vintage aria
Affordable vintage in the form of a Japanese-made Aria Pro II ES650 SB
The Aria company was formed in Japan during the mid-50s by Shiro Arai, and by the mid-60s, it had begun building its own brand of guitars at the Matsumoku factory, including some archtop instruments. By the mid-70s, having developed more cost-effective CNC manufacturing techniques, a line of guitars known as the Aria Pro II range commenced production. These guitars were aimed squarely at the professional musician within the domestic and overseas markets, as a 1978 Aria Pro II catalogue boldly declares: “Professional electric guitars… ARIA PRO II electric guitar means something new… designed for musical perfectionists.”
Such was their success, that the brand managed to pick up several well-known endorsees, including shredders Michael Schenker and Yngwie Malmsteen, along with jazz aficionados Herb Ellis, Ike Isaacs and Martin Taylor. Indeed, the Aria Pro II ES650 SB featured used to belong to Ike Isaacs and was acquired by Guitarist’s very own David Mead while he was visiting Martin Taylor. “After Ike died, I was up at Martin’s place one day and we were doing some videos for Guitar Techniques,” explains David. “He just plonked it on my lap to use when we were recording, because I didn’t have an archtop. He said, ‘That guitar really suits you. Why don’t you take it?’ It was incredibly generous of him.
“Ike had moved to Australia and had left if over here with Martin Taylor, because he didn’t like flying with guitars, understandably. He tended to have different guitars in different countries.
“It sounds as good as any Gibson ES-175 I’ve played, including some from the 50s and early 60s!”
He’d leave one in America and leave one over here in the UK. Martin and Ike were great friends. In fact, Martin refers to Ike Isaacs as his mentor. He said that Ike had a lot of nice guitars, but none of them were highly collectible. In other words, they were just really good playing guitars.”
Clearly based on the Gibson ES-175D, the ES650 SB was available from 1977 to 1981 and sports a sunburst finish, a laminated maple back and sides, and an arched top with double f-holes. It also has a single Florentine cutaway, a mahogany neck, a bound rosewood fingerboard with double-parallelogram inlays, and dual AL-5 humbucking pickups with independent volume and tone controls. Also referred to as the EA-650 in company literature, a 1977 Aria catalogue describes the model as “… most suitable for playing jazz blues featuring subtle fingering …”
“It’s a plywood jazzbox, basically,” says David. “It’s all-laminated maple with a mahogany neck and a rosewood ’board, so it is very Gibson-esque, but it’s not an absolute clone. I was quite surprised to find it’s got a sound post in it. I used to own an early 60s Gibson ES-175D, but I ended up selling it. I wasn’t at all comfortable gigging it because of its value, and when I was recording over at Guitarist’s studio, they preferred me using the ES650 SB. They said the Gibson was too noisy, whereas the Aria Pro II recorded really nicely.”
Coincidentally, pro jazz guitarist Denny Ilett also happens to own an Aria Pro II ES650 SB and is equally as impressed with them as working instruments. “Mine is the same model number as David’s, but I’ve seen them with a few different headstock designs,” Denny tells us. “I acquired it on eBay about 15 years ago from a house clearance, although I know nothing of how mine got to the UK originally. What I do know, however, is that it sounds as good (if not better than) as any Gibson ES-175 I’ve ever played, including some from the 50s and early 60s!”