The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

I do not know if you had contact with the Aria Company, but it was now the second time i had, in my opinion, a bad experience.
I wrote a long e-mail, showed them how many fans are here and that we all hold the flame still burning. I asked for support and the permission to use the logo and the Aria history text for youtube and myspace.

This was the answer:

"Dear Sir,
thank you for yr mail.
yr msg was relayed onto our German distributor.
best rgds.
Aria Service div."

There was no "thanks guys, we love your support" or "we like what you are doing", they even were too lazy to write full words. They really do not think about who is giving them there jobs, it´s people like us.

I´m so angry, i would really like to sell my Aria stuff !

I hope the is somebody important at the music fair in frankfurt germany, so i can give ´em for this ridiculous behaviour.

I fully understand your frustration. As with many things, it is up to those with a passion for something to keep it alive that woudl otherwise be lost to time. That my friend is you and I.

One thing you have to realize is business is in business to stay in business. The primary focus of any business is to generate funds. At least Aria has some history on their site, which may in part be due to this site's existence. Would Michael Wright have bothered writing yet one more article on Matsumoku if we were not here? I think not!

Some companies rely on their history to keep them afloat, others focus on present and future market trends.

Arai Company is NOT Shiro Arai Co. as it was when our guitars were made. It is a modern company with a modern demeanor and presence. Just as the age of the craftsman has come to an end, so has the age of the "reachable" and "interactive" company.

For example: When I ordered my B. C. Rich I talked with Bernie Rico himself, not a salesman, by the book hired tech support, or 1-800 representative. I talked to Bernie and he took my order note for note. When I bought my first MXR pedal there was no manual. I talked with the engineer that worked on that pedal's design and he drafted a quick manual, xeroxed it, and sent it to me.

These days are GONE.

Another thing to consider with Arai Company is the language barrier.

I have had brief correspondence with the company years ago, and even with "H. Noble". The language issue kept anything from coming of it.

Hmm, I had only one contact with the Aria company and it was most satisfying. When I bought me first MegaMetal Series it was missing the PU and more or less all cables were disconnected. I couldn´t get it to work and couldn´t find any info on the web. So I wrote a mail to AriaUS and they tried to fix the problem by answering my mail. It didn´t work, so they sent me a telephone number where I could reach a technician. I called the guy but we couldn´t figure it out on the phone. So he promised me to get the original schematics for the electronic board from the Japanese plant. One day later I had it scanned in my mailbox. Perfect. I would´ve never got it running again without that guy. So I guess it´s just a matter of whom you reach at the company. The one I found was most helpful.

Oliver !

_________________
Axes of the 80´s - Click here

To be fair, i received an apologize and i think it was a nice gesture.

Speaking of Aria USA, has anyone noticed their website is down? It looks like they are going to redesign it. I hope something actually comes of it.

Also, is anyone going to the Musikmesse in Frankfurt? I have a friend going and asked that he pick up a catalog. I'm interested in the SB bass re-issues and a new one listed on the Aria site as the "SB-CB".

On the topic of companies not being able to give personalized service anymore, Alembic is definitely an exception. I bought a used Spoiler and was still able to get info from the company (the founder's daughter) in no time with detailed specs on the instrument. They can even tell you the guy's name who worked on it. They did this even though the bass was 25 years old and I had not even bought it directly from them or a dealer.
It would be nice if Aria could be like that, but as others said it's a business and the Aria of today certainly has very little connection to the Arias most of us are so proud to own.

Obviously they can't be Alembic, but it seems a company like Ibanez could be emulated. At least Ibanez has forums on their website, and seems to have much more of a connection to their history. I know Aria USA is nothing more than a distributer of ARAI, Inc., though. However, in the last fews years Aria has done re-issues of models like the SB and PE series, so I think they are headed in the right direction. A balance of history (re-issues and support) as well as new models and innovations would be perfect.

Well, if I remember this correctly Mr. Arai told in an interview that he does not like to look backwards. He was also quite astonished that I was able to tell the models on the adds they pinned up at their booth on the Frankfurt Music show a couple of years ago, as he said he wouldn't be.

Why should an old guitar necessarily be better than a new one?

If you keep the question in mind, this all makes sense... why would I be interested in a company, that thinks it has made it's best guitar more than 50 years ago?

Wouldn't you rather prefer a guitar maker trying to push the limits... play a Parker, a Flaxwood or something similar innovative and see if there is one guitar that will change your mind.

In terms of customer support... unfortunately in the case of Aria you will have to speak Japanese, as all the distributors they had outside of Japan have changed since the 80s.

Also keep in mind who is probably replying to your email: Some 17 year old junior receptionist who probably couldn't give a flying about fan boys.

No reason at all...

...but I'd rather come across a well made, good old used one with some age on it for a few hundred dollars than a mass-produced marketing-department hyped "wonder guitar" for a few thousand dollars.

If you pay attention to guitar makers, they're all very short-sighted with too much emphasis on earnings growth & too little emphasis on longevity. As a result, new makers seem to make great product as long as they're growing--but once they've reached market saturation, the only way to increase earnings is to cut costs--& so goes quality.

As we MAT fans know--there is some excellent, fairly obscure old product out there that isn't appreciated as much as it should be--& that's the stuff I'll be playing. Solid bodies, no fancy tops--just good sounding, good playing guitars--& if they give out, we can find something similar for relatively little money (or they're cheap enough to buy spares).