The Aria FA77 archtop - one year on.

[Davidh]

When I first joined the forum about a year ago I had just bought my first decent guitar - a new Aria FA77 archtop.
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This is a solid top, parallel-braced archtop, made in China. There are no issues with the finish, or the stock PU which does a great job.

As a pretty much absolute beginner I checked things out online, and much of the advice centered on going to a good music store and trying every guitar in the place - which is what I did. The Aria was easily the best, both in terms of fit for me, and sound.
At this stage I did not try any guitars unplugged.

An email exchange with Spiral, who had tried an FA77 and sent it back, highlighted some issues with the guitar which were not obvious to my inexperienced eyes.
These centered around the fact that the floating tailpeice doesn't float, but presses against the soundbox. Spiral suggested that this may be why the guitar sounds flat/dead when played accoustically.
The heavy f-hole binding looks nice, but must also only make resonance worse.

An easy fix for the tailpiece seemed to be to simply move the bridge back a bit.
I did this and got the tailpiece floating, but the sound was no different, and in addition the intonation was lost.

It could be that my guitar (a UK purchase) and the one Spiral played (USA-sourced) were both coincidentally set up badly, but I'm thinking that there may be a major design issue with what otherwise would be a great instrument for the money.
The guitar design follows that of high-end guitars - ebony tailpiece, slim ebony fingerboard, ebony fretboard.
No doubt, it's beautiful to look at. The gold hardware is typical of that found on guitars in this price-bracket, not great close-up, and of course thin plating.
The bridge is fine now that I've had it to bits and greased the adjustment wheels so they actually turn.

So, designed to look pretty or to play?
I think looks and playability through an amp probably tie neck-and-neck. But whoever designed the guitar clearly did not pay too much attention to how the guitar sounded unplugged. Looking at the specs there seems no good reason (to me anyway) which the instrument should not sound good unplugged, but it doesn't.

A good buy?
For a first good guitar I say yes, as long as the limitations are recognised. It sounds great played through an amp (Spiral thought this too), but it's pretty poor unplugged.
Am I still delighted with the guitar? Yes - it fits me well, is easy and a delight to play, and a great guitar to learn on.
I may graduate to something a little older as time goes on .

Thanks for reading.

Davidh

[kris]

I think guitar has good wood and need professional set up.
If this not help...that is not good.

[spiral]

Hey man. Good review. It's nice to see an honest post-honeymoon review of a guitar. I hope i didn't taint your mind with my grumpiness.

I would like to say that i loved the feel of it: the neck was just right, nut was wide enough (just shy of 1 3/4"), and the fretboard was comfortable. Overall it is a better made guitar than many in the Asian sub-$1k cost range. The deal breaker was just the acoustic sound, which was the point of me wanting to try it in the first place.

The two issues that you noted (that i noted) were the tailpiece touching the top--which sounds like just how they are made, and the bridge was way off center. I think the tailpiece had been twisted (it is a metal tailpiece with ebony veneer) so the strings and bridge were off to the side, not centered over the fretboard. Easily fixable ultimately, but not the acoustic sound i was hoping for.

[Davidh]

Originally Posted by kris

I think guitar has good wood and need professional set up.
If this not help...that is not good.

Hi,

Here's the thing - I floated the tailpiece and the guitar sounded no different. That suggests to me that there is some major design glitch.

It could just be the f-hole bindings, which are very heavy.

[Davidh]

Originally Posted by spiral

Hey man. Good review. It's nice to see an honest post-honeymoon review of a guitar. I hope i didn't taint your mind with my grumpiness.

Hi Spiral,

I was delighted to learn more about this guitar from an experienced player - so no taints here .

Good build and looks let down at the design-stage .
It's not the first time that's happened to me .

The tailpiece on mine is solid mahogany as far as I can see (or someone went to a lot of trouble to disguise it).

[SamBooka]

I played one one of these guitars at a local music shop A LOT!
There were certain things I could not see past (lack of a cutaway).

Otherwise playability, fit and finish and build quality had no issues. Acoustic tone was the best I had come across in its price range (i ultimately bought an EmpReg from the Peerless factory which was comparable to the Aria, inferior in several ways but not in ways that mattered to me)

It would be interesting to try this guitar with roundwounds.

I cant imagine the bridge resting on the top or the weight of the binding affecting tone. I CAN see the 1/16 of poly on the top making a difference however.

All in all I agree with your assements. I just want to put it in context with other guitars at that price point you are not doing to bad.

[Davidh]

Originally Posted by SamBooka

Otherwise playability, fit and finish and build quality had no issues. Acoustic tone was the best I had come across in its price range (i ultimately bought an EmpReg from the Peerless factory which was comparable to the Aria, inferior in several ways but not in ways that mattered to me)

It would be interesting to try this guitar with roundwounds.

I cant imagine the bridge resting on the top or the weight of the binding affecting tone. I CAN see the 1/16 of poly on the top making a difference however.

All in all I agree with your assements. I just want to put it in context with other guitars at that price point you are not doing to bad.

Sam,

Good point about the poly. I agree that the guitar is overall a very good deal.

Davidh