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The Aria Guitar Storyby Greg Wildermuth
Shiro Arai, the founder of Aria guitars, was the first to start importing guitars to Japan after the war. He started his business with barely a suit of clothes to his name. He imported classical guitars to Japan. There was not much demand at that time, and almost no money for people to buy them, but Arai was a guitar nut and a dreamer. Arai imported not only guitars, but classical sheet music as well. Sheet music was not widely available in Japan after the war, and he found that there was a growing demand for it. The demand grew so much that, in 1956, Shiro Arai started his own company to make guitars, and he called it Aria. At that time, Japanese guitars had a reputation for being flimsy. The wood was usually of a low grade, and the change in climate would totally destroy them. Although westerners were not keen on Japanese guitars, Arai wanted to break into the market and be the first to sell high quality guitars to the western, and in particular American, market. In 1963, Arai made an important trip to the United States to show his Aria guitars. He wanted to prove to US guitar buyers that Japan could also produce durable guitars that were well worth the money. Unfortunately, the guitars he shipped over for the purpose, cracked like all the rest! While this might be a major discouragement to most businessmen, Arai turned it around. This disappointment only strengthened his resolve to make the best guitars he could. After the disastrous trip to the United States, Arai devoted his time and effort to improving his guitars. Aria started using a variety of seasoned woods that could withstand the climate change. He also began expanding his product base, moving from selling classical guitars primarily to just about anything with strings. One of the changes in pop culture that helped Aria get to the top was the rock and roll revolution. In Japan, electrics were a very specialized niche market. The electric was a mutant, an electrified monster, and few guitarists really knew what to do with it. Then came Elvis, the Beatles, and legions of young Japanese with shaggy hair who wanted to rock. Aria responded by introducing its own line of electrics in 1966, just in time for the electric guitar boom. Throughout the sixties, Aria stayed on top of the guitar market in Japan by responding to changes in tastes, innovating, and offering a vast array of different products. They began to make semi-acoustics, 12-strings, and basses. One of the most popular models was a bass that was a copy of Paul McCartney's violin-shaped Hofner bass. The seventies saw Aria constantly improving the quality of their models. They started to make high end professional models like the Aria Pro 2. Aria's ability to go with the flow and roll with the changes helped them immensely in the eighties with the popularity of hard rock and heavy metal. Aria models like the XX, ZZ and U-1 were designed for precision shredding and fast chord changes. Aria went from nothing, to being the top guitar maker in Japan, and eventually broke into the world guitar market. Aria guitars and basses are now sold all over the world, and known for their high quality and affordable price. ------------------------------------------------ |
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