I've returned to it a few times to try to mod it to make it a playable instrument again, but I'll need to switch out a whole lot of parts, and give it a refret besides which is well beyond my ability. I still have it and play it. These guitars have much better hardware. The back covers are matching wood. They're quite nicely made, but nothing really special, pickups are pretty characterless, and pots are garbage.
It may be the only neck-thru hollow body guitar ever made. Neck: Bolt-on Colour: Wine red, black pickguard Fretboard: Maple horrible lacquer Pickups: DiMarzio humbucker at the bridge, with coil split. Not a fan at all of Matsu's true-hollow archtops from the seventies, owing to the flimsy heel blocks. It is a very complex design. Headstock stripped, bad pickups, bad pots.
It has a relatively large bridge for a Les Paul style guitar which perhaps contributes to sustain. Aria, Washburn, and Carvin made some truly wicked basses in that period that are as great to look at as they are to play. This trip gave Shiro the experience and knowledge to improve the quality of guitars and export Japanese guitars worldwide. Actually both are set necks. I replaced the pickups immediately: the original humbuckers were tinny and anemic.
There is no information as to why this occurred. They made many low-end, bolt on neck guitars with cheap pots, switches, bridges, pick-ups etc. No Washburn, it was sold. I'm not sure that the guitar was made in Japan. It was designed at the Matsumoku Factory by top Luther Nobuaki Hayashi H.
Others might have been, but mine wasn't. Or at least it seems so. It has small dings here in there, but that's natural relicing, which I'm totally fine with. The seller told me that is Japanese made in 1986 but I want to check it. The body is 2 piece alder.
The insides of the 2 pieces on each side of the neck are carved out and sandwiched back together making the top and back of the guitar solid pieces of hollowed out wood blocks. The pickup comes with four conductor shielded wire. This golden combination generates a stunning look while it features natural beauty of wood grain. They're very dusty - think they will actually polish up a lot nicer than I first thought. I will say though, the huge epiphany came with a refret which was a stretch, but worth more than any refret I've ever done, even my 65 Jazzmaster.
He aparently went to a pawn shop and picked this guitar up pretty cheap. Wish i would have never got rid of that one. These guitars are almost too pretty to play. Just make sure it's a made in Japan model. I realize, it's from Korea but sure does look made well to me.
With this combination you had a guitar that could get an acoustical tone as well as the heavy metal blaster sounds with distortion. It was designed at the Matsumoku Factory by top Luther Nobuaki Hayashi H. On the other hand, their high-end guitars were some of best guitars ever made. Buy it to play - not to collect. Aria has never made this kind of pickup, so this is offered for custom bass builders and tuners. Two instances were in the context of guitarists coming to town and seducing the local beauty, before absconding with her virtue and fortune.