Aria AMB-35

Aria AMB-40 (see Controls for AMB 35 differences)
Top: Flamed Maple - Blue
Back & Sides :ABS Fibre
Neck : Mahogany
Fingerboard : Rosewood
Pickups : PZP-3 Piezo
Controls : FES-TN EQ with Auto Tuner
Bridge : Rosewood
Hardware : Chrome sealed tuners
Frets :21
PP3 Battery included. Bought in 2008

If playing badly is a style then it fits my style perfectly but makes me sound far better than I am. Un-amped it sound really nice though a little quiet. Rich, full sound with brightness. Amped through a PC it really comes to life using the EQ through pin sharp to bassy. Using PC 'effects' it is hard to link the wonderful sound to the instrument that is actually being played!

Factory settings were okay but I was after a lower action. This was set up by the shop (for free) and I'm totally impressed with the results. The neck is 'electric' thin and extremely comfortable which is where I assume the 'Strat' comparisons come from though don't expect curveture across the frets apart from across the fret wires. No flaws noted. She looks good and looks like she will last. The ABS fibre back does not look cheap (check out a Chinese Ovation round back clone - no comparison!

I don't play live so can't comment but the finish is excellent. Bit dismayed at the plastic strap buttons but then plastics have come a long way so I assume they know what they are doing.

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I've been playing badly on and off for over 30 years and this is my most expensive guitar to date. I own a Chinese Ovation round-back clone and a '70's' Avon Rose-Morris Les Paul copy. For the price, this an excellent piece of kit that I would probaly replace (though I wouldn't mind giving a Crafter a go out of curiosity). I love it, it looks great and really dislike nothing about it. I tried a Dean which felt too 'substantial'. this is light, refreshing and is a joy to mess around with. If you are considering one of these you shouldn't be disappointed for the price.

For this price i was impressed. The cutaway really makes your high playing a treat. The pickup is in a slightly annoying position giving a reasonably poor tone when amped. However with high quality strings this guitar sounds great.A gorgeous finish adds style to the guitar. The tone and volume selectors fell a bit naff but are actually very functual and there is a lot of bass with a good amp configuration.
A good neck and a twopiece body is good. The back is a kind of plasticky stuff that looks awful but sounds good. Weird! A good head and overall good features make this guitar functional and effective.
Overall very good.

Rich and basey. It really suits me as i play a variety of styles. Even rock comes out OK on this guitar. Sounds best finger picked to some Radiohead. NOt much variety on the whole but it is versatile for for a sort of guy who busks etc. Quite quiet. The overall tone is not that of a better guitar unamped and certainly not amped, however it is a versatile instrument.

Yummy action. best thing on the guitar. Also this guitar is a beauty. No factory errors however i did knock off a tuning head in one. The top was not properly bookmatched but as mine is green this really does not matter. You may want to shop around to get one that is.

As i said i did knock off a tuning peg. It stands up to live playing well though. I would use it at a gig wiothout a backup a/e. This is my only a/e. Nothing to say really, o, accept that as mentioneed earlier the tone and volume changey knobs feel likethey might fall off.

Good warranty always fixed when knocked about. Good warranty.

Not for everyone but as e/a goes this is a very well priced guitar and high quality will last a long time. Very pretty too.

Pretty standard features for an Aoustic/Electric guitar. Nice cutaway gives access past the 12th fret for barre chords. Has a slope shouldered dreadnought shape. Flame maple top, not perfectly bookmatched, but very pretty. Passive electronics, volume and tone. But the best feature for me is the ABS body. Deeper than a Fender Telecoustic (good) and shallower than an Ovation/Applause (double good).

I was used to playing a Telecoustic, which I liked, so I really expected this guitar to sound a little thin and bluesy like the Fender. Not so, unplugged it has a nice full ringing tone to it. Not tinny or thin at all, with surprising bass. Since it has the ABS body, which I wanted, and it sounds good to boot, I am well pleased. Plugged in, just more of the same. You do have to crank your amp a little because of the passive pick-up (under bridge), but the volume control is pretty linear and the tone control actually changes the sound. Feeds back at little when I kick in boost and gain on my amp, but no worse than any other A/E guitar. I am playing it through a Vox Pathfinder 15R. With a little tremolo and roll off the treble a touch, it sounds sweet. I play mostly soft Christian music and slow blues. So, it suits me just fine.

Set up was not great, but not bad either. It was playable, but I like a low action. So I filed the nut and saddle a little bit and now it plays and feels right. Okay finish on the frets, no rough edges. Overall good quality workmanship and materials. Doesn't look or feel cheap. Nice and solid.

As I said, nice and solid. With the ABS back, it should take a pounding and keep on playing. I don't do gigs for money, so I would use it stand alone. If something took a poop on it, I would just say oops and press on.

