Aria M180 mandolin...

acme97 · #1 07-15-2014, 09:59 PM

Hi,

Can anyone tell me about my Aria M180 mandolin? '80s vintage is my guess but no serial number.

Just an orange tag that says Aria/Model M180/Made in Japan.

I'm assuming it's a plywood mandolin? Seems like a rosewood fretboard. It's hard to tell if there's ply looking at the edges of the f-holes. The top and back are not flat but carved. I'm not much of a mandolin player, but I've had this one for years sitting in its case.

Actually doesn't sound that bad at all, and I was just curious. Searched but did not find anything on this forum.

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p.s. I should not say carved but you know what I mean...not flat top or back.

Coffeeaddict · #2 07-16-2014, 04:57 AM

From the Blue book of mandolin values.

"A-style body, spruce top, mahogany back and sides, two f-holes, top binding, mahogany neck, 20-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, square black headstock with small logo and four-per-side tuners with pearl buttons, adj. rosewood bridge, engraved tailpiece, chrome hardware, available in Brown Sunburst, Vintage Antique, or Vintage Sunburst finish, mfg. late 1970s-early 1990s."

http://bluebookofguitarvalues.com/Ma...M_Series_M_180

acme97 · #3 07-16-2014, 05:05 AM

Thank you.

But that doesn't tell me if the top, back, sides are solid wood or laminates...or if the top at least is solid wood. Just curious is all.

But thanks again for that source.

fazool · #4 07-16-2014, 06:10 AM

The first guitar I ever owned was an Aria, bought new around 1980. Three decades later, I wanted to have one again for sentimental reasons.

I did finally find one but, along the way, came to the conclusion that Aria is somewhat of a mystery. They were a very alrge and prominent Japanese manufacturer. Like others, they outsourced manufacturing to cheaper countries, starting with South Korea, then Indonesia and such.

They made tons of guitars with tons of models in several factories in multiple countries. And there are no cohesive records anywhere.

Their American distributor changed and neither the former or current one even reply to inquiries. The Aria headquarters doesn't even acknowledge inquiries. They seem to be popular in England, but the distributor over there doesn't reply to inquiries.

There are completely contradictory information blurbs online, including Aria's own "archives" website.

It's frustrating.

What I did with mine was remove the strap button and inspect the wood. The back should be the same as the sides. Perhaps you could do something like that on your mandolin?