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Welcome back Mr Stone. Nope, the guitar arrived with what appears as a Gibson style TOM. I'd imagine any 40 year old guitar has seen a variety of saddle mods depending upon how many owners its had. This Memphis will be seeing an Ebony saddle soon, if for no other reason than variety.
Did you or anyone catch the sunburst Matsumoku made Epi Emperor F for $1099 on feebay? Which essentially is free shipping from Japan and still a great buy.
Originally Posted by lawson-stone
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08-10-2016 11:44 AM
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Here I am playing the guitar in question at a blues/folk gig. Nary a note of jazz was produced over the course of two and one-half hours. The big acoustic-electric (played through a 5e3 Fender Deluxe amp--that I am blocking) came through with flying colors.
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Hi there! Just found a Aria Pro PE180 but i was wondering when it’s from. The note inside the body says PE180BS serial.no 8050202 but on the headstock it says serial.no 005011. Why does it differ? Owner says it’s all original.
Does anyone have any idea?
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Seven digits on serial number means it’s from the decade 1980-90, year 1980.
I don’t know about the headstock number. I have one from 1976 but no headstock serial at the time.
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I also have a no serial number on the headstock version from '76-'77. I agree, yours is 1980.
It's a great guitar. I routinely play mine along side guitars costing multiples of the 180's price, and it handily holds its own.
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Okay I was thinking it was from that time. It’s not mine yet but Im thinking about buying it. But Im concerned why the headstock number differ from the bodys number... Is it possibly the owner has changed the neck and its not original?
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Seriously doubt that anyone would do that with an Aria.
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I’ve seen the same kind of serial number discrepancy on one Aria Pro II Herb Ellis PE-175. I don’t remember it on the others that have passed through my hands though.
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Mine has no headstock serial number, it's a 1977. It shouldn't be too hard, if the neck was replaced, for a luthier to spot that. I can theoretically imagine someone with two guitars, one with a good body and a busted neck, and one with a good neck but damaged body, and doing the change. Improbable, to be sure! It would be very easy to know if the neck was a "real" PE180 neck. They are quite distinctive. I wonder if the the logo and inlay, which varied with different models, is year-specific?
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Here it is in a catalog dated 1979 (I think), blonde finish but looks the same otherwise
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I've seen that headstock on a 180.
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Heck no! Buy it NOW, before some smart buyer does. It's impossible to accurately date any of these. Too many derivatives, headstocks, kneestocks. Sold throughout Asia, Australia, USA, who knows where else...too many variations to determine serial number or original distribution accuracy, imo. It doesn't matter what the serial number is. What's it sound like? It's a PE180. It's not like you're paying the price for an L5CES. It's less than $2k. Buy that guitar, before it's gone.
but the "spruce top" in the advertising flyer is a nice touch
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Wise words. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
Heck no! Buy it NOW, before some smart buyer does. It's impossible to accurately date any of these. Too many derivatives, headstocks, kneestocks. Sold throughout Asia, Australia, USA, who knows where else...too many variations to determine serial number or original distribution accuracy, imo. It doesn't matter what the serial number is. What's it sound like? It's a PE180. It's not like you're paying the price for an L5CES. It's less than $2k. Buy that guitar, before it's gone.
but the "spruce top" in the advertising flyer is a nice touch
Those guitars are known as "law suit" and maybe that explane all those variations in logos, headstocks design and, who knows, the beginning of serial numbers on the headstocks.
On the left, you can see the headstock shape exactly like a Super 400/L5 and the Pro II without any logo or any other fancy figure. The guitar on the right is an Eastman 371 I had just for 2 disappointing weeks, a nice guitar but not for what I wanted.
Bellow, the label inside my Aria PE 180. Some people say only the first number refers to the year, but other opinions goes for the two first numbers. Anyway, this guitar is from late 76 or 77 (if only the first number is taking into account). I'm the first and only owner since 81. The guitar was lost in stock on an obscure shop in Lisbon, nobody was interested and I was lucky in find it.
Superb instrument, great sound and very well constructed. It's not the real deal but it is a big deal.
