Following on from my commitment to listen to my readers who asked me to look at 'crossover guitars that may entice ukulele players to take their first steps with six strings', in the video below I look at the Aria ASA 18H Mini Parlour Guitar.
All in all - a very cheap, basic guitar with a thin sounding tone and with some scruffy finishing and poor quality tuners - but...those issues aside (and bearing in mind a hundred quid does NOT get you a lot of guitar) it could be a fun campfire strummer / throw in the back of the car option. The setup is pretty good (though I'd change strings) and it 'works' as a knockabout guitar. Volume and sustain could be better, but there isn't a lot of 'real estate' in that body.
Most of all though, considering this is a ukulele site, the body is not much bigger than a baritone, the scale is midway between baritone and dreadnought guitar and the nut is narrower than a guitarlele at 42mm. So if you are a guitar curious uke player, particularly those who play bari or guitarlele already, I would say this is a pretty cheap entry to see whether guitar is for you. Heck, if you don't like it you'd make a large chunk of it back on re-sale.
Most of all though, considering this is a ukulele site, the body is not much bigger than a baritone, the scale is midway between baritone and dreadnought guitar and the nut is narrower than a guitarlele at 42mm. So if you are a guitar curious uke player, particularly those who play bari or guitarlele already, I would say this is a pretty cheap entry to see whether guitar is for you. Heck, if you don't like it you'd make a large chunk of it back on re-sale.
VIDEO REVIEW BELOW
GUITAR SPECS
Model: Aria ASA 18H
Size: Parlour / Mini guitar
Scale Length: 22.8 inches
Body: Laminate Sapele
Finish: Open pore satin
Bridge: Ironwood / Rosewood pin bridge
Saddle: Plastic
Neck: Nato
Fingerboard: Ironwood / Rosewood
Nut: Plastic
Nut width: 42mm
Tuners: Unspecified open gears
Strings: Unspecified steel
Tuners: Unspecified open gears
Strings: Unspecified steel
Weight: 1.3kg
Extras: None
Country of origin: China
Price: Circa £119 (UK)
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The Enya Guitar doesn't fit in this category? Marketed as 1/2 scale but it is closer to 3/4 scale.
ReplyDeleteYes - probably - but i've already reviewed it
DeleteAs a ukulele player keen to dip my toes into guitar, I very nearly bought one of these just a week before your review. Got myself a Fender Redondo Mini instead.
ReplyDelete