I don't care what people say about cheap guitars, you can either play or you can't. It's all marketing, sure we'd all ove Fender custom shop but if you like guitars and forget branding you can have a lot of fun. I own seven good guitars but I love picking up a dead cheap axe and being surprised. I recently stuck a cheap Chord Tele into a crap amp in a pawn shp and it sounded great. If you had 100 bucks to your name and were starving, you cound pick up a cheap guitar and amp and go busking to make some bread! The Chinese mass produced axes are cut on CNC machines with very accurate software so cheap guitars are very playable now compared to what they were 20 years ago.
Well said...seriously the marketing in the guitar industry is so powerful. Only now I am a bit more honest and mature, I can clearly see that even cheap guitars generally have a certain standard. I play quite badly and only at home, and really if it looks good, feels okay and sounds decent...who cares!!
Great stuff Aaron.Just shows if you can play a Guitar,You can play it,Full stop.Does it sound like a 60s strat? No,I had one.But it still sounds great.And it's the person on the strings that counts.Brill.
Just bought one of these in white for £30, not sure what that is in dollars, I've owned over 400 electrics in my 30 years of playing, everything from cheap copies to Fender's I love em all great playing, you sure do have talent :)
I have 2 American fender stratocasters, and lots of other strats, but I also have my Aria for the last 15 years( and it had some set ups from a guitar master,, ), and I gotta say it's the best guitar in the world for me
What are the necks like on these compared to say a Squier Bullet? I had the jazz bass version of this Aria STB an and, it was incredibly good, brilliant finish, hit pups but a tad fat on the neck but, still a nice neck than my 2000 Stingray, yes really😎
Nice, and your young. Here`s a tip from a guy who knows. WORK ON YOUR RIGHT HAND DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES. I did not, and now see how important it is !! Enjoy your journey, your on your way !!
***** I've owned a few fenders and for the price these are way better than Squier's The name/brand on the headstock can be really miss-leading, just because it costs 3000 plus, don't make a better guitar
Im a wheel, Im a wheel I can roll, I can feel.. Good taste. Blackmore/Iommi/Page are the holy trinity of guitar players, for me. Great review! This guitar pretty much does it all. This will probably be my next purchase. I'm a bit of an Aria Pro collector. Only got a few of them at the moment, but I'm missing a Strat - my first serious guitar, AND it went through a Peavey amp as well! My Squier Strat wasn't any better than yours, tonally, and probably not to play either. I ended up putting DiMarzios on it and a Kahler tremolo. Heaven. It was a great first (serious) guitar. As for Ario Pro II, you may want to do a search for 'Matsumoku' - they made some of the best instruments in the world in that factory, and made guitars for big name brands. The quality was pretty good, at a time when Japanese guitars weren't taken that seriously. My Squier was a Japanese model btw - who knows maybe it was made in the Matsumoku factory? The only problem with picking up the new Arias (that are made in Korea now iirc) is availability - they are hard to get hold of. Many people think they are cheap guitars, but they are not, as you know, and others that do know the brand say 'oh, they'll never make them as good again as they did in the Japanese Matsumoku factory'. Well, I bought an Aria Tele the other day for a hundred bucks brand new and it is out of this world. It looks like a 500 bucks quality guitar, it sounds like one too, and it plays like an absolute dream. Don't know if you have a Tele, but check out the Arias for a model that won't break the bank - you can always chuck in new pick ups if you like. I like mine just fine. One thing I miss about having a Strat, is being able to do the 'violin' effect - essentially a volume swell where you ease off the attack with your pinky finger as you play, and with a bit of distortion, you can make a guitar sound like a violin, or string instrument (that have slow attacks due to use of a bow). No other guitar I've played is easier than a Strat to do that with - so give it a go, if you don't already know that trick. I really like your playing style, you are very good, better than me when I was your age. But I also noticed a certain 'roughness' and 'offset' to your playing - now I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, because it is a constructive criticism, and by all means just ignore my opinion - but there are some guitarists out there that are too perfect. I