Aria FA-50E

Gibson ES-125 clone was made in Korea.
Body: Mahogany arched top, back, and sides.
Neck: Maple (set neck)with 14 degree pitched head.
Fretboard: rosewood
Frets: 20
Scale: 25 1/24"
Pickup: SMH-1 Humbucking
Controls: Volume X 1, Tone X 1
Bridge: Rosewood, adjustable
Finish: Brown sunburst
Tuners: Vintage Kluson style Keystone keys
Heavey padded gig bag included.

Very nice sound. Bright and clear.

This is where this guitar really shines! Flawless construction. I was suprised at the high quality of workmanship. A real bargin for the money.

I can see no reason why this guitar will not last for years with no problems.

If there is a problem they seem to be easy to contact at www.ariausa.com.

I've been playing for 43 years. I have a Martin 00C-16DB, Crafters of Tennessee TN9 resophonic guitar, Hofner acoustic bass, Centaur Acoustic amp, Centaur Bass amp, Peavey Solo Amp, Jay Turser Classic 10 amp, and a Kustom Profile 1 PA system.
I really love the way this guitar looks (very retro). It also plays and sounds good. I choose this one over the Washburn HB15 (seems to be better made).

This guitar has a laminated mahogany top with laminated mahogany sides and back finished in a reddish brown sunburst. It's a non-cutaway archtop jazzbox with a single mini-humbucker pickup, one volume and one tone control mounted on the pickguard. The bridge is a simple adjustable wooden bridge finished in black with a somewhat compensated saddle area. The f-holes and the body are bound with white binding. The unbound rosewood neck has 20 medium frets and dot inlays. Headstock is finished in black with the Aria script logo in abalone. The body depth is shallower than a typical hollow body jazz guitar but deeper than a semi-hollow (ES335). Tuners are a no name antique design and chrome finished.
It has a very nice IMO old style jazzbox look.

I bought this guitar as a travel instrument and because I've always loved this style. The sound unamplified is a bit on the thin side although it is strung with light gauge string and that may be part of the sound. It isn't particularly loud but it does exhibit some of the amplified tonal characteristics. It has a nice amplified tone. The bass notes really fill out nicely and the balance is very good. It has a clean classic jazzy tone.

The setup of this guitar was really well done. Of course I had to adjust the bridge placement for intonation but that was expected. The guitar was shipped with a foam sheet under the saddle to protect the finish. The neck was perfect and the nut was properly cut. I had a couple of adjustments to make though. 1) the tone and volume pot wiring is fed from under the pickguard through the lower f-hole and it buzzed against the top. So I removed the pickguard and wrapped the wires together with black cloth tape and that took care of the buzz.
2)The tailpiece is a simple trapeze style which is fine. The problem is that the endplate mount touches the guitar top slightly so it vibrates and creates a little buzz. When I change the strings I'll need to bend the plate a bit to keep it from touching. At that time, I'll be changing the bridge to an ebony compensated bridge that I bought from Stewart-McDonald. It's a more robust design and I think it'll help the acoustic sound a bit as well. Other that that the fit and finish is as good as any of my more and MUCH more expensive guitars. Oh yeah, payability is EXCELLENT. The neck has a really nice feel. It's great for fingerstyle jazz picking. The guitar with its slightly thinner body feels very comfortable. While it's also a very light guitar it feels very solid.

The guitar came with an inexpensive cable (moulded jacks, gave to a friend's 12 year old!) an allen key for the truss rod and a strap button. One button is already attached to the tailpiece end of the guitar. I don't know why they don't bother to put the strap button on. The only logical place for it is on the upper bought about 1 1/2" from the neck heel. I checked inside and the neck block extends that far so the hole for the button (which I carefully drilled) extends into something more solid that just the guitar's side. As I said earlier, the guitar is very light but has a solid feel to it. I think it would hold up to most playing situations and styles suitable to this type of guitar. I mean I haven't seen a jazzer bashing chords out and jumping on his axe in a long long....well probably never!

It comes with a lifetime guarantee. Standard coverage stuff here. It's a Korean made guitar (probably Samick?) and as of recently I think they are doing a great job on guitars in this price range.

I like this guitar a lot. My first real guitar was a copy of a Harmony non-cutaway jazzbox, a real cheapy but I loved it till it fell apart. This guitar, while still inexpensive, is light years away in style, construction, sound and playability. I am surprised and pleased with how well it performs and I'd buy another in a heartbeat!
I was tempted to buy it originally for $459 from one online retailer, but PVMusic had this one new and in stock for a blowout $299! If I had to pay the $459, I buy it again, it's that nice a guitar, especially if you're attracted to the looks.