theses aren't the best pickups in the world, and the single coils are very noisy, but running it through my Marshall 8080 it rocks....

What can Iu say but Fender and Gibson should find out what they used in the late 80's, because in 2006 the finish and action are amazing... Better and faster then a Gibson Frettless wonder....

One gig because the saddles in the Kahler Flyer bridge do break sometimes, though one phone call and a dozen free spares showed up in my mailbox two days later...

as mentioned above, free replacement parts showed up in two days...

I've been Playing for 35 years. I have a 2001 American Deluxe Power Tele, an 1996 American Strat Plus, A Peavey T40 Bass, a Marshall Model 8080 Guitar amp and an SWR Workingman 12 Bass amp. A mandolin, a banjo, a Clairanet, a Sax, an Accordian and a Casio Keyboard..
Oh and a 1980 Martin D35 Acoustic....

1980's. Japan made, 22 frets solid ash or alder?, 5 way p/u sw., V/T s/s/h, EMG H/s/s, active circuits, Strat copy w/elong8ted horn. Bridge is Kalher Flyer 2. Tuners are Gotoh w/ lock nut. easy to get to truss rod on front of body.

It is tone friendly with globs of it! Not a glitch. It does it all.

I got it from a pawn shop next to Ala Moana Center. The string height needed adjusting and the Kahler saddles on the bridge needed spacing...and BEHOLD! Better feel and sound than a PRS, Parker, or Jackson and Ibanez. These were doable fixer uppers.

This guitar is very durable and reliable. I just use it for practice now. I'd like to get to play it live. I'd like to have another like this as a backup :)! I put Schaller press-on strap locks to compliment it's features. It's a keeper.

I don't know.

I play since 1985. Im not that fanatical about gear, but i am choosy. I just use distortion and wah. I'd say this is the best guitar i have ever owned. I wish not to part with it. I tried but was not satisfied with the outcome of the deal. There's nothing to h8 about it but the weight. It's heavy. I hope I can hang on to it and keep it as good as it looks now. I have extra parts that cost me only change to get that i can add to the look, since it is a new Yngwie Malmsteen has one exactly like it.

I think this guitar was built in 89, but I got it used, so I dont know for sure. This was my first guitar, which was bought when I was 14 (I am now 30). When it was bought it was used, but it has a Kahlar locking trem, so that places it in the late 80s.
The guitar came stock with one humbucker and two single col pickups, and a push pull pot to split the humbucker. I have the cream colored one.
Those are the features in a nutshell.

The guitar didnt sound that good with the stock pickups in it, but I didnt figure that out (didnt know the difference), until I was about 16 or 17. Once I knew what a good guitar could sound like, I bought the '54 texas special pickups for the neck and the middle position, and a jackson ceramic humbucker for the bridge. WOW! what a world of difference, I really love the guitar after the mod. This guitar sounds better than the american strat I bought years later (maybe due to the heavy wood body). The body is very heavy and imo helps with the tone, but it does get cumbersome if you need to wear it for a three hour gig (I suggest a very good strap!)
I know choose to play and practice witht his guitar over any of my other electrics.
I only give the sound a 5 because stock it really isnt that good, but with the new pickups I would give it a ten; however that isnt really fair, because jackson and fender should be getting those kudos.

Action is the best part of this guitar!!
I cannot stress that enough. This guitar is so friggin fast that your fingers might fall off. I have a gibson ES-335, gibson SG, two strats, ovation, yamaha, and washburn acoustics, and a few other instruments....and, none of them are as fast as this guitar. the drawback: you CANNOT play slide on this guitar, strings are way too close to the fretboard.
For jazz, blues (no slide) or rock the action is set well. Especially for jazz with those hard to play chords.
My guitar had a few belt scratches, but I bought it used, so I am sure that that was from the precious owner.
All in all, the action on this guitar, and thus the playability are fabulous! The guitar is heavy though so be prepared for that.

This guitar was my gigging guitar when I was in a couple bands in college. It travelled the entire southeast. I had a backup guitar but only had to use it if I broke a string or something.
The strap button did come out of the hole once after a few years of owning the guitar, I had to wood putty it back in place, it has held since.
The kahlor (sp) trem is phenomenal for keeping it in tune, but without it locked down after a few songs the b-string had a habit of getting thrown out of whack.
I give it an 9 only because the strap button came out of the hole, and if that happened during a gig it wouldnt be too proffesional.

I dont know anything about the warranty or customer service as i have not contacted AP

the following is taking into account the modifications I described above:
This is absolutely bar-none the finest guitar I own. not the most expensive by any means (I have one instrument which is 20 times as expensive as the purchase price of this guitar).
If my house was on fire, I would get this guitar first, then go back for some of the others.
I really cant say enough about this guitar, the only drawback is the weight...it is heavy enough to cause shoulder, neck and back strain if it is your primary gigging guitar.
If you find one of these, pick it up! modify it, and fall in love.
If this guitar was lost or stolen, I would be on the hunt for another immediatly, and then I would try to find the person that stole it in the first place :)
all joking aside, this is a guitar that I would highly recommend.

