WezV Posted August 31, 2012 Report Share Posted August 31, 2012 Just picked this up of the bay - a bit of a gamble given the paint and not knowing what is underneath Its an Aria Pro II CSB-380 made in Japan sometime in the mid 80's. the exact model played by Kim Deal on the first few Pixies albums. now, onto the paint. I actually dont think the person that did this did a bad job, if you like that sort of thing. I dont so its coming off - the bass comes apart After 5 minutes rubbing with paint thinners the back has started to come up nice sadly the thinners are only moving the white paint - so its time to try something more hardcore thankfully the guitar seems to be in pretty good condition underneath it all so looks liek my ebay gamble will come up good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Looks like you may have scored there. evilbay came up trumps ? maby ? Not a big fan of Jacksons work personaly, but then I have not seen many up close so I cant realy comment. Still, Your right to take this homage off of this gitir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Cool pickup. Don't know much about these basses. That like the bass version of a widerange bucker? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Aria Pro II were really good instruments. They're still very under-rated and can be had for a pretty reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Cool pickup. Don't know much about these basses. That like the bass version of a widerange bucker? Chris prostheta knows more about the pickup design than me... but I do know its not quite like a widerange humbucker (which fender actually did do a bass version of, very very rare they are too). this has 2 full size coils, but only the pole pieces you can see, the WRHB has hidden poles going in from the bottom. someone can correct me if I am wrong but it effectively makes half of each coil on this design a ghost pickup. its like a P-bass pickup more than anything else wheras the WRHB has two fully active coils, just with hidden poles on half of each coil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Looks like a nightmare from the feverish dream of Eddie Vom Halen. Care to peek a little under that pup cover, Wez? I am guessing it is a pair of half-loaded bobbins with steel slugs and a single bar mag between the two with a smaller metal "keeper" to link the two rows of poles? FWIW John, APII were good primarily in the Japanese Matsumoku era through to 1987. The name after that was just a name and it pays to know what is a "good era" APII and what is not....the name is a good indicator however after production moved from Japan the quality went down to boring vanilla churned out crap. My '87/88 IGB-50 was made with a mixture of holdover legacy Japanese parts (the same "quickhook" bridge on Wez' CSB) and non-MIJ stuff. As Wez knows, so many bits of mine say "MIJ" whilst the majority of evidence says "MIK". This CSB is a night and day difference really. How was the bridge set on this Wez? I think you might have mentioned this already but Aria seemed to have some issues with optimum saddle adjustment range....either the neck angle or the bridge recessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 I have not had strings on it yet but there was a plastic shim under the bridge when i removed it - i will come up with a better solution that that you are spot on with the pickup construction, it looks basic enough that a play with other magnets may be in order, depending how it sounds. good news is that my initial test with paint stripper is going well, removing the splatter without touching the red underneath, although the black bits of splatter are being a bit more stubborn that the other colours. i will try a bit heavier later and hopefully have a nice red guitar just in need of a rebuff (fingers crossed!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Cool pickup. Don't know much about these basses. That like the bass version of a widerange bucker? Chris prostheta knows more about the pickup design than me... but I do know its not quite like a widerange humbucker (which fender actually did do a bass version of, very very rare they are too). this has 2 full size coils, but only the pole pieces you can see, the WRHB has hidden poles going in from the bottom. someone can correct me if I am wrong but it effectively makes half of each coil on this design a ghost pickup. its like a P-bass pickup more than anything else wheras the WRHB has two fully active coils, just with hidden poles on half of each coil I wrote my last post just as you were writing your own, Wez! This is the pickup in a nutshell (or a CAD program, whichever is more appropriate): ...however this is the slug/mag configuration of the MB-1E pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 We seem to be getting quite good at posting over each other Wez. I advocate recessing the bridge a little further if that is what it takes. I hate shimming or modifying a neck pocket. It just seems cheap and cheat-y. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 a bit of nitromors seems to be doing the trick - just a bit left on the sides to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Congratulations. You have acquired yourself a great diamond in the rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 Never Mind the Pollocks Nice grain under the splatter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 This has turned out rather nice - i decided not to go for a full restore - instead i have left it with a natural relic that suits its age and the unflattering shot to show its pockmarked face 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Looking good, but how does she sound now all the weight of the Dulux has been shed? Shame that it is probably more work than it is worth to refresh the lacquer. I've been meaning to draw up the carved top version of this in CAD to make a set of pin router templates. Have you see the Black n' Gold version of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Looking good, but how does she sound now all the weight of the Dulux has been shed? Shame that it is probably more work than it is worth to refresh the lacquer. sounds pretty good - actually quite versatile... and the neck is in really good shape, i can get a buzz free action of 1.5mm at the 12th fret - pretty nice for bass tbh, i was considering refinishing it - but anybody can do that. getting it back to its naturally worn state was probably more of a challenge that carved top one is much sexier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Well, I remember seeing that one on the bay when it was listed and thought it might be a task and a half. Glad it turned out to be a bargain and not as much work as could have been expected. I actually saw another one listed a little earlier than this one which had an awful paintjob plus 2in or so of the top of the headstock cut straight off! I thought of bidding low just to try and scarf/string a new piece in and give it a proper repaint, but back then I didn't have a guarantee of access to the paint facilities I do now. Perhaps I should pick up this CSB idea again. It's a pretty classy shape all round really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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