Members fingerpicker Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 My Father purchased a beater at a garage sale: Aria WJ250 made in Japan. It had no strings, no saddle, and th back had been coming up from the body. Well, the guitar looked like a Gibson copy, so I decided to give it some TLC. Glued/clamped the bottom, new saddle, routed the bridge a hair. Adjusted the neck, cleaned off the grime. Anyway this guitar sounds real nice. I was surprised! Alot of earthy mid-range great for fingerpicking blues and a real good guitar for open tunings. I know the guitar has Lam Mahogony sides and back, Spruce top. but does anyone have any production date on this guitar?? serial number-7608529 so Is it 1976?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hard to find out much with Aria they don't have a lot of old info out there. I would at least check their site and see though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 It seems to be a J45 copy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingerpicker Posted January 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 J45 is what im thinking too.the WJ=Western Jumbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 J45 is what im thinking too.the WJ=Western Jumbo Yep but that is about it. You can probably figure mid late seventies early eighties. Aria acoustics are hard to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingerpicker Posted January 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 Oh yeah, Dad paid $5bucks for it!! perty sweet deal! I had read the some of the Aria guitars have the date in the first number, or two numbers in the serial. ex. 81XXXXX =1981 1XXXXX=1981 8117XXX= 1981, 17th week (for the Korean models, this one is Japan) Not sure how correct this is though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kujozilla Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 don't sweat the year if it sounds good and was five bucks Arias go for around $400 in that style you came out pretty good I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted January 17, 2010 Members Share Posted January 17, 2010 Congratulations to you and your dad. Happy New Cheap Guitar Day. And for the umpteenth time, why doesn't stuff like this happen to me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted January 18, 2010 Members Share Posted January 18, 2010 It seems to be a J45 copy though. Nice copy of a J-50...J-45s had colored tops (usually sunburst, but some, in the 70s, were red or black), J-50s were natural topped. Same instrument, basically, other than top color. That guitar came out around '74, production stopped about '79. Pretty sweet deal for $5! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingerpicker Posted January 18, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 18, 2010 Thanks Terry! I am betting the dating is correct then with the serial number. first two digits are 76, so 1976.... and yeah it was $5 but really looked like crap before fixing/cleaning it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted January 18, 2010 Members Share Posted January 18, 2010 Thanks Terry! I am betting the dating is correct then with the serial number. first two digits are 76, so 1976.... and yeah it was $5 but really looked like crap before fixing/cleaning it up I have a friend who has a very similar guitar (except his is a copy of a Dove, not a J-50), almost certainly from the same factory (except his is an "Ibanez", not an "Aria"...neither company actually made their own instruments, you know) and from '76...it sounds as good as any Gibson Dove I've ever played, too! About the mid-80s, he ponied up for a REAL Dove, kept it until someone made him a tidy profit...and still plays his beloved Ibanez...plans to be buried with it, he says. Some of those "Pacific Rim" instruments from that era are outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDR Posted January 19, 2010 Members Share Posted January 19, 2010 A similar Aria was my only guitar from about 1977-82. Nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhythmguitar28 Posted January 20, 2010 Members Share Posted January 20, 2010 There was an older Aria in a local music store awhile back that I played around with and it sounded pretty impressive. Some good old stuff came out of Japan. Enjoy the bargain you picked up! I own 1 of the Aria AD80 (Martin D42 styled) dreads.......pretty nice guitar and built quite well. I put a pickup in it and have gigged with it a few times. Looks awesome on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pearl22 Posted March 8, 2021 Members Share Posted March 8, 2021 hi i have a Aria serial number 29905 can you tell me anything about this guitar thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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