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Does anyone own one of these and are they any good?

Fran had one.

I had a Wilson Bros. which was the reverse shape(and slab bodied) but I'm 100% positive they're all made in the same factory.

I really liked the neck shape, feel, and binding on the guitar I had but didn't think the ceramic pickups were that great for a vintage style guitar. I remember Fran liking the pickups on his, maybe he'll chime in.

They're okay. The Eastwood's better. But that's only an opinion.

Decent guitar for little money, you can score the Aria version for under half the price of the Wilson Bros version and like J said they are made at the same factory. Skinny neck, solid alder body, two fulcrum tremolo (quite stable) and P100 style Soapbars. The pickups were its highlight for me, they handled Rock/Punk very well but had a lovely Blues voice too.
Reece bought mine, as far as i know he was very happy with it too.
I think its arguable that the Eastwoods are better. They get slammed by some owners. Still, until we can bite the bullet and buy a Hallmark i suppose its all matter of opinion.

Fran wrote: I think its arguable that the Eastwoods are better. They get slammed by some owners. Still, until we can bite the bullet and buy a Hallmark i suppose its all matter of opinion.

Very true . Aria prolly has better pickups and electrics . I know my bridge pickups sucks and will be replaced soon . But the feel and playability of the Eastwood is really good for what it is . I'm sure the Aria is the other end of the coin .

Is the Aria good ? IMO yes . If you like a strat style bridge .


Say, how are these Wilson Bros ? Never heard of them . Pretty cool stuff .

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT



There's an eBay seller that deals in Aldens in the UK, and I'm fairly sure that these two seller accounts are actually the same (as the UK seller is actually based in Germany). If you get in touch with the seller, he can probably get one of these for you. I love the look. And they're only a little bit more expensive than the Aria Diamond series guitars.

Additionally, I'm fairly certain that the Alden and Eastwood versions share at least some parts considering some Eastwoods are actually rebadged Gould guitars, which are licensed Aldens.. okay, a long link, but whatever. The bulk of the complaints I've seen about Eastwood guitars is that they're expensive guitars for the sort of quality you get.

Oh, I should also point out that I've actually played one of those Aria Diamond guitars, and they're okay. A guitar shop in town has a pink one for £150 (I think Jasmine is actually buying the matching bass when she gets her student loan in September) and I liked it. Aria's tend to be pretty good anyway, even right down at this level.

Aren't they the original Matsumoko guys? That's got to count for something.

Truly Watts, you peddle the ugliest guitars in the world. Have you ever had your sense of aesthetics calibrated?

ekwatts wrote:Aria's tend to be pretty good anyway, even right down at this level.

Aren't they the original Matsumoko guys? That's got to count for something.

The original Aria Pro IIs were Matsumoku (the plant also made Ibanez, Vantage, Westbury, Westone, Cimar, CSL, Antoria, Ventura, amongst other lesser known brands), but the Diamond model was nothing like a Mosrite im fairly positive. In fact someone had an original one in ss classifieds about a year ago and it looked more like the 'Wildcat'.. Strat type thing.

It's got lush pickups, one of my favourite sounding guitars.

Fran wrote:

ekwatts wrote:Aria's tend to be pretty good anyway, even right down at this level.

Aren't they the original Matsumoko guys? That's got to count for something.

The original Aria Pro IIs were Matsumoku (the plant also made Ibanez, Vantage, Westbury, Westone, Cimar, CSL, Antoria, Ventura, amongst other lesser known brands), but the Diamond model was nothing like a Mosrite im fairly positive. In fact someone had an original one in ss classifieds about a year ago and it looked more like the 'Wildcat'.. Strat type thing.

Add the mighty-mighty Penco to that list and also.. there is an original aria Diamond (in this style) at a pawn shop in town, its identical to the mossies . They want 250 for it and its had a repaired headstock break.

benecol wrote:Truly Watts, you peddle the ugliest guitars in the world. Have you ever had your sense of aesthetics calibrated?

I just like guitars that people tend to remember. My Batwing stands out a mile from your average strat style guitar, in spite of being, for all intents and purposes, a strat copy (though the original Burns Marquee-style design is only a shade younger than the Stratocaster anyway, but I'm looking at it in terms of people who are unaware of the history of Burns guitars). Plus, my two Burnses'ses were bargains in terms of the build-quality/sounds to price ratio. I've no real compulsion to replace the pickups, change the bridge, upgrade the tuners, etc. Anyway, I just don't see them as being ugly. They have genuine personality that I just don't pick up on with a regular strat or tele anymore, and particularly not with guitars that have had the soul drained out of them on purpose like your average Ibanez Nu Metal time machine.

I do have a Jaguar, you know. Although people tend to like that because of its ugliness. I also have a Danelectro. Definitely not ugly. Simple, but not ugly.

Watts, don't listen to him. That guitar is fine. I really ave always wanted one since I heard of Eastwood. I'm guess the Eastwood is higher end than the Aria>?

I wasn't dissing your Burns, Watts (I used to have one, although it was the far prettier Marquee...) but more your recent form: a case in point being the Liberacecaster, and the fact that, difficult as it may be, you've even managed to find a butt-ugly Mosrite (terrible Burns Bigsby, gold hardware).

I don't that's a Burns bigsby. The older ones had the nicer one with the Burns logo on them, but that one is different and doesn't have it.