don't think you're one of them. Those rough edges are what will give you your style and your sound, but you will have to really work at it. I can tell that you probably do practice quite a bit anyway, just don't feel frustration when you 'hit the wall' with it. Put it down for a day or two if you have to. I'm a heavily practiced guitarist - I should be insanely good - but I'm not. I'm not that good at all. However, I have something that the vast majority of guitarists do not have: my own style and feel. That is priceless. But it meant persevering when I was not good enough to get into bands - it was soul destroying in a way, but still I kept at it. It took me many years (decades in fact) to get to a level 'where everything made sense'. You are much better than I was, but I do detect that little bit of 'originality' in your playing. You aren't a carbon copy, cookie-cutter shredder for one (nothing wrong with that of course), and you have taste. And you have talent. Try to take the unbeaten path. Don't be afraid to try new things and take your instrument in to places where others have not gone before. Don't follow too blindly the masters. I would never give this advice unless I thought you could become quite a unique and exceptional player. And to your own self be true. It's in your hands. Don't get too hung up on technique. Don't get too hung up on sound or 'tone' as some call it these days. Don't get too lost in Effects and pedals. In this very video, you have absolutely everything you need, really. Work on that, with belief in your greatness, your difference to the pack. Believe me, the world does not need another lightning fast, perfect pitched, guitar player that can go up and down the neck with every scale known to man in 30 seconds. Leave that to the perfectionists. Not everyone has that gift of 'imperfection' you have. That slight 'offset' that will mark you out. We all seek perfection. But seek it in your own playing style, not in copying others. Im a wheel, Im a wheel I can roll, I can feel..
Fran Alvarez This guitar was alright i got rid of it quite a while ago. I only paid 30 bucks for it from a friend at the time. i remember it having real sharp fret ends and not holding tune real well if your looking for a strat in the same price range i'd recommend a squier strat. If you have the budget if you can find used mexican fender that is a great guitar. Hope this helped!
Everything on this model i believe was stock no locking tuners. Locking tuners probably would've really helped keep it in tune though. As far as a whammy bar i always hard tail my strats just cuz thats what i prefer.
Luster Zenig save your money up and wait till you can afford a used Fender MIM strat. i have one of those now and its 10 times better than any strat copy. Squier classic vibes are really well made as well.
I did this review years ago now and have since then sold this guitar. If you are looking for a Strat style guitar like this one to begin on i recommend either a Squier or if you can afford it a Fender Player Series Strat. Squiers can be a hit or miss when it comes to quality but a first teir Fender will suit you well for many years if you think you will stick with guitar.
@@Mshani-pu5uq as far as this specific guitar i remember the fret ends being pretty sharp on it. It sounded good tho. I would rather have a decent squier over the Aria.
I don't care what people say about cheap guitars, you can either play or you can't. It's all marketing, sure we'd all ove Fender custom shop but if you like guitars and forget branding you can have a lot of fun. I own seven good guitars but I love picking up a dead cheap axe and being surprised. I recently stuck a cheap Chord Tele into a crap amp in a pawn shp and it sounded great. If you had 100 bucks to your name and were starving, you cound pick up a cheap guitar and amp and go busking to make some bread! The Chinese mass produced axes are cut on CNC machines with very accurate software so cheap guitars are very playable now compared to what they were 20 years ago.
Well said...seriously the marketing in the guitar industry is so powerful. Only now I am a bit more honest and mature, I can clearly see that even cheap guitars generally have a certain standard. I play quite badly and only at home, and really if it looks good, feels okay and sounds decent...who cares!!
KRAZEEIZATION
Well said......so y.ounare an American female musician?
Do you have a band or any albums?
Do you know much about the Nexter?
I'm agreed with you 😊👍
"according to me" best line ever
Great stuff Aaron.Just shows if you can play a Guitar,You can play it,Full stop.Does it sound like a 60s strat? No,I had one.But it still sounds great.And it's the person on the strings that counts.Brill.
