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Aria PE Elite Electric Guitar

 

Review of the Aria PE Elite by The Man in the Jar

I remember seeing The Boomtown Rats on TOTP. Two things stuck in my mind; how bad Geldorf is at miming and how cool the guitarist's Aria looked. 

Features of the Aria PE Elite

Tuners - Unbranded sealed mini-tuners brought the guitar sweetly into tune.

Headstock - Distinctive Aria wedge shape headstock with a rather attractive flying bird logo.

Nut - The white antiqued nut abuts the fretboard and is tidily finished.

Neck - This is a revelation. The maple set neck is very slim in depth with a satisfying width across the fretboard. Even though I have smallish hands I found this exceptionally comfortable to play. The neck joins the body in a heel-less joint - that sweeping profile of the front is directly mirrored on the back.

Fretboard - The rosewood fretboard is bound in antiqued white binding and has traditional dot abalone markers.

Frets - Medium-rounded frets. As with many Chinese-made instruments these are not as well-polished in places as they might be. But this small niggle will cure itself after a couple of hours playing in.

Action - Scorchingly low straight from the box. Really nice factory set-up.

Body - The Aria PE Elite has a definite Les Paul vibe but with a Geisha Girl flavouring. The mahogany body is about 2/3 as thick as a Les Paul and some contouring on the back, at the top and around the heel area reduce its weight still further. The maple top is carved into that sumptuous bulge so redolent of the orchestral stringed family and is finished nicely in antiqued binding.

Bridge - Although Aria claim a patent on the bridge and tailpiece I'm sure I won't attract any legal action if I state that it's simply a variant on the Gibson Tune-o-matic, slightly flashier is all.

Pickups - Two open-coil zebra humbuckers sit in ivory surrounds.

Controls - Volume and tone controls for each pickup sit under gold top-hat knobs. The three-way pickup selector is placed on the top bout. 

Strap-buttons - Good medium-sized strap buttons sit in the usual places.

Output Jack - On the lower edge in a square plastic plate.

Finish - Very good throughout excepting the minor niggle with the fret polishing.

 

Sound of the Aria PE Elite

The humbuckers on the Aria PE deliver a really chunky rock sound when overdriven and a sweet, full sound when run through a clean amp channel. I don't think it has the guts or the looks to pull off full-blown heavy metal, but I believe the overall quality of the guitar merits a pick-up upgrade at the bridge position should you need one.

 

Overall Impressions of the Aria PE Elite 

I became really charmed by this guitar. It scores top marks for playability and it sits really nicely on the strap with just enough weight to feel like a real deal. I still find the beast as attractive as I did when I first saw it and at way under £200 this axe is an absolute steal. Perfectly priced for the beginner or novice it is also a creditable guitar for the semi-pro musician. I would venture to suggest that Les Paul owners would find the PE Elite useful as a cost-effective back-up guitar when gigging.  

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