I have been playing on and off for about 5 five years. I have a few other guitars laying around but this one and my Stella parlor guitar get played the most, cause they sound good, feel right and are fun. That's what its all about isn't it, Fun? I would buy another one if it was stolen. I just love the way it feels and fits me, because of the ABS back, like the way it sounds. I feel like there are better A/E's out there, but nothing comes near this one in playability, sound and quality for the price

A really well made moulded back guitar with a solid top.Amazing sound for the price.I had compared it with an Ibanez acoustic and this one put up a great fight.It has a piezo pickup with volume and tone controls.Needs a pre-amp but you can get that for about #60 more witht he AMB-50.I bought it in 2004 for #179 with a free gig bag.Mine is black stain finish and has a cutaway which is amazingly use full.

great sound for the slightly trebel and bassy tracks.i mostly play incubus and it sounds really good. unplugged it sounds beautifull but once you plug this baby in WOW....you wouldnt expect such a great sound for such a reasonably priced guitar.live performances it really shines...GREAT FOR THE PRICE AND CAN BEAT MOST AT THE NEXT CATEGORY TOO!!!!!

action was amazing. this was my first guitar and it was damn easy to learn although i learnt on a friends ibanez.no flaws thta i can see so far.the moulded back can feel a bit tacky but im not really complaining because fo the sound and the front also looks really nicely finished.not to mention it is quite thin and light which is also a plus.no crappy rounded back that annoys the hell out of me

i bashed it a couple of times and it doesnt seem to have caused any damage.it seems that it will last with such a high quality feeling fret bored.i have on several occassions used it on a gig without a back up and she pulled through with no hiccups

i have been learning for about 3 years and finally saved up enough to buy my own.great sound and config for price.i love the basy sound it has for such a thin guitar.i would hihgly recomend this as a first guiatr as it is reasonably priced and sounds amazing not to mention it has a good action that wont challeng a beginner too much

MADE IN 2002 -BOUGHT IN 2003 ACOUSTIC ELECTRIC OVATION STYLE -WITHOUT THE ANNOYING ROUND BACK OF AN OVATION - HAS FACTORY PIEZO BRIDGE PICKUP (AS GOOD AS FISHMAN) WITH VOLUME AND TONE CONTROL -COULD USE AN EQ AND TUNER SETUP BUT I GOT HIS ONE SO CHEAP THAT I'M NOT GONNA COMPLAIN. MY IS DEEP GREEN SUNBURST -WANTED A BLOND ONE BUT THERE WERE NONE LEFT AND THIS ON HAS A PERFECTLY MATCHED WOOGRAIN TOP IT SHINES UP SO GLASSY THAT YOU CAN USE IT FOR A MIRROR.THE DARK GREEN IS REALLY DIFFERENT AND THERE WONT BE MANY OUT THERE LIKE IT SO THIS ONE WILL BE KINDA RARE DOWN THE ROAD?? HAS LOCKING TUNERS BUT STAYS IN TUNE VERY WELL.

THIS BABY HAS A FULL SOUND UN-AMPLIFIED - I HAVE A FENDER F-65 FULL SIZE DREADNOUGHT AND THIS LITTLE GUY HAS ALMOST THE SAME PUNCH AND ITS STIL NEW! I USE IT WITH AN OLD SAMICK SM-10 AND AM BUYING SOME SORT OF EFFECTS SETUP -MOST LIKELY A ZOOM 504II.SOUNDS BRIGHT WITH THE AMP AND HAS LOTS OF BOTTOM END.VERY VERY MUCH LIKE AN OVATION -APPLAUSE WITHOUT THE ANNOTING ROUND BACK (WAIT...DID I SAY THAT ALREADY?

PLAYS LIKE A STRAT -A REAL STRAT....WELL....ALMOST. HAD A SLIGHT BUZZING WHICH I HAD ADJUSTED AT THE SHOP WHERE I BOUGHT IT AND THIS PUPPY PLAYS UNREAL.I PUT NEW CHRYOGENIC STRINGS ON IT RIGHT AWAY AND IT BRIGHTENED IT RIGHT UP. CLEAN ACTION ALL THE WAY THROUGH. NO FLAWS TO BE FOUND AS YET.ONLY THING I WILL CHANGE ARE THE RATHER PLAIN TONE AND VOLUME KNOBS AND I WILL INSTALL A SMALL PICKGUARD

I WILL USE THIS FOR LIVE PERFORMING -NO WORRIES ABOUT THIS FOR DURABILITY.IT DOES HAVE THE COMPOSITE BACK AND AS I SAID THE FINISH IS MIRROR LIKE AND I KEEP IT THAT WAY.(I USE FURNITURE POLISH ON MY GUITARS,HAVE DONE SO FOR YEARS AND IT WORKS AMAZING -THATS ALL THEY ARE SELLING YOU IN THE GUITAR SHOPS AND CHARGING YOU 5 TIME THE MONEY).I WOULD USE THIS WITHOUT A BACKUP,BUT WILL HAVE BOTH MY ACOUSTICS WHEN PERFORMING AS THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT GUITARS.

