Hey Friends,
I've got a noob question here for you. I am routinely given guitars by people, in which I will often clean them up/fix them, and then give them to students that I am teaching first year guitar. Over the years I have given out many epiphones, corts, silvertone, and Aria Pro ii guitars (mostly Strat models). I have never really thought about keeping any of the Aria Pro ii guitars, as I have more expensive guitars in my collection...but today I pulled a guitar out of a closet (where its lived in a gig bag since it was gifted to me last year), and I'm curious about this guitar. Everything I've found on the web (which is not much at all), seems to say that this is sort of a "beginners" model in the Aria Pro ii line, but I'm also reading that it was possibly manufactured in Japan/assembled in Korea. If this is the case, I also own many Japanese guitars, and I'm a huge fan of those.
All of that to ask this noob question. I know nothing of Aria Pro ii guitars, but I have a "Mad Axe" by Aria Pro ii guitar. (Model ST-01-3X). It's black on black with a maple neck. (two single coil, humbucker in the bridge, single volume and tone pots with a five way switch). The guitar has some age and a few large chips on it, but overall in really solid condition. It needs a little love and new jack, but could be a good player.
I'm not sure on the year and serial. It seems that other models have the serial stamped into the neck plate. There is a newer blank neck plate on this one, which leads me to believe it may have been replaced???? My overall question is, can anyone identify this guitar? I can't seem to find anything in the forums about it, and not sure if a serial number might be stamped under the pups or inside the pick guard somewhere. Just curious to know any information about this guy, and if it would be worth installing a new jack and giving to a student, or if I should clean it up and give it a home with me? I appreciate your time guys, and look forward to any info you can help me with.
https://imgur.com/gallery/a2tbJpF