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Arai and
Company, founded in 1953 in Japan by Shiro Arai, began marketing Aria brand
acoustic guitars in 1960, and began manufacturing its own acoustic guitars
in 1964, followed by electrics in 1966, using Arai, Aria, Aria Diamond, and
Diamond brand names. The Aria brand name was changed to Aria Pro II in late
1975, though this has been used primarily (but not exclusively) for electric
guitars. All guitars were made in Japan until 1988, when production of less
expensive models was switched to Korea. In the mid-1990s a few models were
made in the United States. What follows is a listing of the Aria guitars
we've been able to trace through this history. Obviously, this is not
inclusive, and you should always take the dates as advisory, at best. Also,
this whole listing is primarily related to the American market, but could
also reflect dates and models from other markets as well. |
