Author Topic: Un-believable (Read 247 times)

trekster · « **on:** November 23, 2004, 10:24:51 AM »

Several months ago, I wrote on this board about my search for replacement pickups for my 1982 Aria SB-900 (of which one option is Alembic pickups). Earlier today I called the US Distributor of Aria with some questions. Well, suffice to say, they didn't talk to me too much being that I was a consumer and not a dealer. However, they did confirm for me two things -- that the pickups I was after couldn't be ordered by them (because they are not carrying the new SB-800 that Japan has)(and yes, an email to Japan has gone out, but I am not hopeful), and that they are carrying the new SB-1000JT (John Taylor model) in the US now. However, I would have to call my local dealer to get a price.

My point to this story? Well, when I called my local dealer, he looked up the price of the JT for me. When he got to it, he exclaimed very loudly My god -- who do they think they are -- ALEMBIC?? As you can imagine, someone in Japan seems to think that they have produced a Alembic-quality instrument and have priced it accordingly.

To end, when the time comes that I have that kind of money, forget Aria -- I'm going Alembic.

--J

poor_nigel · « **Reply #1 on:** November 23, 2004, 12:33:16 PM »

Let me think . . . Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria
or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? Aria
or Alembic . . . ? Aria or Alembic . . . ? OK, seems like a no-brainer to me!

hollis · « **Reply #2 on:** November 23, 2004, 12:51:08 PM »

They both start with A......

David Houck · « **Reply #3 on:** November 23, 2004, 01:26:19 PM »

So, how much was it?

bigredbass · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2004, 07:33:52 PM »

This is a first-class example of why 'Japanese' guitars rarely ARE Japanese anymore: Japanese labor prices easily equal or exceed US or European pay rates. Go through any Ibanez or Yamaha price list . . . the really eye-popping prices (an Ibanez George Benson or Yamaha's NE2 Nathan East model, for instance) are the real Japanese built models. Every thing else is spread throughout the Far East. You can almost match the geography to the prices: REAL cheap/Chinese, pretty cheap/Korean, average/Taiwan.

ARIA in this country (NF, their distributor) is aimed at becoming the next Cort instead of the old Aria, as best as I can tell.

J o e y

trekster · « **Reply #5 on:** November 24, 2004, 10:35:10 AM »

Bigred, you might be right. The only high-end model that the US distributor would admit to carrying is the John Taylor model. No mention of the 2- pickup version, the passive SB-800, or the Cliff Burton all-black model. I think they are missing out, but at the same time the prices are hard to swallow.

--J

alembic83 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 25, 2004, 04:37:50 AM »

Hello Trekster, I also have spoken with Aria USA recently regarding the new SB1000JT models. Since I was just a customer and not a dealer, they wouldn't give me an exact quote. He told me the suggested retail price was about $2500! You are right: UN-believable! But he said of course the price would be reduced considerably by the dealers. I think he said 30% discount was a general rule of thumb but I can't remember now. Anyway, it was still too spendy for me to consider buying in the US.

However, I live in Korea right now so I also contacted a dealer in Japan and got a lot more info from them. I talked one shop down to about $1100 US for the SB1000CB model. Even though it's still more than I wanted to pay, I was pretty much set to buy the bass, have it sent to my friend in Japan, and then he would bring it to me in Korea, since he was coming here anyway, in order to save on shipping and customs tax. Well, turns out that Aria couldn't have the bass ready by the time my friend left for Korea so I held off on buying it because I just didn't want to have pay an extra $100 for shipping and customs tax (about 18%!).

That turned out to be a huge blessing, because just a few weeks later, while scouring the Japanese used bass websites (the babelfish translator is a wonderful thing) I found an old black n gold Aria SB60R model, which is basically what Cliff Burton played, for about $125! Shipping was another $100 plus about $25 customs tax, but still, not a bad deal. I just got the bass less than 2 weeks ago am very happy with it, although you can tell it's been around the block. Overall, it's a good bass that helps take the sting of not having my Spoiler here away. Most of all I'm just happy I saved myself about $800 by not buying the new one!

Trekster, if you want (and are still reading after my long winded story) I will pass along the email of the Japanese dealer to you so you can see if he can set you up with the SB800 pickups you are after. I exchanged several emails with the dealer rep and he was really helpful.

Jason

trekster · « **Reply #7 on:** November 25, 2004, 06:46:30 AM »

Yes, please do! I have not gotten anywhere trying to contact Aria JP -- thier website has NO email address to contact anyone! Curious.

--J

trekster · « **Reply #8 on:** November 30, 2004, 05:53:18 AM »

Good news -- thanks to alembic83, I've gotten in touch with a Japanese dealer who can get me the correct pickups -- all that is left is for me to break out the metric ruler and find out if my routes match the current pickup sizes. Stay tuned, looks like I can restore this bad boy back to original spec.

--J

alembic83 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2004, 04:31:34 AM »

Hey Trekster, that's great that the dealer in Japan can help you out! Keep us posted on the progress. How much are they asking for the pickups, anyway?
Jason