Aria Pro ii PE-175 Herb Elis prototype and Greco FA-700 (es175 copy)

[Jonah]

Both are from early 80s.

Aria needs restoration , Greco is in perfect condition.

Both are not mine but I got them both to play for a while.

Totally different guitars.

I already have some thoughts but will try to play more and make detailed overview and comparison

[ARGewirtz]

Jonah,
I can’t comment about the Greco, but I can give you a look at my PE-175.

I'm relatively new to jazz guitar, so I’m hardly an authority on gear; however, over the past year I’ve bought and sold a few guitars and amps to find what works for me and, for better or worse, my preference has gravitated toward the 1970s-80s MIJ guitars. They just seem to have the right blend of quality, character, tone and price that works for me. About one year ago I found one MIJ gem at a local guitar shop (it’s a 198? DJArgus Excel) and wasn't looking for another guitar, but while browsing Reverb about 6 months ago I came across a listing for a 1978 Aria Pro II PE-175 Herb Ellis that was hard to resist.

The guitar appeared to be in great shape with no rotting or cracking of the binding. The only noticeable demerit was that sometime over its 44-year history someone had replaced the original “H.E.” monogramed pickguard with a cheap, plain black plastic guard. The asking price was a little steep compared to others that I had seen but they are pretty rare and this one looked to be in really great condition despite the replacement pickguard, so I grabbed it before it ended up in someone else’s cart. After a few minor tweaks and a new set of strings the guitar was good to go, except the pickguard annoyed me.

I scoured the web for a few weeks on the off-chance that I might find an original “H.E.” monogrammed pickguard for sale but no luck. Then I found Mike Quick of Quickguards.com who was willing to make a reproduction of the original style pickguard for me: black, 3-ply, with engraved “H.E.” monogram. After some back-and-forth with Mike to create a design template that fit the guitar, and a two-month wait, the new original-style pickguard is installed and the guitar looks and sounds great; if only I could learn to play the damn thing ?.
Andrew

[Jonah]

Thank you! Great guitar!

[Jonah]

Last year I rejected the idea of restoration of this Aria:

the binding is almost totally destroyed and the rosebood bridge is almost broken and glued to the top.

I really loved the guitar, its playability, feel and which is most important the tone, and one should take in consideration that those are rare guitars here and not so many options to get the one - I mean any relatively good andrealtively old archtop (especially now) - but all the luthiers I talked with said it was too expensive, risky and hardlly makes sense

And then occasionally almost a year after that a friend of mine brought me this Greco above - it had also slightly ruined binding, and after a while he brought it again with the ninding beautifully restored.

I asked: who made it?

My friend works in arts museum and one of his colleagues is a top level art works restorer (the museum is one of the world biggest art museums) and he also is an amateur musician and builds musical instruments as a hobbyist.

He was quite excited about restoring that Aria and the money he asked were ridiculous to be honest - he mostly does it for pleasure.
So I bought it from the owner who also made a good discount.

Already next day he unglued the bridge and cleaned the top that there were no traces of it.
I wanted to buy a new bridge but again due to current limitation I could not buy good one from abroad and he made exact copy himself (astonishing skills).

Now he is working over the binding.

Once it is done I will share it.

I feel very excited about it because when I first saw this guitar and played I really loved it but finally I had to reject the idea of taking it and then almost a year after the circumstances allowed me to return to this idea.

I also feel particular pleasure that this instrument - that was obviously neglected and used poorly - will find a new life and will be played.

[John A.]

Last year I rejected the idea of restoration of this Aria:

the rant is almost totally destroyed and the rosebood bridge is almost broken and glued to the top.

I really loved the guitar, its playability, feel and which is most important the tone, and one should take in consideration that those are rare guitars here and not so many options to get the one - I mean any relatively good andrealtively old archtop (especially now) - but all the luthiers I talked with said it was too expensive, risky and hardlly makes sense

And then occasionally almost a year after that a friend of mine brought me this Greco above - it had also slightly ruined rant, and after a while he brought it again with the rant beautifully restored.

I asked: who made it?

My friend works in arts museum and one of his colleagues is a top level art works restorer (the museum is one of the world biggest art museums) and he also is and amateur musician and builds musical instruments as a hobbyist.

He was quite excited about restoring that Aria and the money he asked were ridiculous to be honest - he mostly does it for pleasure.
So I bought it from the owner who also made a good discount.

Already next day he unglued the bridge and cleaned the top that there were no traces of it.
I wanted to buy a new bridge but again due to current limitation I could not buy good one from abroad and he made exact copy himself (astonishing skills).

Now he is working over the rant.

Once it is done I will share it.

I feel very excited about it because when I first saw this guitar and played I really loved but finally I had to reject the idea of taking it and then almost a year after the circumstances allowed me to return to this idea.

I also feel particular pleasure that this instrument - that was obviously neglected and used poorly will find a new life and will be played.

Congrats on restoring a cool guitar. What's "rant"? I've never heard that word used for a guitar part before.

[wintermoon]

Haven't heard that either but I'm assuming binding.

[Jonah]

Congrats on restoring a cool guitar. What's "rant"? I've never heard that word used for a guitar part before.

))).. yes.
Hard to explain how there things happen. Some kind of blackout?
I am quite good at English in general.

Of course it is binding.... 'rant' is often used in Russian for various types of bindings and it is borrowed from German 'Rand'

Just mixed it all up

Sorry

[John A.]

))).. yes.
Hard to explain how there things happen. Some kind of blackout?
I am quite good at English in general.

Of course it is binding.... 'rant' is often used in Russian for various types of bindings and it is borrowed from German 'Rand'

Just mixed it all up

Sorry

Ah, thanks. I actually almost bought an Aria Herb Ellis a while back, but didn't because the binding was falling apart and I didn't want to take on the potential cost of fixing it. Those are really good sounding guitars.

[citizenk74]

A pal of mine had one of the Aria HEs and it was a lovely instrument. I think you will be happy with your restored instrument!