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Orange_Adam (Orange_Adam)
Posted on Sunday, May 16, 2004 - 3:29 pm:   

Hi!!!


Well, a month or so ago I was lucky enough to purchase a funky lookin rare Aria Tele Thinline.

Mohagany semi-hollow body, beautiful maple /laminated/ neck and fretboard.

Even the tuners stay in tune.Zero fret! Then last night I went through some sites trying to find various info on various models and I see an Ibanez tele Thinline replica looking exactly like Aria tele I own.The Aria thinline model was in production from 1972 - 1974, the same time Ibanez produced theirs.


What's the deal?

Same company different stickers?


I bought my tele for measly 130eur and it's a keeper for life.Beauuuuutiful.
They look exactly the same exept for the tin truss rod cover and a bit bigger headstock on the Ibanez model.
Harry (Harry)
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 2:55 am:   

Hi Orange Adam

First of all: congratulations! 130 Euro is a good price for the Aria Tele.
Indeed the Aria guitars from the early and mid 70s were crafted in the same factory as the Ibanez brand. So "Same company, different stickers" is pretty much accurate.
Greetz,
Harry
Orange_Adam (Orange_Adam)
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 2:57 pm:   

Tell ya the truth mine is feather lite and sounds wonderfull.I wish more people who own them would share some info!
Spiro (Spiro)
Posted on Monday, May 17, 2004 - 6:42 pm:   

Unfortunately the top Aria Guys Disagree with you


Q: I saw an Aria guitar listed on the SoSo.Com site made by Ibanez. Did Ibanez make Aria?

A: NO! NO! And NO! This one gets me fired up every time! Elger/Hoshino (Ibanez) did NOT make Aria, Aria Pro II, Westone, Vantage, Electra, Westbury, Japanese Washburns, or any of the other guitars in these lines. They were made by Matsumoku in partnership with Shiro Aria co. in entirely different facilities. More likely, Hoshino contracted Matsumoku than the converse. There's one of two things going on when you see this. First, the seller is obviously unaware of the guitar's origins, or second and more often the case, the seller is flinging the Ibanez name to both increase interest and jack up the price, or worse yet, keyword spamming if it's an auction listing (see the blurb on hype). Fortunately, if this was your question, you are doing your homework (hopefully beforehand)! Good for you!
Harry (Harry)
Posted on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 2:23 am:   

Hi Spiro!

You make me curious about the following: if you say that Hoshino did not make the Aria copies, how come that I heard several times that Hoshino sent out strat bodies to have them carved, sent back to their factory to assemble the Art Nouveau (Carved) Stratocaster series 2408. But these were brought on the market with partly the Ibanez logo and with the Aria logo as well. I happen to know a guy who once saw a model 2408-2 (the botanical version), exactly like the Ibanez I own, only with "Aria" on the headstock.
Just curious......
Kind greetings,
Harry
Spiro (Spiro)
Posted on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 5:07 pm:   

Hey Harry,

I was just passing on some info from a guy who seriously collects Aria guitars...

Maybe he is wrong.. maybe there was some wife swapping involved :)

As steve has said before... Ibanez has never made guitars and all these other companies make them for Ibanez.. So... Maybe those carved strats were made by Aria and then had Ibanez carved out in the headstock?... Who knows ?

Maybe A question for Jim!!
Orange_Adam (Orange_Adam)
Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 2:22 pm:   

Well mine looks really alike!check out www.therathole.org and youl find pics so you can do a side by side comparison!


a,

Also, I just spotted an Aria strat, supposedly it has an ebony fingerboard!It's just an hour drive from me!

Price:100eur

Can you believe that!!!!
L6sguy (L6sguy)
Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 5:05 pm:   

so as far as the "who made 'em" question, well, its a bit befuddled. Aria is generally thought of to have been made by the Matsumoku factory, but that didnt happen until early/mid seventies. either way, Ibanez didnt build anything -- but the folks who built Ibanezes could (and did) sometimes build Arias. very different ways of doing business in Japan, not like the American model, where a Ford is a Ford with Ford parts only.
as for who built in general, its not uncommon at all for:
>>japanese factories to have subcontracted work out to "competing" factories
>>the same parts being dealt to competing factories by parts dealers, or in fact other competing factories -- Factory #1 making necks that are used in Factory #2 to build guitars that are then (years later) attributed to Factory #3

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