I bought this guitar sometime in the early to mid 80's, perhaps 1985 or so. I got it a local music store. The serial number "058022" would seem to indicate it was made in 1980, which would mean that either it had sat on the shelf for a few years, or else it was second-hand, although it was in like-new condition. Unfortunately, even Aria customer service couldn't tell me for sure when it was made.

Aria apparently started making these guitars in 1978 as a copy of the Gibson ES175. They were produced until 1987.

I've read many reviews of this guitar which compare it very favorably to the 175. I'm not a jazz guitarist by any means. I'm more likely to play Chet Atkins style fingerpicking on it. But the two pickups give a wide range of tones from jazzy to very twangy. I've logged a lot of notes on this guitar.

Herb Ellis (8/4/1921-3/28/2010) was an American jazz guitarist. He played with many famous musicians, including Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, Tal Farlow, Joe Pass and many others. He reportedly played Gibsons until he was offered this endorsement by Aria. I had the pleasure of seeing him in person in the late '80's at a small club. One tribute to the Pro II HE is that Herb actually played one. He didn't just endorse it and actually play something else.


Aria pro II Herb Ellis model