Identifying an Aria Pro II

[Osier]

Hello folks,

This is my first post on this forum--I hope I'm doing this right. I'm an American living in Japan and I'm looking to start collecting "lawsuit" era guitars both for sale overseas and of course for my own personal use, and recently I came across this little guy (sorry for the bad quality pictures):

It has a sticker on the back that says it's a LC-550, but there's no serial number or "Made in Japan" anywhere in sight, so I don't want to jump the gun and buy it without trying to confirm that it's a good guitar--so I've wound up here!

Any thoughts? Is it a legit "lawsuit" guitar? The condition is fair--has a small opening in the cutaway on the back but I don't think that's a deal breaker.


Sidenote: I also found a Greco EG-600R in decent shape, is that something I should jump on?

 

[kevinpaul]

From the collectors and the high prices on eBay that is one of the most desirable of the law suit guitars. The quality and the visibility are only a couple of the reason.
Welcome to the forum.

 

[Osier]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Do you think it's a legit lawsuit guitar? I guess I will spring for it today if that's the case. I played it yesterday to test it out; was not disappointed.

 

[kevinpaul]

Yes I am sure. Aria was not very good with serial numbers. Google Law Suit guitars that that could be the poster boy.

 

[duaneflowers]

Welcome to the jungle!!!

I'm not really up on my Arias, but I know a lot of them were made in Korea, so you might want to scour the forum for threads discussing them in detail. We have a few resident experts and I'm sure one of them will chime in soon enough.

Any snow in Niigata yet? Hitting the slopes on a regular basis?

 

[Osier]

Yeah, figuring out if it's MIJ or not is the only thing making me hesitate. As far as I can tell the LC-550 was only made in Japan, but I'm gonna dive in and do some more research.

Finally started to snow a decent amount last week, but now it's back to feeling way too warm for winter again. I don't ski or snowboard either way though--so for me it's nice just because I don't have to die driving to work!

 

[Osier]

Was about to pull the trigger when I noticed this seam line down the body of the guitar--is this normal? I couldn't find any pictures of a similar guitar with the same line.

Also, the fretboard inlays look way too clean/white. I'm wondering if they were replaced or if it's not the material it's supposed to be.

 

[Zeegler]

Yes, that is a Japanese, Matsumoku Aria Pro. They are wonderful guitars. Arias weren't made in Korea until the mid 80s. That one is around 79-82. While it is unusual for there to be no serial number, I can guarantee you that is a Matsumoku instrument. The sandwich body is also quite normal as it was copied from the Norlin Gibsons of the same era. There are better, higher end models with fret end binding, but it's still a very nice "lawsuit" LPC.

 

[Osier]

Thank you so much for confirming. Now I feel I can finally safely make the purchase. Cheers.

 

[Zeegler]

Thank you so much for confirming. Now I feel I can finally safely make the purchase. Cheers.

No problem. Good luck with the purchase.

 

[PermissionToLand]

Yes, that is a Japanese, Matsumoku Aria Pro. They are wonderful guitars. Arias weren't made in Korea until the mid 80s. That one is around 79-82. While it is unusual for there to be no serial number, I can guarantee you that is a Matsumoku instrument. The sandwich body is also quite normal as it was copied from the Norlin Gibsons of the same era. There are better, higher end models with fret end binding, but it's still a very nice "lawsuit" LPC.

What were the early Korean models? I've only seen Korean '80s Diamonds and '90s APIIs. Curious because I'm a fan of Samick, who made the late '80s/early '90s Diamonds.

 

[rayspang]

All the Samick MIK Aria's I've seen have a serial that starts with "S".

 

[Zeegler]

What were the early Korean models? I've only seen Korean '80s Diamonds and '90s APIIs. Curious because I'm a fan of Samick, who made the late '80s/early '90s Diamonds.

My knowledge is limited to Matsumoku product. After the factory closed, there were still some Japanese Arias for a time IIRC. The ZZ, XX, Inazuma V etc. were Japanese made for a time. At some point they moved production to Korea I'm guessing late 80s early 90s. I haven't got a clue about Diamonds.

 

[rabidhamster]

Those arias are great copies of the 70s pancake guitars.

 

[4Aaron GE]

I hope you bought it if you were really interested. It's currently listed as sold.

 

[Osier]

Yeah it's sold because I bought it!

I'm still preparing my business (shipping supplies and whatnot) but I do plan on selling it in the future. This guy will kinda be a Guinea pig to see if I can hack it in the export business but in the meantime I get to enjoy it for myself. ^_^

 

[4Aaron GE]

I assume that it came from a branch that's not near you? Do they charge shipping at all?

 

[Osier]

Actually this one was quite close to me--it just happened to be listed online as well so I used their photos in this thread. I toyed with the idea of having them ship it to me anyway just so I could use their shipping materials, but yeah they charge for it so I bought it in person.

 

[4Aaron GE]

Actually this one was quite close to me--it just happened to be listed online as well so I used their photos in this thread. I toyed with the idea of having them ship it to me anyway just so I could use their shipping materials, but yeah they charge for it so I bought it in person.

How are you shipping guitars back to the US? I've got some car parts that need to be sent back to Canada that don't quite fit in the normal size restrictions for the post.

 

[Osier]

I think EMS is the way to go. I've ordered some boxes from rakuten specifically designed for guitars and I'm studying up on how to package them. The two guitars I bought so far both only came with soft cases so I'm a little bit anxious but I'm going to be extremely careful.