The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

I recently picked up a Japanese made Aria Pro II RS. Not sure of the model. I believe it is an 84 as the first number on the neck heel stamp is 4. It's a brown sunburst with black pickguard with 2 Matsumoku humbuckers, maple neck with maple board. It also has a non-logo'd Kahler steel 2300 flat mount tremolo which from my research appears like it may be a prototype? Would this be possible? Also the neck pocket has hand written numbers and such in black sharpie. Is this normal? Any idea the model? Sorry for all the questions but I personally think this is a killer guitar. It plays great and sounds fantastic, but I'd love to know more about it. Thanks!

Hi Mike and welcome.
Pictures would really help eh?

There were several models made under the RS label in 1984 so we'd only be guessing what you have.
Have a look here for a bit more info: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/rs2.html

It was a common production practice to write code numbers in the neck pocket. We're not completely sure what they are but they're likely a reference to the type of neck to be used, or possibly the guitar's finish. That sort of thing, nothing special or unusual.

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Welcome Mike!
The RS is a mean machine and as most Matsumoku guitars, highly underrated.
Pics would definitely help. My gut is the Kahler, regardless of its origin, was not factory installed.
We'd love to see it.

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Thanks guys, I have her torn apart at the moment but I'll get some pics of the parts and post them. I've always liked Japanese made guitars and bought it on a whim from guitar center and was really surprised and how solid it was. I was kind of shocked to see stock pickups because it sounded so heavy through my 5150 I swore they were Duncan's or DiMarzios.

Researching the Kahler I stumbled across an old Reverb sale for a non logo prototype that is exactly like the one on this guitar. I suppose that's possible. It seems too well made to be a knockoff.

Here are the pics of the body and neck

And the trem

Very nice!
The print on the heel of the neck and writing in pickup cavity is factory but I believe the writing in the neck cavity is not. That trem doesn't look like a knockoff to me, maybe it is an early one.
My only experience with Kahler trems were the two I installed on my guitars. I had a 2300 and one of the floaters, don't remember the model number.
Do the pickups have MMK45 on them?

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Yeah both pickups were marked MMK45.

Are we thinking the Kahler was not original to the guitar?

I should add the neck plate number starts with a 3 so if I understand correct that would make this an 83?

Correct. The Kahler was added later and that is an '83 model.
Looks like it originally had the large version of the CS bridge as seen here: http://matsumoku.org/models/ariaproii/cs/cs-deluxe.html
Notice the 3 screw holes at what would have been the back of the original bridge as well as the route for the original.
I dig it!

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

Yes, great call on the three screw holes. So glad I was able to find more out about it. I was just honestly blown away at the quality of the guitar for something I was able to pick up so cheap. It just feels so "solid" if that makes any sense. I will definitely be on the lookout for more! Thank you for the info!