Just bought one of these in white for £30, not sure what that is in dollars, I've owned over 400 electrics in my 30 years of playing, everything from cheap copies to Fender's
I love em all
great playing, you sure do have talent :)
Classic Peavey amp in the background! You play really well. Good job on the vid
i got the same amp ! sounds like magic
Thanks i like your playing ,just bought one [looks old] and battered but i dont mind
I have an older 90s Aria Pro with the Duncans, Gotoh and Wilkinson hardware... They still make one of the best Strat clones.
Know anything about the Nexter?
I have 2 American fender stratocasters, and lots of other strats, but I also have my Aria for the last 15 years( and it had some set ups from a guitar master,, ), and I gotta say it's the best guitar in the world for me
Is it a Nexter?
What are the necks like on these compared to say a Squier Bullet?
I had the jazz bass version of this Aria STB an and, it was incredibly good, brilliant finish, hit pups but a tad fat on the neck but, still a nice neck than my 2000 Stingray, yes really😎
I remember the neck being like a flat c or d kind of shape i had no problem playing it but it did have sharp fret ends.
Thanks Aaron, helped a lot the vid .....
P Marín Welcome Glad it helped someone! \W/
Nice, and your young. Here`s a tip from a guy who knows. WORK ON YOUR RIGHT HAND DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES. I did not, and now see how important it is !! Enjoy your journey, your on your way !!
I got the same guitar, made in China, and it's great
I know i was surprised myself. was gonna get a fender but went for this option instead and found it just as good.
***** I've owned a few fenders and for the price these are way better than Squier's
The name/brand on the headstock can be really miss-leading, just because it costs 3000 plus, don't make a better guitar
***** Tokai do some amazing Strat copies :)
Im a wheel, Im a wheel
I can roll, I can feel..
Good taste. Blackmore/Iommi/Page are the holy trinity of guitar players, for me.
Great review! This guitar pretty much does it all. This will probably be my next purchase. I'm a bit of an Aria Pro collector. Only got a few of them at the moment, but I'm missing a Strat - my first serious guitar, AND it went through a Peavey amp as well!
My Squier Strat wasn't any better than yours, tonally, and probably not to play either. I ended up putting DiMarzios on it and a Kahler tremolo. Heaven. It was a great first (serious) guitar.
As for Ario Pro II, you may want to do a search for 'Matsumoku' - they made some of the best instruments in the world in that factory, and made guitars for big name brands. The quality was pretty good, at a time when Japanese guitars weren't taken that seriously. My Squier was a Japanese model btw - who knows maybe it was made in the Matsumoku factory?
The only problem with picking up the new Arias (that are made in Korea now iirc) is availability - they are hard to get hold of. Many people think they are cheap guitars, but they are not, as you know, and others that do know the brand say 'oh, they'll never make them as good again as they did in the Japanese Matsumoku factory'. Well, I bought an Aria Tele the other day for a hundred bucks brand new and it is out of this world. It looks like a 500 bucks quality guitar, it sounds like one too, and it plays like an absolute dream. Don't know if you have a Tele, but check out the Arias for a model that won't break the bank - you can always chuck in new pick ups if you like. I like mine just fine.
One thing I miss about having a Strat, is being able to do the 'violin' effect - essentially a volume swell where you ease off the attack with your pinky finger as you play, and with a bit of distortion, you can make a guitar sound like a violin, or string instrument (that have slow attacks due to use of a bow). No other guitar I've played is easier than a Strat to do that with - so give it a go, if you don't already know that trick.
I really like your playing style, you are very good, better than me when I was your age. But I also noticed a certain 'roughness' and 'offset' to your playing - now I really don't want you to take this the wrong way, because it is a constructive criticism, and by all means just ignore my opinion - but there are some guitarists out there that are too perfect. I don't think you're one of them. Those rough edges are what will give you your style and your sound, but you will have to really work at it. I can tell that you probably do practice quite a bit anyway, just don't feel frustration when you 'hit the wall' with it. Put it down for a day or two if you have to.
