$300 - must sell (funding new electric need cash fast!) case not included
Background:I have a very rare vintage Aria guitar that I am offering up for sale or trade. It's not particularly expensive but it is quite rare so an excellent piece for someone looking for an affordable collector's piece or a Japanese acoustic and, especially, an Aria brand fan. Some background is in order:
Aria made guitars in Japan and had their "glory years" in the 80's.
They were a large manufacturer and made a wide variety of models and unfortunately their model labeling system means nothing. Don't be misled - there is no rhyme or reason to the letter prefixes or the model numbers.
Their records are poor so you can't get any meaningful information on them. Their US distributor changed and neither the old nor new company responds to inquiries. The biggest international distributor is in the Uk but they also don't respond. The company headquarters in Japan also doesn't respond.
So, you can't find reliable information except from firsthand experience and I've owned, restored and examined many Aria guitars.
In the 80's Aria was making mostly mid-level guitars but also had some exceptional guitars and had endorsements from folks like Neil Schon of Journey.
Aria made a very limited number of gift guitars referred to as "firebrand". This excerpt from Wikipedia independently explains this:
Quote:
" Some of their professional models were known as Firebrands because of the Firebranded Aria logo on the reverse of the headstock. The Firebrand guitars were produced in very small runs. They were then given to either named artists who promoted Aria Guitars or to the very top dealers as gifts. Firebranded Guitars were produced to a much greater standard than production runs."
Model Description:This guitar I have is a 1987 Aria firebrand marked LW-20.
It has a solid spruce top and a laminated rosewood body. It has a rosewood fingerboard and bridge.
When I got this guitar it needed some TLC. I leveled and lightly crowned the frets, cleaned up the fingerboard polished the hardware and installed brand new Tusq nut and saddle, along with new bridge pins and new strap pin. I also drop filled a couple small surface dings in the clear coat (not anywhere near the wood - just in the clear top coat). I also adjusted the truss rod - which still works.
Now, the guitar is three decades old so it is not perfect. I want the imperfections to be absolutely clear because I don't want anyone being surprised or disappointed.
The soundboard shows a miniscule scratch in the clear top coat. The drop fills (from prior dings) look fine but of course they are repairs so not perfect.
There are a few straight lines of buckle rash on the back - these are only in the clear top coat.
The back clearcoat looks great - in really, really intense sunlight you can just see the beginnings of some cloudy age spots in the clear topcoat if you look at it from just the right angle.
Of course, the pick guard isn't new - it looks nice but has a little scuffing.
The headstock has an edge nick.
The neck lines up just right to the bridge - suggesting the neck angle is quite good.
I like low action - if you want to strum hard you might want to raise the action a little. I only get a little buzz when I play hard in the typical 12-13 fret but only on the A and D strings. So, of the 126-ish frets around the guitar, I get a little buzzing on about 3 when I play hard. Again, you can raise your action - I like mine low for fingerstyle.
Value:These are pretty rare and typically go for up to $1000.
I am shooting for a target of $550 (plus shipping) cash or a ~$600 valued trade. As a trade, I will consider every offer but am really only interested in a few things, though, especially a CF travel guitar.
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