Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
- sleepkid
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Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Hi. So, occasionally I pick up project guitars to restore and pass along in addition to just repairing other people's guitars. Recently I picked up an old Aria 1532t as a project guitar for a prospective client who expressed interest in one, and I kind of wanted to share this thread here because though I see there is a thread about the reissue Aria 1532 (which I believe are made in Korea using Chinese parts), I kind of wanted to let people know what the deal was with the original Aria 1532ts, and that they can be a really good guitar.
They were first introduced in 1963 by Aria (then known as Arai, or Arai Diamond) and they continued production of this model into the 70's. They were made by Matsumoku (who made nearly all the Arai and Aria guitars until going bust in the early 80's), and are very high quality builds. Not plywood. Most of them feature a two piece mahogany body which is very light weight due to the slim profile, the body is then veneered, and finished. They were sometimes marketed as Commodore, and I believer there was a Univox version as well. Sometimes you see them with the Univox style tremolo tailpiece, other times they have there own Jazzmaster-esque one. They also varied between having rocker switches (earlier) or a three-way toggle (later). I've seen them in Sunburst, Black (really good looking in black), Red, White, and a kind of Tobacco Burst (or just a poorly finished Sunburst?)
Short scale 23.6inch (!) mahogany neck on the these has a fairly typical Fender-esque profile. Not a baseball bat at all. Rosewood fretboard with a 12" radius. Tuners on these are the typical open back 6-inline vintage Japanese style tuners. Not great, but functional.
The roller bridge on these is a big improvement over the standard Jaguar or Jazzmaster bridge, and though I have some concerns over the viability of the hardened ceramic rollers, I have yet to see one where the roller is broken. Intonation is easily set, and though the individual saddles aren't height adjustable, the bridge is.
Pickups typically measure between 6.5k to 6.7k, and are single coils sat on top of ceramic magnets. The adjustable pole pieces run through the bobbin to a copper plate which sits ontop of the magnet and runs to a copper shielding plate. They are lacquer potted (as are most vintage Japanese pickups - word of advice, don't try and wax pot vintage Japanese pickups - the plastic bobbins have a tendency to melt) The slightly odd size of these pickup covers means it's hard to swap these out for other pickups that can be directly dropped in, however, there is a lot of room under the pickup cover (the coil doesn't come close to filling it) so swapping out pickups but maintaining the covers is a possibility, though you might have to fabricate a new top (just the black piece) to compensate for slightly different pole piece spacings. The originals are good sounding pickups. Nice and clean, very articulate and full sounding. Closer in sound to a Jazzmaster than a Jaguar.
- - -
So, on to the restore. Have a picture of an original one, and then the project one side by side (note the kind of tobacco burst in the top versus the actual sunburst in the bottom), and then a picture of a concept for the project one. The project one is missing the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is dead. Will rewind (or swap!) the neck pickup, but finding a matching replacement bridge pickup would take time, so will put in something else. Have mocked up an idea, but still toying around with the best solution for this guitar.
Anyway, just thought I'd share. Sorry about the crap photography.
They were first introduced in 1963 by Aria (then known as Arai, or Arai Diamond) and they continued production of this model into the 70's. They were made by Matsumoku (who made nearly all the Arai and Aria guitars until going bust in the early 80's), and are very high quality builds. Not plywood. Most of them feature a two piece mahogany body which is very light weight due to the slim profile, the body is then veneered, and finished. They were sometimes marketed as Commodore, and I believer there was a Univox version as well. Sometimes you see them with the Univox style tremolo tailpiece, other times they have there own Jazzmaster-esque one. They also varied between having rocker switches (earlier) or a three-way toggle (later). I've seen them in Sunburst, Black (really good looking in black), Red, White, and a kind of Tobacco Burst (or just a poorly finished Sunburst?)
Short scale 23.6inch (!) mahogany neck on the these has a fairly typical Fender-esque profile. Not a baseball bat at all. Rosewood fretboard with a 12" radius. Tuners on these are the typical open back 6-inline vintage Japanese style tuners. Not great, but functional.
The roller bridge on these is a big improvement over the standard Jaguar or Jazzmaster bridge, and though I have some concerns over the viability of the hardened ceramic rollers, I have yet to see one where the roller is broken. Intonation is easily set, and though the individual saddles aren't height adjustable, the bridge is.
Pickups typically measure between 6.5k to 6.7k, and are single coils sat on top of ceramic magnets. The adjustable pole pieces run through the bobbin to a copper plate which sits ontop of the magnet and runs to a copper shielding plate. They are lacquer potted (as are most vintage Japanese pickups - word of advice, don't try and wax pot vintage Japanese pickups - the plastic bobbins have a tendency to melt) The slightly odd size of these pickup covers means it's hard to swap these out for other pickups that can be directly dropped in, however, there is a lot of room under the pickup cover (the coil doesn't come close to filling it) so swapping out pickups but maintaining the covers is a possibility, though you might have to fabricate a new top (just the black piece) to compensate for slightly different pole piece spacings. The originals are good sounding pickups. Nice and clean, very articulate and full sounding. Closer in sound to a Jazzmaster than a Jaguar.
- - -
So, on to the restore. Have a picture of an original one, and then the project one side by side (note the kind of tobacco burst in the top versus the actual sunburst in the bottom), and then a picture of a concept for the project one. The project one is missing the bridge pickup and the neck pickup is dead. Will rewind (or swap!) the neck pickup, but finding a matching replacement bridge pickup would take time, so will put in something else. Have mocked up an idea, but still toying around with the best solution for this guitar.
Anyway, just thought I'd share. Sorry about the crap photography.
- MattK
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
That body shape is insane. And welcome!
- sleepkid
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Thanks for the welcome!MatthewK wrote:That body shape is insane. And welcome!
