How vintage do you wanna be? Aria Pro II Kight Warrior 80’s vintage Bucket List guitar content

3bolt79

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So how vintage is vintage? Well, for guys my age, this is vintage. I'm 55 years old and I started playing in 1983. My first guitar was the entry level Ibanez Roadstar II RS 100, complete with plywood body and faux wood grain.

It also had the bridge mounted in the wrong place, meaning that the high E was always flat. There wasn't enough room to move the saddle toward the nut, before the saddle came undone from the adjustment screw.

There weren't really any guitars in my budget when I got my first one at the age of 13. Back in those days there were 2 music stores that sold electric guitars in my town. One that sold vintage and high end stuff, and a chain store called Music West. This was in Eugene Oregon. They had several though that I couldn't afford.

They had a green Ibanez RS430 which they had got in just in time for Christmas, which I couldn't afford because it was like $400 dollars (I finally got one during the Crud, and I will write about that guitar later).

After I had been playing and taking lessons for about six months, they got in an Aria Pro II Knight Warrior. Black and chrome. It looked killer. These came out in 1984, or at least they started running ads for them. Do any of you remember the ads?

Here’s a Screen Shot of one of the ads.

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You guys remember these?

Well, I was lucky enough to get one back in 2020, before the prices became ridiculous. The MSRP on these back in 84/85 was $399.00.

When I got mine, It was $429.00 including shipping. It's in excellent condition. It had one small chip of paint that I fixed with black super glue. Virtually no fret wear.


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The neck on this thing is on the thin side. Everything works. I had to squirt out the pots, and of course the guitar was filthy when I got it. I cleaned and removed everything. Believe me you don't want to take apart one of these Kahlers.

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It’s all original, except for the D’Addario Elliptical strap buttons. I have the originals in my tool box. They were really small and patina’d.

The pickups sound really good through high gain on my Boogie.

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This guitar was on my Bucket List for a long time. I first saw these guitars when I was around 14 years old. It took me until I was 50+ years old to finally get one. If anyone has a line on a vintage Aria case for this guitar, please let me know. Do any of you have one of these?

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Do any of you have and 80’s vintage guitars, or have any on your Bucket List? Feel free to comment below.
 
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I remember those well. Aria Pro IIs were great in the '80s. Friend still has a Cardinal CS-250 he bought new; plays and sounds awesome - very LP sounding pickups.

I've got an '84 SG I got new for Christmas in '84; so 40 years old now. I was thinking that yes, it finally seems like a vintage guitar to me. IMO I think we've crossed that threshold. Let the price increases begin!
 
I remember those well. Aria Pro IIs were great in the '80s. Friend still has a Cardinal CS-250 he bought new; plays and sounds awesome - very LP sounding pickups.

I've got an '84 SG I got new for Christmas in '84; so 40 years old now. I was thinking that yes, it finally seems like a vintage guitar to me. IMO I think we've crossed that threshold. Let the price increases begin!
Yeah I kinda think about it like wines. There are different vintages. A 96 Mondovi Cab sounds good about now. NAPA.
 
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