It suits my style fine i Play in a classic rock band on the weekends
Im usin a fender 160 stage amp . It has good action and i usually can
use a petal if i need a differnt sound

I have done some minor adjustments . The action is good depends on
The strings i use a real light string so the action is fine for me .
I bought this used so it has a few whiskey dings ,, But if i wanted a
New guitar i should have bought a new one....

This is where this shines ... I have played 25 yrs on a strat which di
d a good job,, but this thing is solid ... which is what i was lookin for. I play every weekend in a classic rock band . So if some bozo throws up its not a plbm ...

I would buy one again ...

I have one of these guitars I have played since the mid 80's. It is a nice playing substantial instrument,and has served me well through the years.I have had several guitars trying to replace it but I alway return to it.Just can't beat a good thing.
Kahler Flyer and lock nut, this thing wil not go out of tune,and still has all the opriginal hardware.
If I had known how good this guitar would hold up, I would have bought 2.
Total thumbs up

I play southern rock,blues,and christian alternative,and this guitar will always get the tone. It has 3 pickups, 1 neck seymore duncan,1 middle seymore duncan,and I changed the rear to a double heavy metal humbukker,and it sounds great.

Superior action, even compared to the greatest Les Pauls,and Strats.And it just feels right when ya play it. Solid as a rock

I used it 7 years performing live.The finish will take it, still no bare spots only chips from kocking it around. I never had a backup, very reliable guitar

I have been playing 30 years, I have a epiphone acoustic,audio centron PA mixer,2 bullfrog monitors,2 kasino loudspeakers,cort bass,yamaha keyboard,sure mics,and a turn of the century upright grand piano

Japan Model- starburst pink to purple metallic finish, 2 singles and a dual pick-up, thin rosewood neck, strat style(solid body maple) body,totally stunning finish.

Metal/rock I'd say it sounds as good as anything made at the time it was made, better than most not the best. A friend of mine actually bought a 95 strat and returned it after playing my Aria..laughs

I got it at a pawn shop And it was flawless.

Yes to all questions in this category...it is definately a roadworthy machine.

n/a

I've played for 15 years and also own a Aria SL-ST-3.
If lost I'd buy it again.
Love the full features of the guitar, would rather have a wide neck, best feature is the heavy weight and warm sounds you can get out of it.But if you own the cheap version of this guitar..that I suppose the bad reviewers had bought ..sorry!

This is a Japanese guitar from 1984. The finish is amazing, it's like the paint on a car. It has a Kyler Flyer locking tremelo thats better than a floyd rose(which ripped this one off) because you can do any tuning and it holds amazingly. The pickups are SSH, but the tone knob pulls up and turns the humbucker into a single coil. Don't buy this guitar unless it is the Japanese model(which is very rare) because the Korean model sucks.

I play metal on this guitar, but it is very versital. Eric Clapton used to play one in the 80's, so you know it's good. The single coil's a little noisy, but the humbucker kicks ass.

The wood is as hard as a rock. It plays like it's one of the most expensive guitars in the world.

Everything has held up for the last 18 years and it seems like it could withstand a nuclear blast, and it hardly ever breaks strings.

If you can come across the Japanese version of this, I would suggest that you buy it.

I bought this guitar about 15 years ago, mainly because I was in my teens and liked the look of it - shiny black all over with a lockable Kahler tremolo that makes the strings go flap-flap-flap...

It's S/S/H equipped, pickups accessible through a 5-way selector. As noted by other reviewers, the tone knob pulls out, making the humbucker (when selected) sound like a single-coil.

Dunno what the body style would be called, but it's similar to a Strat although somewhat thinner and 'pointier'.

Let's just say the sound isn't what made me buy it...

The single coils are pretty noisy, and only gives a half-decent sound, lacking in both warmth and edge. The humbucker works best distorted with the tone knob slightly below max, but it doesn't reach heavy metal levels. All in all the best description of the sound that I can come up with is 'average' or 'half way in-between sounds'.

I'd say the guitar was pretty well adjusted at the time of purchase, and it's still ok after many years. I've adjusted the height of the pickups to modify the sound, but that's all.

It didn't contain any flaws that I am aware of, but then again I may have grown to consider them features...

The guitar is, to the best of my knowledge, well built. I haven't put it to any serious tour testing, but it's still in great condition after 15 years of not too careful handling. I haven't had any problems with either the electronics or the mechanics.