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"On the left, you can see the headstock shape exactly like a Super 400/L5"
Correct, save for the absence of center dip at the top.
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Here's my former Memphis, aka PE180. Its headstock number and inner tag numbers didn't match either. And what about those guitars whose inner tags are long since gone, or whose tags can't be read completely?
Personally, I'd be more concerned about the condition of a PE180's binding, or its degree of binding rot, or if it has the original pickups...uh oh, I just opened up another can of worms to investigate down the wormhole...imagine I didn't say that
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Should I have any specific reason to be worrying about the bindings?
Thats the thing, feel like I should buy it regardles. I currently have a Eastman AR580CE and a Gibson es-335 from 97.
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Just understand that each of these 70's - 80's built Aria's have some degree of binding rot. Some are really bad, some are near mint, but I've only seen 1 that didn't have any degradation of the binding. It's clear to see when you inspect it. This guitar blows away an AR580CE, imo. They're popular guitars because in capable hands they can approach the sound of an L5CES. Not the same mind you, but a very respectable tonality. Wintermoon owns a few of them for a reason. Originally Posted by Jonian
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Well I got a bunch of pictures of it and its hard to see any binding rot on them. Ofc it would much easier if I saw it in person. But judging on all the replies it seems like a great guitar?
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It's greatness has revealed itself over 5 decades. If you do a forum archive search you'll commonly read repeated phrases like "better than some 70's built $$$son's." Originally Posted by Jonian
Personally I'd buy another if the price was right. My last cost $1350. The acoustic PE190 above cost me $1900. Is this Aria in the USA or in Europe?
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Damn 2b, I forgot how minty yours was. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
Here's my former Memphis, aka PE180. Its headstock number and inner tag numbers didn't match either. And what about those guitars whose inner tags are long since gone, or whose tags can't be read completely?
Personally, I'd be more concerned about the condition of a PE180's binding, or its degree of binding rot, or if it has the original pickups...uh oh, I just opened up another can of worms to investigate down the wormhole...imagine I didn't say that
I picked up a 3rd one early this year that's close. But yours might be the nicest one on the planet.
Look at the back tips of the headstock, as sharp as the day it left the factory, that's one of the 1st places a guitar gets dinged up.
Did it come w the t.o.m.?
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It had some mild normal binding cracks. Yes, it arrived with the TOM but didn't these guitars originally ship with both a TOM and an Ebony saddle? I could be confusing the Aria's with the Yamaha's which indeed shipped with a TOM and Ebony saddle. Originally Posted by wintermoon
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Most I've seen had ebony saddle, but I've seen a couple w t.o.m. Don't know if they ever came w factory t.o.m. though.
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Mine, which like 2bop''s is the Memphis version, doesn't have binding deterioration.
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The first one I bought a long time ago has a chip in the binding in the cutaway, and just one other minor crack in the the binding where your arm goes over, aside from some browning it's fine.
That's been the one I've used on Friday nights the last 6 yrs in a club where the crowd gets close to the bandstand.
I brought my usual gigging '69 L-5 the first night we got the gig, the second night some guy twirled his girlfriend in the air and her heel came down right on the fingerboard.
So I started bringing the Aria since it only cost me $600. Got it from the original owners daughter.
He took great care of it but played it to death, frets worn to nubs and the board looked like a roller-coaster
But I took a chance on a young local luthier. Don't know how but he got it refretted and playing like butter but he did.
Came across a second one at a guitar show and bought it as a backup. Then found a super clean one earlier this yr for a very low price I couldn't pass up, so wound up with 3!
Of course the vintage L-5 sounds superior in almost every situation, but for some reason I prefer the Aria in that room.
The volume level is on the louder side as it's a Hammond B 3 trio and the laminate body seems better suited to the venue.
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p.s. like 2B says, it's a good idea to stay away from examples w bad binding.
Imo, browning/yellowing is fine as long as it's stable and you don't see tons of cracks/chips. If it's real bad you're looking at twice the price because it'll cost as much to repair as the guitar costs.
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