Aria Diamond

22-frets, black, les paul copy, laminated top, 2 volume, 2 tone, tap for rythym and treble, double silver humbuckers, active and passive electronics, well-built, not sure about the wood, black finish, les paul body, non-lock tuners, gig bag, lightning strap, 2 fender cali-cables, zoom 606 multi-effects pedal.

its suits it awesomely, i like using it for soft songs, tool sounding songs and heavy songs as well, and they all sound great. Multi-effects at times, single mesaboogie stack, it is only noisy if i make it noisy. rich and full sound or any kind of sound u want. so much variety that i havent finished messing with everything, i like everything about it.

it will withstand just about anything, it is built exactly like a gibson les paul, i would depend on it over any other guitar.

okay, i got this guitar from my drummer, who got it in exchange for a bag of weed. when i got it, it was missing the nut, which i replaced promptly. so, features. this guitar was made by arai company of japan in the late sixties, before the company became aria. it's a tele-caster shaped body painted in sea-foam green, with a white pickguard, 2 single coil pickups with plastic covers over them, and a chrome tremolo bridge, which looks like a cross between a tune-o-matic and a jazzmaster. the kicker is, the body is hollow, and made out of fiberboard, like an old danelectro. the neck and fretboard are very nicely finished maple. the medium frets are kind of rough around the edges, though. it has a 3x3 headstock painted like the body, with cheap japanese tuners. it has one master volume and one master tone, set up just like a telecaster. overall, the guitar looks like a entry-level to medium guitar of that era, with that weird japanese vibe. nice and simple, but it could have better hardware. the pickups are kind of weak, but it think they're just old.

well, it has a lot of sound, that's for sure. you just have to be very carefull. first of all, it has a range of extremely bright to overly mellow, all with one sweep of the tone knob. at bright, you could pretend you were a rockibilly with sideburns, and at mellow, it's a jazz box with dead tone. somewhere inbetween is the sweet spot. second, it feeds back like a bitch. if you even approach your amplifier, from a stack to a 15 watt practice amp, it'll start squealing like the tires of a getaway car. of course, this suits my band's style, as i like to use feedback as another instrument, much like sonic youth. i even do the stupid thing and play through a sunn beta-lead hundred watt head with an ampeg 4x12, but we all do what we need to do. i guess the basic rule should be, treat it like an emporer regent for feedback, and don't forget about it. i wonder if the fiberboard body causes all this? even so, i like the sound, as it's very unique.

like i said, i got this probably 30th hand, and it's pretty old. the neck joint has a crack, but the plate is so big and heavy that it doesn't matter. believe it or not, after all these years, the neck is still straight! as stated earlier, the frets have a rough finish, especially on the treble edge of the neck. also, they seem to be medium frets, and i don't think they were worn down from years of playing. this guitar looks like it's seen better days, but the laquer finish is still very bright and glossy, and the sea-foam green hasn't faded a bit. i don't know if the electronics are stock, but they are very cheap. the three-way selector is okay, but the knobs are increadibly cheap plastic, with crappy pots. i don't want to change them, however, as i'm afraid a new tone knob may affect the sound, and i like it's weird feel.

yeah, i use this guitar live, every week. it's not my primary, but i use it in a few songs and as a general backup (my primary is a mid-80s telecaster). it's very light, on account of it being hollow and no wider than a regular telecaster. thus, endurance isn't an issue. you have to be carefull, though, as i'm afraid the fiberboard it's constucted of wouldn't take a full on puncture wound from a bass headstock very well. that being said, i play on very small stages, and because i'm consious of what i'm doing, i'm okay. i wouldn't use this guitar without a backup, as the tremelo bridge causes it to go out of tune even when the tremelo arm isn't attached, but it's nice to have with you behind the set.

well, arai doesn't exist anymore, and it's successor, aria, doesn't seem to know anything about their roots. when i tell them it's a diamond (as it says right on the headstock), they say "Oh! you mean it's an aria pro II daimond" and i say no, it's older than that thank you very much. this is a passed around guitar, and all passed around guitars require some basic luthier skills to maintain, but it would be nice if i had a manual or something when repairing it. so, aria, you can suck it until you admit you used to be called something else and help me.

well, i've been playing for 10 years or so, and i've had my share of cheap guitars, including a rare japanese jazzmaster clone with 5 single coils and piano keys built in, which i kick myself everyday for getting rid of, but this is by far the most usefull of all my cheap japanese guitars. i also have a telecaster, and esp sg clone, a yamaha strat clone, and 3 acoustics. this one, though, with it's paint job, gets the most looks. so, i guess i lucked out when i got this. i don't think i could replace it if it was stolen, it may be one of a kind, i don't know, and to be honest, i'm not sure i'd buy another. i'd probably get a thinline tele instead, but while it functions, i'm going to enjoy my little daimond. p.s., if anyone who reads this has any information on this guitar, please mail me.