I like the body shape of the Aria. It's probably my favourite variation on the Jazz/Jaguar shape. I see a few people have groused about that upper horn, but it doesn't really bother me that much.
- DaveC
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Cool looking guitars, how do you think the reissues compare to the vintage ones?
Cheers
Dave
Dave
- sleepkid
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
I've seen one of the reissues in a store, and picked it up, but didn't plug it in. Felt . . . cheap. But then again, they are cheap, so I guess that's alright. A lot of generic parts (tune-o-matic bridge, no name jazzmaster tremolo, etc.) but on the plus side, they are 24 3/4" scale guitars as opposed to the vintage ones which are the very odd 23.6" scale. Don't know about the pickups, but look like the same factory which make GFS? Maybe?DaveC wrote:Cool looking guitars, how do you think the reissues compare to the vintage ones?
The originals are Matsumoku made guitars, and generally Matsumoku made some of the highest quality instruments of their day. I've had several come through my shop, and a I own a Matsumoku made Greco SG which I will probably never part with. Generally, if a vintage Japanese guitar was made by Matsumoku or Fujigen, you will be doing alright. (I just got done working on a Fujigen made Greco Telecaster Custom that was absolutely screamingly good. Was hard to put that one down.) Even though the vintage 1532Ts were a lower end guitar, they are extremely well made. They don't feel cheap.
My client has decided to pass on this one. So, I'm free to do what I want with it. I have some old goldfoil pickups off a donor guitar, and that might be an interesting look, feel. Lots of possibilities.
- DaveC
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- jimboyogi
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
+1 sleepkid.DaveC wrote:Cool, keep us updated!
I am also a big fan of the body shape of these Arias. I think that Bilt have gone with a very similar shape for their "El Hombre" model, which looks super spiffy to me
http://www.biltguitars.com/the-guitars/el-hombre.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- sleepkid
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
jimboyogi wrote:+1 sleepkid.DaveC wrote:Cool, keep us updated!
I am also a big fan of the body shape of these Arias. I think that Bilt have gone with a very similar shape for their "El Hombre" model, which looks super spiffy to me
http://www.biltguitars.com/the-guitars/el-hombre.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Those Bilts are nice, and it's nice that they acknowledge that the shape is vintage Japanese in the description. It certainly is close to the Aria 1532 shape.
Will be rewinding a number of pickups during the coming week, and will rewind those goldfoils (ugh - what a chore) to a spec that works a little better with a guitar like this. Should be interesting.
- lucas
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Interesting body shape but i like it
- dmrose64
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Oof. My first electric guitar as a kid was a 1532. Got it for Christmas in 1978. A few years later I got a Strat and am ashamed to say I don't know what happened to the 1532. I recently picked up one of the reissues for sentimental reasons (OK for the price) but it is great to see an original again (they seem to be hard to find)! Nice job!
D
D
- sleepkid
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
...so that guitar kicked around my shop for a long time, and every so often I'd pick it up, but didn't have a good plan for it. Thought about rewinding the original pickup, but instead decided to go a different route when another parts guitar came in. It finally has become this:
Has a handwound P-90 in the neck, and a mysterious blade pickup in the bridge from another guitar. The pickguard is a little rough (cut by hand as there is no real point in making a template for this guitar) but looks fine. Guitar plays and sounds good. Just need to find a new home for it now.
Has a handwound P-90 in the neck, and a mysterious blade pickup in the bridge from another guitar. The pickguard is a little rough (cut by hand as there is no real point in making a template for this guitar) but looks fine. Guitar plays and sounds good. Just need to find a new home for it now.
- cotedomi
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
My very first guitar was exactly like the top one on the first picture. My parents bought it brand new at the local music store in the mid 70s. It had an excellent action, which was not the case with most entry level guitars of those days. I kept it a few years and sold it to buy my first Gibson.
About 15 years ago, I grabbed a red 1532T at a local pawn shop for 100$. Apart from the fretwear, it is a pretty good shape. It sits untouched in my office since then. Let's call it one of my retirement projects.
Being curious about the origins of this instrument, I stumbled here. Do you know how to date these guitars? Mine has S/N 0153430.
Thanks for the great info you posted here!
About 15 years ago, I grabbed a red 1532T at a local pawn shop for 100$. Apart from the fretwear, it is a pretty good shape. It sits untouched in my office since then. Let's call it one of my retirement projects.
Being curious about the origins of this instrument, I stumbled here. Do you know how to date these guitars? Mine has S/N 0153430.
Thanks for the great info you posted here!
- arch
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
Hello,
Just to share my experience as it shocked me reading that the reissue Aria felt cheap to Sleepkid. They don't feel like that to me at all, in fact just the opposite, a sleeper deal, at least the 2016 models I have set up and played, so much I'm getting hold of one... even though I should be selling guitars instead of buying... . Necks are great, you 'd think I'm exagerating but IMHO they have a MIJ feel to them, in any case up to par with any offset Squier. That plus the particular characteristics (24.75 scale, great sounding pickus I even think I won't swap) looks and price make it a winner for me
Just to share my experience as it shocked me reading that the reissue Aria felt cheap to Sleepkid. They don't feel like that to me at all, in fact just the opposite, a sleeper deal, at least the 2016 models I have set up and played, so much I'm getting hold of one... even though I should be selling guitars instead of buying... . Necks are great, you 'd think I'm exagerating but IMHO they have a MIJ feel to them, in any case up to par with any offset Squier. That plus the particular characteristics (24.75 scale, great sounding pickus I even think I won't swap) looks and price make it a winner for me
- arch
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Re: Vintage Aria 1532t partsmaster build/restore.
The only drawback I noticed was that the tremolo bar was a bit loose when attached, but that can be sorted easily I think