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BEEN PLAYING OFF AND ON FOR 25 YEARS.I ALSO HAVE A 1976 FENDER F-65 ACOUSTIC DREADNOUGHT THAT IS MY PRIDE AND JOY.I HAVE OWNED VARIUOS ELECTRICS OVER THE YEARS BUT NONE RIGHT NOW.I BOUGHT THIS FOR THE BUILT IN PICKUPS AND THE CUTAWAY -BUT MAINLY FOR ITS SOUND AND EASE OF PLAY. I WOULD DEFINATELY BUY ANOTHER ONE BUT I KNOW I WONT FIND ONE THIS CHEAP -I BOUGHT IT REAL CHEAP FOR THIS MODEL. I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT ESPECIALLY THE PICKUPS FROM THE FACTORY.IT HAS THE CUTAWAY FOR HIGH NOTE PICKIN'.I THINK ITS ONE OF THE BEST VALUES OUT THERE FOR THIS PRICE RANGE AND EVEN AT 400 CDN WOULD STILL BE WORTH IT ALL DAY LONG.I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING IT AS IT GETS OLDER - EVEN THOUGH ITS HALF COMPOSITE IT SHOULD STILL GET BETTER WITH AGE.IT SURE ENOUGH LOOKS GREAT.

Having not played or owned a box for some while and not being able to afford a very expensive guitar I went for the AMB 35, initially the looks caught me, the action verysmooth, the sound acoustically for folk music very pleasant and the reproduction through an amp for more vigorous types of playing was excellent, well pleased with it.

I've been playing 30 years. Own no other gear. I would buy this model again if stolen or lost. I like the action, rounded back, sound both acoustic and electrified. Yes, tried several in the shop, can't remember names but none felt better than this. I have played now with this guitar on many occasions publicly and other guitarists have commented how good it sounds and many wanted to try it for themselves and made many favourable coments.

This is a nice Ovation-style electro-acoustic, with a cutaway body. It was made in Korea - not sure when, but I bought it new in December 2001. Materials are as follows: flame maple top (mine is in a beautiful blue sunburst - very nice) - laminated I think, black ABS fibre bowl-back, narrow electric-guitar-style satin mahogany neck, 20 fret rosewood fingerboard with diamond pearl-style inlays, rosewood bridge. The body and neck are bound in white plastic, which looks great and has been carefully applied. Tuning is via six Gotoh-style sealed tuners, which are very sure-footed and work beautifully, with no slack whatsoever. This guitar comes fitted as standard with Aria's own PZP-3 piezo bridge pickup, with Volume and Tone controls (no EQ).

Unamplified, this guitar has a punchy, compressed sound with lots of mids and highs, and a tight, controlled bass. You probably wouldn't use it for live performance without amplification, but it sounds nice nonetheless (in fact, I use it regularly for songwriting at home, with no amplification). Amplified, it sounds great - but ideally you'd want to run it through a graphic EQ and reverb to get the best 'acoustic guitar' tone from it. It has a typically bright sound, like most ABS bowl-backs, but it really does sound good. Even running it through a simple 15 watt practice amp with 3-band parametric EQ, I can get pretty convincing amplified acoustic guitar sounds.

The finish on this guitar is very good, though I looked at and tried four identical guitars before I chose this one - each of the others had very minor flaws in their finishing (nothing major, but I'm a perfectionist!). As bought from the store, the guitar tended to buzz slightly when strummed hard. I took it to my local guitar tech, and he noted a tiny hump in the neck up toward the 12th fret. I had the frets levelled out, plus a full setup, and the guitar now plays buzz-free - and I can play barre-chords all day, right up to the 12th & 13th frets! The setup added a further #50 cost, but you have to expect some additional setup work with guitars in this price-band.

This guitar seems very solid, and I'd happily gig with it. The tuners are well up to the job of regular string changes, the neck is good and solid, and the finish seems hard-wearing. I would use it without a backup if I had to.

1 year warranty. I haven't had to contact Aria, so can't comment on their customer support.

I have been playing for 20 years, on and off. I have owned a lot of guitars over the earlier years, including some pretty expensive models. Comparing this Aria to a real Ovation bowl-back (costing ten times as much) is unfair, and the Aria wouldn't stand a chance. Having said that, for a low cost guitar, it's fantastic. I am delighted with the sound, playability and overall quality of this instrument. The neck is incredible - it's like playing a Fender electric!! The only thing I would change if I could? It would benefit from a 3-band EQ instead of the tone control. Despite this, the guitar is one heck of a bargain - I love it!