The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

The Aria Gods have been smiling on me lately. Or maybe laughing at me.
Story begins about a month ago when I was at a local shop checking out and considering purchasing a new guitar. After deciding it was not quite what I was hoping for ( and too many $$$) I wandered to the back of the store where they keep their cheap guitars and "dogs". What should I see but an 1981 CS350. It had a few dings and was missing the truss rod cover and original knobs, but other than that, was in good shape.

Already the pleased owner of a PE 60, I snatched it up, for the bargin price of $125. Brought it home, tweaked the neck, slapped on some new strings, and I was a happy boy.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. I decide to drop in on a local guitar "swap meet" kind of thing. I'm walking around , it's the usual stuff ( Yamaha 12 strings, Peavy amps......) and out of the corner of my eye I see this kid with a BRIGHT green....something.Assumed it was nothing I would want ,and went back to poking around. As i'm talking shop with a dealer, this kid walks up and tries to sell him his guitar , which I now see is just a neck and a body. The dealer isn't interested, but I recognize the unmistakeable shape of the headstock.
I ask if he has the rest of the guitar, and he returns a minute later with a shoebox containing ALL of the hardware, pick ups . etc for this guitar.


I offer him $50 on the spot. He seems shocked, and gladly takes the cash.

Not only do I now have knobs and a truss rod cover for my other CS, I have a project on my Hands !

Current plans are to just re-assemble the thing "as is" , since I don't have the time for a major refinishing project. And the Green is kind of growing on me. With the checkerboard, kind of has a "Cheap Trick" kind of vibe going on.(not a bad thing, in my book) The guy who painted it actually did a fairly professional job - this was not a can of Krylon in the garage.

At some point, will probably just have it painted black - too lazy to completely strip the thing. Been there, done that. It's a dreadful job.

At this point I am open to suggestions.

I think I know the answer to this, but...is there any source for an Aria Pro II decal for the headstock ?

I didn't think so.

Will keep everyone posted if/when I refinish it.

Cheers All.
]

Hmm, it is interesting. I'd be tempted to leave it as is for awhile, especially if the paint job is pretty good. Since it's already "altered" you could experiment with different hardware. More pics?

Jorg

I think Rick Nielsen would dig it. . .

$50? Good grab, I say.

Don't ask me what I'd do with the finish...

http://tinyurl.com/mm8qw

je

I like it. More pics?

Funny you should mention hardware. I'm toying with the idea of installing a tremelo bar on this, as my current collection is "wangless".

Anyone with suggestions/experiance with this ?

I'm thinking maybe a Wilkenson (sp) ? Others ?

Locking trems aren't really my thing, so a Floyd rose is probably out of the question.

Nice guitar by the way, "Squid". Bet it's a lot of fun !

Maybe you could contact Aria USA about decals? As long as you're not going for original, then the decals for their current line might be better than nothing.

Gotta say, me and that green color don't agree with each other. I don't have much experience with restoration, but your idea to paint it black sounded right to me. Then add chrome hardware...

_________________
A good song takes you far...

More pics of Squid Head's Harem here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~flyashtray/id3.html

je

I put a Kahler on a guitar I had a long time ago and it worked really well. I'd go with black hardware. . .

Well, finally had time to put it all together. Sounds good, plays good.
Bridge is a little crusty, but everything seems to work just fine.
Thanks for the ideas, will probably leave it like this for awhile.
(as my wife said when she saw it, "well, you need to play at least 1 gig with it like that !" and of course she's right)
I still see turning it black at some time in the future.
As for the headstock decal, a friend of mine tells me there is someplace on the web that will basicaly make a copy of any decal you want ( bet the Fender guys are all over this) If I decide to go that route, I'll let you know
how it turns out.

I like it. Let us know how it gigs. . .

Jorg