The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi, I'm a new member to this forum and have found it extremely insightful.

I have an Aria very similar to the one in this post, viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4059 but mine has the "Aria Diamond" logo with the rhinestone on the headstock. There is a sticker inside that says Diamond, serial number, model number, and Japan but none of the blanks for the numbers are filled in. I was wondering what model this is and about what year? I'm guessing late 60's.

Also, does anyone know of any place that sales replacement parts for these older models? I figure ebay is the only place I'm going to find anything. Or do other guitar brands such as Lyle or Univox have parts which would fit this Aria? I'm in desperate need of a bridge; my saddles are shot. Would anyone think a gibson tune-o-matic small post-holes bridge fit this Aria properly one like this http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=302030 ; the holes are the right length apart, but I'm worried about the strings aligning with the pickup poles and causing a buzz because of improper height.

Too, does anyone know about replacing the pickups in this guitar? Has anyone done this before? I've thought I'd like to get a set of Gibson '57 humbuckers in it but am worried about aligning the strings with the pickup pole position, and fitting the pickups in the guitar; pickups like these http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=306012

Welcome to the boards.

I've never seen one of these before. I don't know what those pickups sound like, & I don't know what the guitar is worth or how modifying it will affect the value, so I can't advise you as to whether you should switch them out or not.

Does yours have those unusual single-coils with the "one-of-a-kind" surrounds?

If so, just take off one of those surrounds to see what will fit in the cavity. I would think that a full-sized humbucker would be too big, but I could be wrong. Maybe a Les Paul Special or a Firebird mini-humbucker could work. If not, then maybe one of the Str@ rail pickups (I have no idea whether the p'ups on this guitar are G- or F-spaced; if they're F-spaced, any Str@ p'up might work--I'm not sure whether mini-humbuckers are available in F-spacing, but I seem to remember seeing one on a Tele in the neck position, which would suggest they are available).

If you ARE able to swap out the p'ups, you'll probably have to fashion new surrounds for the new p'ups.

From there, you'll have to worry about pot values & how you'll buffer the tone pots (which caps).

If you have to do much wiring work, a string with a small weight on the end & some cellophane tape will be VERY useful for feeding wires through the body. You'll do most of your soldering work away from the guitar, & end up feeding the pots & switch(es) through the p'up cavities.

Good luck.

Anybody else?

Hello TheYoungestSon, and welcome. Sounds to me like you have a beautiful vintage guitar there, and we'd love to see some pix of her before passing too much judgement or offering advice.

Generally speaking you would not want to replace or mod a guitar of this sort without very careful consideration. Aria is a very competent instrument maker and I'd not be second guessing their choice of electronics.
Are the PUPS cutting out? Noisy? Low output? Or is it just that you do not like the sound for some reason?
Replacing PUPS can make a difference but it will not turn it into a Gibson if that's your goal.

Similarly, is the entire bridge broken or do you just need new saddles? And, are they broken or just corroded? Many of these things can be repaired or restored rather than replaced, and there are many posts to refer to and people here who can help. BUT we really need to see what you're dealing with.

Pix please.

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"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
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Barry is certainly right.

While it's possible to remove the complete wiring harness in one piece from some hollow-body guitars (so you can restore the guitar to "as original" condition), it takes an inordinate amount of time, patience, & finesse--& it's at least 10 times more difficult to install a complete "all in one piece" wiring harness. Whatever p'ups you put in it, if it has that "jazz box" style bridge (which is very useful in its genre), it won't be capable of 335 or solid-body tones.

Here are some pictures





I think I just figured something out. The bridge on the guitar is for a 12 string as the saddle have what seems likes like too many grooves for a 6 string but as you can see it's a 6 string guitar. Also, there is an even number of grooves on each saddle making it impossible to center the string and keep even spacing but it seems like it would work with a 12 string. Any problems with this? I've always felt like the strings weren't straight going from the tailpiece to the bridge up to the nut.

Also looking at these pictures does it seem like the bridge is misaligned with the pickups? Should the strings be going directly over p'ups poles? Like I mentioned the string have always fitted oddly on the neck, the high E seems to close to the edge of the neck, but I attributed this to the saddles. Now I'm thinking maybe the rosewood base is placed wrong. Sorry they're aren't any strings on it, I'm in the process of replacing the tuning pegs.

Yes, and yes!

I can't tell from these pix exactly what's happening with the bridge but it is most definitely out of alignment. I can't help but notice the duct tape(!) on the horn. Does this mean the guitar has met with a fall or been hit by something? And was the bridge involved in the resulting damage perhaps?

I don't know enough about this particular vintage Aria but it is possible that this is the original bridge and it has been re-glued incorrectly (maybe to cover up some other damage?). The roller saddles appear to be brass which would be consistent with other Japanese guitars made around the same era and would be necessary, I think, to accommodate what appears to be some type of tremolo tailpiece(?). The rollers would allow easy movement of the strings without binding. The multiple grooves would likely be optional locations to accommodate different string gauges and position them over the pick up poles; nothing to do with 12 strings.

From what I see, you have a very nice guitar which needs some work to be great again. I would strongly recommend repairing and restoring rather than ripping out and replacing anything.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

Hi Youngson,

I have several guitars like yours... The bridge is a free floating bridge..... Without strings on the guitar, the bridge should fall off the guitar.... The strings are the only thing suppose to hold the bridge down...

Seeing on how your bridge is still on the guitar raises many questions.....
First, someone glued it on.... Very bad.....
Maybee you might be able to remove it without doing any damage and realine it....

Like I said, this is a free floating bridge... Most of the time when you come across one of these guitar, the bridge is missing since the strings were brooken and never replaced.

Your problem would only be to try and pry it off, try with luke warm water just in case they used reg white glue, that will soften it up and you will be able to remove all traces of glue...

These pickups are real good and have a great sound, the major problem with these older types is the wirering... I usually change all the wirering...

For the wirering, you need to remove everything, start with the pickups and then the knobs and input jack, easy to get everything out from the pickup holes...

You have a nice guitar there, with a little work and effort, it will look and sound great.

Best of luck,

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

What benefit would there be in gluing a bridge to an arch-top? (That's a rhetorical question.)

Regarding the bridge saddles:

I don't know whether the bridge is original to the guitar or not, but it very well could be. I've seen one American arch-top (a D'Angelico) with saddles something like that on it (a luthier installed the bridge to change the string spacing--I have no idea whether it was an indy luthier or someone in D'Angelico's shop), but the bridge was MUCH more refined looking. On that particular bridge, it was a mathematically sound idea. There was a number of different spacing combinations available with that bridge. The different spacings allowed for the use of different pickups--or pickups angled in custom surrounds, which also allowed for closer string spacing (for flat-pickers who were highly concerned with economy of motion) or wider string spacing (for finger-style or hybrid picking styles). I think there were some manufacturers who used P-90 style pickups with narrower spacing than the original P-90s.

I think that's what those extra grooves are for, as arch-top bridges can be fitted any number of ways to suit player preferences. The bridge can be placed either straight or angled, & with the intonation adjustments that go along with angling a bridge, the multiple grooves might have been an attempt at a "new solution". However, I think they're just for those who wanted string placement different than what the law of entropy (or an ill-fitting tailpiece) would dictate with the bridge mounted square.

Yes, the metal portion holding the saddles is "free floating" and adjustable. It should just lift off from the threaded posts. I don't think it's glued though Pierre, it looks like it's just been put on for the picture??

What I am concerned about is the main wooden bridge support under it. It is completely in the wrong position and it does appear to have been glued down! That will take some considerable care and know how to remove and reposition it without damaging the top finish. Not recommended as a first project!

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com