The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Hi all,

Yesterday I traded my Epi Strat for an Aria Pro II. It's a little more beat up than I like, but I will sort out those dings. It plays fairly well, and sound far better than the Epi Strat.

It's made in Korea. I think it's a PE-DLX but I'm not sure. The seller said it was 1991, but the serial is S701xxxx (S+seven numbers). So I'm thinking 87 or 97 Can the experts chime in here? I'm looking for confirmation of the model and year it was made. Any other info would be appreciated as well. See the pics below.

Thanks in advance!


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r578/jauriemma/Aria1.jpg


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r578/jauriemma/aria2.jpg


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r578/jauriemma/aria3.jpg


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r578/jauriemma/Aria4.jpg


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/r578/jauriemma/aria5.jpg

Well, being Korean made, it's out of the scope of this site. There may be someone that knows but not something we keep up with.

_________________
Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

The first post in this thread will give you links to a few resources for finding information on Korean guitars. Hopefully one will have some information.

The S in the serial number is a dead giveaway it is Korean made. Aria (Shiro Arai Co.) has the lower end models manufactured in Korea but some of the high end models are still made in Japan (Supra, PE1000RI, PE-R80).

Yours is going to be one of the midrange PE series. Unfortunately the Aria Pro II site no longer lists discontinued items.

Thanks. I contacted Aria by email through their website and on Facebook, but no replies so far.

The Orion BB doesn't say much and the descriptions in the Guitar BB are all very similar.

I had to at least try here.

Your guess is correct, this is a PE-DLX and 1997 should be the year of manufacture. List price at that time was 55000 Yen.

Refer to this link: http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar-an ... index.html

Thanks for the brochure link. It almost matches up. There is one small discrepancy.
The 1996 catalog says it has a heel-less neck. Mine has a noticeable heel.
That's why I'm thinking 1987.

That being said, other info (Guitar Blue Book) said the DLX has a bolt on neck.
Then I found a Russian website that is selling Aria Pro II PEs. The PE-85 is also close.

All very confusing.

The heel on yours may still be considered heel-less.

The 85 PE-DLX (3rd page in) had a heel like yours but was still called heel-less. I'm guessing this was compared to similar LP models which did have a heel.

The tuning pegs, the tune-o-matic, the pickups are all 90's Korean fare... so the guitar has to be from 97.

As Crusty mentioned the heel design is what PE's with a flat back are using... Aria still calls this "heel less".

Good to know... Thanks for the clarification.