Paolo85

This does not necessarily answer the question but: headphones, including good expensive headphones colour the sound. That's good, that's on purpose, and that's part of their selling point. I have the Sony wh1000xm3 and I love them. Lovely warm sound, the bass guitar in songs can be heard very clearly, though maybe a bit at the expenses of the drum sometimes, and it can get boomy. Now, when I play instruments - mainly the bass - I do not want any of that. I want headphones to give me a flat response, with minimal to no alteration of frequencies. Sames as a sound engineer would do. The sound is already coloured by amps and pedals that are designed to enhance my instrument specifically. If I go through headphones that alter the sound, I end up making choices in terms of amps/pedals settings in response to that, which I guess would not give me the sound I have in mind in other contexts. So in that sense I do nof find the expensive sony to be good. And I find some cheaper ArsTechnica I have to be better. So, flat response, clarity and detail even at high volumes would be my idea of headphones for a musician. I can imagine somebody triying to make headphones to make the guitar sound "better" but what's the advantage of that? Headphones are meant for practice and learning about tone. And how do you define "better" anyway?

Oh yes! How did I not spot the Wilkinson logo! @EdwardMarlowe I think you are right somebody loved this guitar. Before they sold to somebody who just dumped it in a filthy corner (it was in a terrible state when I bought it). Nut slots could have easily been cut to a good height by the owner who installed the new bridge. I suppose there may be a small chsnce that dmall frets and good fretwork overall have to do with a fret dressing. Unlikely though st this price point. I once had a cheap Squier P bass made in China from early 2000s and it had small frets. Maybe it was the fashion back then? I'll have a look under the pickguard at the first string change (not very soon I hope/guess as I have put some Thomastick flatwounds on!

Hi everyone, nice to meet you. I am a "basschatter" but now I hsppen to have two guitars and I am curious about this one. I bought this off ebay. Almost by accident, I made a £35 bid when the auction started just to dip my toe in, then decided to buy new Fazley telecaster, and to my surprise I won the auction for the Aria as well. From what I can see from the photos, it is very similar to the STG003 now on sale for about £130. But the bridge is different, and the Aria logo is different. This is not a "pro II". I cannot find a serial anywhere nor a "made in.." The guitar is old, the neck wood looks aged. The pickguard has darkened a lot - it is bright white underneath the knobs. The neck is glossy. The frets are small. I am new to guitar but they are smaller than in my Fazley, which I doubt jas jumbo. The fretwork seems great to me. I can set action lower than in Fender's setup guides with no buzz. Nut slots are cut very well. As you can see it has issues (the black marks on the back of the neck cannot be wiped away). I doubt this is the purchase of the century but I wonder if this may be from a time when Aria STGs cost slightly more than £130.

I don't know anything about guitars, I just play a Fazley telecaster copy, but if the two things I have learnt about bass guitars can be of help, over such a long period of time Fender is likely to have made small changes in terms of some of these factors: -neck radius -neck depth and overall shape -neck finish -fret size (which for the older strat may have also been affected by fret dressing at some point?) -pickup winding Any of those things would make a massive difference in feel, and the pickups would make a massive difference in terms of sound. Then there is QC. No two industrially made guitars have the same quality in terms of fretwork, which affects playability and even sound. On that front, there are simple but big things like nut slots. Any chanche they are cut a bit lower in the older guitar? Possibly a bit down in the list there is the fretboard material, which feels different under the fingers, especially if frets are not big. And maybe feels different as the wood ages. Also, I personally tend to fall in love with naturally aged necks. I am pretty sure technically it does not make any difference in terms of amplified sound nor in terms of playability (unless it's bare wood, which is never the case). But it just feels nice to hold them in my hand.