I got this guitar as a gift around 84 or 85. Aria guitars are made in Korea and this one is no exception. It has 21 Frets and is made of solid laminated maple. One tone control; one volume control; Pick-up selector toggle and the tone knob pulls out though to this day I ahve no idea what it's supposed to do and it makes no discernable difference in the sound. Pick ups are sealed S\S\H. This one has a Kaehler tremolo with a locking nut. All in all the features are about what you'd expect for a Korean made, inexpensive beginner's guitar

The sound of this guitar is not great. I also have a mid 90's Ibanez and a 2000 Epiphone ES-335 both of which sound infinitely better than this guitar, however given that this instrument is primarily targeted at novice players it is perfectly suitable. I used it extensively for punk and new wave in high school and with the right amplification and stomp boxes it's adequate, but leaves much to be desired for the more serious player.

Over this was a very cool looking guitar when I got it. The finish is a pearl/off white with a black pick guard. The action is somewhat clunky and the fretboard is rather slow, but all in all it does well in this category

I will say this guitar is bullet proof. I've used it for over 15 years now and it is still in great condition. I haven't exactly babied it either. This guitar would stand up to just about any punishment though I wouldn't play gigs with it given the some what inexpensive quality of it.

Never dealt with 'em

I've been playing about 15 years or so. In addition to this guitar I have an Ibanez AX series strat knockoff and an Epiphone ES-335 as well as a bunch of keyboard and home studio gear. I probably would not buy this guitar today unless I was buying it for a beginning player and was looking for a decent quality, but cheap insturment to start out on.

No idea where it was made or what it is made of. Black finish. It is a fake floyd rose bridge which sucks.tuners... s/s/h, peice of crap id say, a beginners guitar

pretty bad sound too. As i said a beginners guitar.

Pretty good set up, neck pickup sinks into body,Finish sucks, u like, touch the guitar and it scratches.

i wouldnt use a backup, id use a differetn guitar.

never dealt with them.

I bought this guitar from a friend in June of '98 in really bad condition. The guitar has a H/H pickup configuration with a three way toggle and 1 tone and 1 volume control. The neck is a bolt on, 21 fret with a rosewood fretboard and black paint, with gold lettering on the headstock. The pickups that were with it are Duncan Distortions, which are obviously not stock, it was originally yellow, but the previous owner painted black(crappy job too). The electronics were total crap, so I'm in the process of redoing them, I already fized up the paint job. I don't know what kind of woods were used, but the body weighs a ton! The bridge isn't original either, the cavity looks like it originaly had a Floyd Rose and I have seen others like this with Floyd Roses. The current one is really weird, it sits in posts, like tuno-matic, but it has a tremolo that sits in a cavity, its hard to describe, maybe I'll scan a picture of it someday. This guitar is pretty poor quality as far as I can tell, I mainly bought it for the pickups.

I haven't gotten the elctronics on it setup yet, so it's hard to say how it sounds. Before I bought it there was some serious grounding problems, but when it wasn't buzzing it still sounded like shit. It has a neck shaped like a Gibson's, although it is a bolt-on, not set, I'm not much for the thick narrow necks, I'm used to my Ibanez's neck.

I can't say how it was setup originally, this thing has been raped several times since it was originally purchased.

It must be pretty damn reliable, this thing is still in decent condition considering how bad it's been treated. Once I get done with it, I'll probably use it as a backup, for now it's just a project.

Never tried it, is Aria even still in business, if so can somebody tell me how I can contact them , I can't find anything about them.

This guitar pretty much sucks, it weighs a ton and its an Aria Pro II, I'll post another pole as soon as I get it back to woking order.

It was made in like 94. Its got 22 medium frets. Its got a volume and a tone control that pulls out (dunno what it does) and a 5-way selector. S/S/H pickups. Passive electronics. I dunno what the body is and oh yeah, its black. Its got a great looking body (sorta like a strat with sharper ends, and it pulls in at the bottom) Its got a thin neck. And also its got a locking tremelo and lockdown at the top, and its got fine tuners (which is great). Also I got a sota beat up DOD grunge pedal with it and a cord.

Well I play heavy stuff, mostly rage against the machine stuff and it sounds great for it. It buzzes on all the pickups except the humbucker alone, but when it does buzz its pretty slight. With the middle and the humbucker though, you get the best sound, its pretty deep with a bit of an acoustic sond to it. It does have a good variety from deep to a lighter sound. I really like the sound of it.

Everything is good, but the pickups can be a bit loose and they could be more even. Bit of a noisy pickup switch and lockdown can be a pain.

I think it will definitly wthstand live playing and I think everything should last except for maybe the pickups eventually. The finish seems great and I think I would use it without a backup.

Never had to deal with em.

I have been playing over a year and I have gotten pretty good, I also have an ibanez bass and I play that in our band. If I lost it or if it got stolen, I dont think I coud find one so I would get something else. I should have found out more about the lockdown and such before I bought it. And I picked it over a squire strat cause of the lockdowns, the fine tuners and the sound.