1980 Aria LS-500D - Les Paul Standard - DiMarzio - Made in Japan

Used 1980 Aria Pro II LS-500D Model - Les Paul Standard - In classic gloss Brown Sunburst (Tobacco Burst) finish - All original with original double cream DiMarzio Dual Sound Humbuckers (same as Super Distortion but has 4 wires instead of 2) - Made in the famous Matsumoku factory in Japan - MIJ.

Aria Pro II was one of the first Japanese companies to use American made DiMarzio humbuckers in their production line. If you're looking for that classic 70's and 80's hard rock and metal sound, this is it - the DiMarzio Super distortions shaped an entire genre of music, and the Dual Sound pickups are the exact same pickups as the Super Distortion but instead of a single output, each coil can be used independently. This guitar from the factory came wired as just standard humbuckers with a 3 way switch, but if you ever wanted to split the coils, you could easily do so.

This guitar just looks awesome from every angle - it has a vintage vibe, and it can really handle all types of genres.

Everything on this guitar appears to be original, and this guitar is in good player grade condition. It's no museum piece or case queen - it was played, and it has scratches and dings all over, but they're mostly on the back edge of the body. The top of the body, the headstock, and the back of the neck are all in pretty good shape with less scratches and dings. There's some corrosion, rust and/or peeling on the chrome hardware, but it play's - and sounds - awesome. If you want a natural looking relic, that is 43+ years old, this is a amazing option.

Many of the Aria's guitars before 1980 were hollow or chambered style bodies - but by 1980, they were all solid maple tops on Mahogany backs.

This one has a nice 3 piece maple top, that is 1/2", on a pancake mahogany body, with a 3 piece maple neck.

The neck is a relatively thin for a Les Paul, thanks in part to the strong 3 piece maple neck, and it has a comfortable carve, and a nice dark rosewood fretboard with a beautiful grain all the way up the fretboard. The frets have been played, but overall there's lots of life left in them.

Neck Specs:

Nut Width: 43.85mm

Width at 1st Fret: 44.03mm

Width at 12th Fret: 51.05mm

Thickness at 1st Fret: 19.91mm

Thickness at 12th Fret: 23.91mm

The guitar weighs 9.5lbs

While in the guitar, the neck pickup measures 13.35kΩ, both measure 6.60kΩ, and the bridge measures 13.06kΩ.

Setup in E-standard with new D'Addario EXL 110's 10-46 strings.

Truss rod works as expected.

Comes with a vintage brown leather/pleather/vinyl? padded gig bag that is in usable condition. I'm not sure if this came originally with this guitar, it's not Aria branded, but it's likely the case that this guitar has been in its entire life.

Overall, this is classic guitar you'll love to play - it plays well, looks great, is built really well, and sounds awesome.

If you're looking for a Japanese Les Paul, don't miss this one.

CONDITION ------------

Overall it's in good player grade shape.

I've tried to capture all of the flaws in the photos and in the description.

The body, top, back and sides all have small dings, chips, scratches and swirling in it - most of it's along the sides and back of the body, with less so on the top of the body and the neck.

The chrome hardware, bridge, tailpiece, pickup pole pieces, tuners, pickguard bracket and hardware all have varying degrees of corrosion and pitting.

The cream plastics are all in relatively good shape, with typical light scratches and pick marks.

The cream pickup bobbins have typical wear marks, especially on the bridge pickup.

All of the Aria Pro II Kluson style double ring tuners are straight and work properly.

The headstock has quite a few chips in the paint on the edges.

There are a few dings in the neck.

Around the strap buttons there's some very light strap marks/swirling.

The frets have been played, and there is some minor play wear across the fretboard, but there's lots of life left in the frets.

SHIPPING ------------

If you'd like this shipped, you can buy this through my reverb store:

https://reverb.com/shop/rising-sun-vintage-guitars

QUESTIONS ------------

Any questions? Want more photos or detailed shots? Measurements? Shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to answer them, or send more pics, or take any measurements you want/need.

Thanks for looking!

MORE PICS ------------

For more pics, check out the listing on my reverb store here:

https://reverb.com/shop/rising-sun-vintage-guitars

TRADES ------------

Not interested in trades.