Aria Pre Owned Vintage Circa 1981 Made In Japan Pro II CS-250 Electric Guitar, Natural Matt Brown
Vintage Aria Pro II Cardinal Series CS-250, 1981, Made by Matsumoku Japan, Contoured Ash Body, Dual Humbucker, Walnut Stain
Introduced at the beginning of the 1980s, Aria Pro II's Cardinal Series was part of the company's increasingly ambitious line of original-design Japanese instruments built by the renowned Matsumoku factory. Rather than copying familiar American guitar shapes, the Cardinal combined a compact, contoured double-cutaway ash body with versatile electronics and distinctive Japanese styling.
The CS-250 was positioned as the accessible model in the Cardinal guitar range, but it was hardly stripped down. Aria equipped it with two Protomatic IV humbuckers, separate volume and tone controls for each pickup, a three-way selector, coil-tap switching and phase reversal. The result was an unusually broad range of sounds for a guitar in its price class.
This example, serial number A812282, dates to January 1981, placing it among the early production Cardinal Series instruments from Matsumoku.
The Kurt Cobain Connection
The CS-250 also has an interesting place in alternative-rock history. Kurt Cobain used a Walnut-finish Aria Pro II Cardinal Series CS-250 extensively during Nirvana's 1990 touring period, before the Fender offsets with which he would later become so closely associated.
Photographic and performance documentation places Cobain's CS-250 in use during numerous 1990 Nirvana performances. His guitar was modified during its working life, but began as the same Walnut-finish CS-250 model represented here. It eventually met a characteristically Cobain-like fate and was destroyed onstage at the Motor Sports International Garage show in Seattle on September 22, 1990.
Description
The Aria Pro II CS-250 combines a contoured flat ash body with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard for a comfortable, responsive solid-body design. Its open-pore semi-bright Walnut finish allows the pronounced grain of the ash body to remain visible and gives the guitar much of its distinctive early-'80s Japanese character.
A pair of Protomatic IV humbuckers is controlled by independent volume and tone controls, while dedicated coil-tap and phase-reversal switches substantially expand the available tonal palette. The coil tap provides brighter single-coil-style sounds, while the phase switch creates the characteristic cutting out-of-phase tone when both pickups are selected.
Strings anchor through the body behind Aria's chrome six-saddle bridge, while the compact double-cutaway body provides easy access across the 22-fret rosewood fingerboard.
It is an excellent example of the inventive design and construction that has made Matsumoku-built Aria Pro II instruments increasingly appreciated by players and collectors.
Condition
This vintage 1981 CS-250 is in very good overall condition for its age and displays considerable honest play wear consistent with more than four decades of use. It has been dialed in and set up in-shop, plays and sounds great with no issues.
The Walnut open-pore finish shows numerous scratches, scuffs, small dings and areas of edge and surface wear throughout the body. The thin finish and prominent ash grain give the instrument a particularly attractive broken-in vintage appearance. Some thumbnail and finish wear is present on the back of the 3-piece maple neck. Please examine the photographs closely for the cosmetic condition.
The tuners have been replaced with enclosed chrome machines that are visually appropriate to the period and style of the guitar. The unused mounting holes from the original tuners remain visible on the back of the headstock.
The distinctive original-style chrome six-saddle string-through bridge is present. The zebra humbuckers, cream pickup rings, four amber control knobs, three-way pickup selector and two mini-toggle switching arrangement are all original.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Aria Pro II
- Model: Cardinal Series CS-250
- Serial Number: A812282
- Year: January 1981
- Country of Manufacture: Japan
- Factory: Matsumoku
- Finish: Walnut (WA), open-pore semi-bright
- Body: Contoured flat ash
- Construction: Bolt-on neck
- Neck: Maple
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Fingerboard Inlays: Dot
- Frets: 22
- Scale Length: 25 1/4" (measured)
- Pickups: 2 Protomatic IV humbuckers
- Pickup Configuration: HH
- Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone
- Pickup Selector: 3-way
- Additional Switching: Coil tap and phase reversal
- Bridge: Chrome six-saddle string-through bridge
- Hardware: Chrome
- Tuners: Replacement enclosed chrome tuners
- Case: None