I'm a heavily practiced guitarist - I should be insanely good - but I'm not. I'm not that good at all. However, I have something that the vast majority of guitarists do not have: my own style and feel. That is priceless. But it meant persevering when I was not good enough to get into bands - it was soul destroying in a way, but still I kept at it. It took me many years (decades in fact) to get to a level 'where everything made sense'.
You are much better than I was, but I do detect that little bit of 'originality' in your playing. You aren't a carbon copy, cookie-cutter shredder for one (nothing wrong with that of course), and you have taste. And you have talent. Try to take the unbeaten path. Don't be afraid to try new things and take your instrument in to places where others have not gone before. Don't follow too blindly the masters. I would never give this advice unless I thought you could become quite a unique and exceptional player. And to your own self be true.
It's in your hands. Don't get too hung up on technique. Don't get too hung up on sound or 'tone' as some call it these days. Don't get too lost in Effects and pedals. In this very video, you have absolutely everything you need, really. Work on that, with belief in your greatness, your difference to the pack.
Believe me, the world does not need another lightning fast, perfect pitched, guitar player that can go up and down the neck with every scale known to man in 30 seconds. Leave that to the perfectionists. Not everyone has that gift of 'imperfection' you have. That slight 'offset' that will mark you out.
We all seek perfection. But seek it in your own playing style, not in copying others.
Im a wheel, Im a wheel
I can roll, I can feel..
Hello Aaron Skok! Thanks for the demo!
I'm about to buy a stratocaster model. Recommended this guitar?
Greetings from Argentina!
Fran Alvarez This guitar was alright i got rid of it quite a while ago. I only paid 30 bucks for it from a friend at the time. i remember it having real sharp fret ends and not holding tune real well if your looking for a strat in the same price range i'd recommend a squier strat. If you have the budget if you can find used mexican fender that is a great guitar. Hope this helped!
Buy a squier dont bother with this guitar you can get a better squier for cheaper to be honest
nice review bro, keep it up...
as i know, fender squier strats are very versatile..for heavy metal stuff and riffing, would you recommend the aria stg-004 over fender squier hss???
i would def go with an hss for metal if you have a choice. a good Squier is probably better than this thing was as well.
@@AaronSkokProductions thank you mate
well... you can certainly play AND get great sounds out of that!
Do you know much about the Nexter?
Bro which amp?
Great playing! Is this guitar light weight?
Tushar Mehta yes i've sold it since then but it was very light wieght. i think it was a cheap plywood or something like thst to be honest.
Did you have locking tuners? Or do you recommend a whammy bar on this model?
Everything on this model i believe was stock no locking tuners. Locking tuners probably would've really helped keep it in tune though. As far as a whammy bar i always hard tail my strats just cuz thats what i prefer.
Which is better? Aria or Tokai strat?
Luster Zenig I don't know i haven't played a Tokai strat yet but i hear they can be really good. They are probably much higher quality than this was.
i see. i still can't decide between these 2 japanese brand guitars haha. coz these 2 strats have almost the same price at our local guitar shop.
Luster Zenig save your money up and wait till you can afford a used Fender MIM strat. i have one of those now and its 10 times better than any strat copy. Squier classic vibes are really well made as well.
Guys I have a question. Is this a good guitar for a beginner? Cause I want to buy it. Pls someone answer♥
I did this review years ago now and have since then sold this guitar. If you are looking for a Strat style guitar like this one to begin on i recommend either a Squier or if you can afford it a Fender Player Series Strat. Squiers can be a hit or miss when it comes to quality but a first teir Fender will suit you well for many years if you think you will stick with guitar.
@@AaronSkokProductions thx bro. Do you recommend this guitar for me?
@@Mshani-pu5uq as far as this specific guitar i remember the fret ends being pretty sharp on it. It sounded good tho. I would rather have a decent squier over the Aria.
@@AaronSkokProductions thx for help dude.
you. like. Zeppelin. cool
What amp is that?
It was a Fender Automatic SE from the 90's. 1×12
i had one of these...it was seafoam green with a union jack pick gaurd.......sombody stole it and sold it for 40 bucks
Klingt wie ein Scheißhaus
Shit