The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
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PostPosted: Sun 22 Nov 2020 06:29 PM 
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Joined: Sun 22 Nov 2020 06:18 PM
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Hello all. This is my first post. Thanks for having me. My Dad has this strat-like guitar he got from a friend back in the 90's. It only says Aria on the headstock. The metal neck plate reads: "Steel Adjustable Neck" "Made In Japan" 1054210. I'm having difficulty finding anything about it. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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PostPosted: Sun 22 Nov 2020 08:22 PM 
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Virtuoso
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Joined: Sat 25 Mar 2006 09:25 PM
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Location: Grand Absurdity, TX
Welcome Hawk99TA.
Many possibilities for a strat copy. Is it a straight up strat copy or is it strat-ish?
Look here at Aria guitars or Aria catalogs: http://www.matsumoku.org/models/models.html
Hopefully you can find at least something close and we can go from there.
Or maybe you could post pics?

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PostPosted: Tue 24 Nov 2020 09:16 AM 
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Joined: Sun 22 Nov 2020 06:18 PM
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Thanks for the link. It strongly resembles the Aria MACH 1 AE-550. It's definitely a pre Aria Pro-II model. I was thinking of tinkering with it since it's in poor condition. No OHSC, whammy bar, bridge cover. Non original pickups, Pick guard and knobs. Finish is beat up. Is there any place hidden that i can look for a model # or any other identifiers?


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PostPosted: Tue 24 Nov 2020 01:46 PM 
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Virtuoso
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Location: Grand Absurdity, TX
You might find some markings in the neck pocket or pickup cavities but I don't think they will shed any light on model.
Sounds like you have a fun project. I assume its natural in color? That's one of my favorite strat looks.
If it were me, I'd say fix it up to your liking. You're not likely to find any original parts and the quality/price of current stuff is much better anyway.
The body and neck should be as good as anything else you'll find.
Post some pics, we love pics. :D

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PostPosted: Wed 25 Nov 2020 09:17 AM 
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Joined: Sun 22 Nov 2020 06:18 PM
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Thanks for the words of wisdom. It is a natural finish. I'm thinking of doing an HSS build. I can't get the photo uploader to work.


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PostPosted: Tue 08 Dec 2020 04:51 PM 
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Virtuoso
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Joined: Sat 12 Oct 2002 09:20 AM
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It will be definitely a fun project... and possibly a long journey.

Take measurements of the original parts before buying any replacements. The pickups might have a different spacing from what you can buy today (worst case you would have to replace those with rail pickups). Especially the tremolo can have different dimensions and this is a shame, because the tremolos on 70s Aria's are not great (to put it mildly).

On the other hand the wood used is usually of very good quality, so it's worth taking the journey.


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