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First of all, I want to thank the makers of this platform and all you people who keep at it, sharing your knowledge with others and lunatics like me. But, unfortunately, I’ve found only little information, pictures or documentary about the “Aria EA200”-model even here and throughout the net. Maybe it’s either a very rare or a low interest model. Anyway, I hope that my input will give fresh insight into the situation.
The Story:
To snap the chance, I bought the guitar from an older guy who obviously had no clue about the matter. I called him before bidding, so I could be sure that he wasn’t cheating. He told me that he has stored the guitar in the original case (part of the offer) for decades, after it changed hands within the family several times. Amongst others, there’s been someone playing “dance-music” with it, and at last, it was his niece practicing in the late 80’s /early 90's. When I asked him some technical details, he wasn’t talking gobbledygook, so there’s no reason to doubt his story.
When the instrument finally came to me, I could easily spot that it has been modified. The knobs differed from the Aria Diamond catalog-pics, I found on this website. Besides, the pickups had been changed. I discovered a pair of original ’80 Gibson “Dirty Fingers” (so the guitar almost financed itself!!!), renewed pots and wiring, properly installed. The pick guard was missing. Everything else was original and in very good condition.
The action was terrible, because some jerk placed the strap pin into the neck, so that the screw bended by the truss rod. Accordingly, some adjustments and cosmetics were required to give the instrument back its original appearance.
Model Specs:
At first glance, this model seemed to be positioned as a budget guitar. But the substance and the craftsmanship are absolutely convincing. It has a fine, deep cherry-wine body finish (a lot darker than the catalog image might suggest), beautifully showing the wood grain (birch?). The bolt-on neck is obviously one-piece nato (”mahogany”). The head plate consists of two pieces nato in different shades. Nice Rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets, block inlays.
Unlike the original ES-335, this EA200 has got no continuous sustain block. Instead of, there is some sort of t-bar construction as reinforcement only for the bridge pins, inside the body going from the top to the bottom. Hence it’s more a semi-acoustic, than a hollow body guitar.
Particularly noticeable is the very narrow neck. The nut is only 4 cm (1-11/19”). Thank god, I do not have paws! Nut and saddles for the tune-o-matic-like bridge were made of poor plastic quality.
Though I normally prefer authenticity, I threw in some Tusq-parts, adjusted the action, so that the playability and the actual unamplified sound are now great! Then I gave her back the knobs and the pick guard, similar to the ones in the old catalog. I also donated chrome-covered PAFs with traditional wiring, awesome!
The original chrome hardware (tailpiece, bridge, tuners, neck plate, pins) is designed durable and in good shape after all the time. The Kluson-style tuners with tulip bottoms still do a solid job.
Serialization:
It is confusing, that this guitar actually has two serial numbers.
The label inside the body's bass-side "f" hole proves:
“Aria, Model No. EA200, Serial No. 477872, Made in Japan”
The numbers are stamped with ink.
The chrome neck plate is stamped:
“STEEL ADJUSTABLE NECK Made in Japan 711966”
Both features indicate that the guitar was build by Matsumoku for the Aria Guitar Company. I heard that the numbers on the neck plates are largely random. So if you rank the information on the label of more importance than the plate, it must have been build by Uncle Matt in 1974 (indicated by the 6-digit serial no.), which was the kickoff year for the EA200 product line due to various sources. But my guitar has no “lawsuit” headstock. There is one picture of the EA200 in the catalog archive of Aria-USA, which looks exactly like mine, except here the headstock is “lawsuit” and the guitar is branded “Diamond”. Though this catalog (“Aria and Diamonds”) is not dated, it must have been published before 1976, due to the lawsuit-design.
For it’s very unlikely that Aria offered different headstocks in pre-lawsuit, the neck plate’s number could be more relevant for my guitar. Due to that number, it would have been built in 1977 as a very late example of the line. Too late? Most sources (incl. this one) maintain, that the model was offered till about 1976. Then, again, the other catalog “Aria Diamond Electrics” (courtesy SalemB) is dated 1978. So probably the number on the plate only concerns the guitar’s neck. I mean, is it conceivable that they stored a (labeled) body since 1974 to put it together with a neck in 1977, or are both numbers possibly arbitrary?
If there’s anybody out there with profound insights, please let me know.
Stay tuned,
MatSmoke
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