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Aria IGB40 Bass

 

Review of the Aria IGB40 Bass by The Man in the Jar

Features of the Aria IGB40 Bass 

Tuners - Sealed tuners with large wing-nut knobs work really well and enable easy fine-tuning. 

Headstock - The two-a-side offset headstock is a very attractive and ergonomic design. We've seen enough Fender-style bodies with non-Fender-style headstocks so it doesn't jar with traditionalists as much as it used to. 

Nut - The black plastic nut abuts the fretboard and is well finished.

Neck - The bolt-on maple neck has a lovely slim depth coupled with a nice generous fretboard width. This prevents things getting too crowded on the first three frets but retains a high degree of playability. In order to accommodate 24 frets and retain good fret access the neck material continues as a "tongue" below the final fret. This tongue accepts two of the four neck bolts at the rear of the body, giving the extra stability required. From a distance this arrangement is undetectable as the tongue is finished in the same lacquer as the body. Close-up it can be seen that this tongue extends almost as far as the pickups.   

Fretboard - The rosewood fretboard has an attractive grain and the dot markers are small white pearloid.

Frets - The heavy gauge fretwire makes for a very positive playing experience with little or no extraneous string buzz during fast runs. Access to the upper register is excellent.

Action - Good from the box, but you may wish to coax it down a touch if you are making a lot of use of the upper frets.

Body - The ash body feels comfortably small and light in both seated position and standing up, and balance on the strap is good. This comfort is largely achieved by the use of the elongated top horn which seems to sit the body closer to your body when you're standing. The back of the body is flat but the front has a lovely carved contour which catches the light in a very sexy way.

Bridge - Bog standard rectangular bridgeplate with four grooved barrel saddles. Each saddle is fully adjustable for string height and intonation.

Pickups - The pickups can't really be called "neck" and "bridge" because they cluster towards the middle position. The one nearest the bridge is a continuous single-coil, the one nearest the neck is a split-coil single. All very reminiscent of a Squier P-Bass Standard Special. 

Controls - Each pickup has its own volume control, hence there's no need for a pickup selector. The third knob is a master tone control.

Strap-buttons - Two large strap buttons, one on the base of the body and one on the upper horn.

Output Jack - Set into the lower edge of the body.

Finish - Very good. Chinese-made instruments are really starting to make the grade nowadays.

 

Sound of the Aria IGB40 Bass

The Aria has a surprising variety of tones to offer. The full single coil teams with the ash body to deliver that typical woody Fender bark and growl. The split-coil brings a far deeper, warmer tone that lends itself well to overdrive. Run both pickups together and the depth of tone maximises for a great mellowed-out sound. Tweak and blend the pickups to your heart's content using the individual volume controls. 

 

Overall Impressions of the Aria IGB40 Bass

I'm astounded at the quality of build and sound in a bass guitar that sits well below the £200 mark. It blends the best of both Jazz and Precision style noises on a body that is defiantly modern whilst still retaining a traditional flavour. As long as you don't mind the width, the neck is superbly playable and the provision of 24 frets makes this a bass fit for all styles of music and all levels of musicianship. 

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