TRASH OR TREASURE
zaCHary r. FJeStaD
Aria Pro II “Herb Ellis” Model TE 175:
Prototype or First Production Model?
Hey Zach,
I recently received a guitar that appears to
be a Gibson copy Aria Pro II “Herb Ellis”
model. The label inside the guitar indicates
that it is a model TE 175 and the serial number is “ 1.” I’ve seen other Herb Ellis guitars
with his name inlaid in the fingerboard and
with different scrollwork on the head. I am
interested in its value and any information
you may have about this guitar.
Very truly yours,
Dave Miliotis, Roseville, MN
Hi Dave,
It’s not every day that I evaluate a guitar
with a serial number of 1! Your Aria Pro II
model is unique and I’ll explain why, but
first let’s look at the history of Aria and Herb
Ellis. Aria is the trademark of the Arai (note
spelling) Company of Japan, which began
producing guitars in the mid-1950s. At first,
Aria focused on original guitar designs, but
by the 1970s, they were doing what many
other Japanese guitar companies were doing:
copying popular American designs. In the
mid-1970s, the trademark changed to Aria
Pro II, which appeared mostly on electric guitars. After the “lawsuit era” of copied guitars
ended in the late 1970s, Aria went back to
offering original designs, and they continue
to produce a variety of musical instruments
in numerous countries. Aria guitars can be
found with the trademarks of Aria, Aria
Diamond, and Aria Pro II almost interchangeably, but since the early 2000s, all guitars are
simply branded Aria.
Herb Ellis is a jazz guitarist who rose to fame
in the 1950s, especially when he replaced
Barney Kessel in the Oscar Peterson Trio. In
1953, Ellis bought a single-pickup Gibson
ES- 175 that became his main guitar for many
years. While he was never a Gibson endorser
during the 1950s and 1960s, he did help
bring the ES- 175 to stardom. In the late
1970s, Aria began offering a Herb Ellis hol-lowbody guitar that featured two humbucker
pickups and a sharp Florentine cutaway—a
sharp contrast to the single-pickup, smooth
Florentine cutaway ES- 175. It was called the
PE 175, and it first appeared in Aria’s catalog
circa 1978. Aria continued to produce the
Herb Ellis signature model through the late
1980s, until he returned to his Gibson roots
and they began producing the new ES- 165
Herb Ellis model in 1991, which features his
signature on the headstock.
The label from your guitar has the model TE
175 stamped on it instead of PE 175, which
is more than likely a misprint. The prefix TE
is used for Aria’s Telecaster copies in the late
1970s, while PE stands for the “Professional
Electric” Series that encompasses several Aria
models from the late 1970s and 1980s. Also,
the stamped serial number of “ 1” is very
interesting. This is a Matsumoku-produced
guitar, and they were fairly consistent in using
a six-digit serial number where the first one
or two digits indicated the year of manufac-
ture. I believe that this guitar is one of the
first Aria Herb Ellis models produced and is
likely a prototype. It is also missing the 19th
fret Herb Ellis pearl block inlay signature,
likely added to production models.
The Aria Pro II PE 175 “Herb Ellis” model
features a laminated maple body, crème
body binding, two bound f-holes, mahogany
neck, 20-fret bound ebony fingerboard with
split square inlays, three-per-side tuners,
rosewood-based adjustable bridge, engraved
“Pro II” tailpiece, layered black pickguard
with “H.E.” initials, two covered AL7 humbucker pickups, four knobs (two Volume, two
Tone), three-way pickup switch, gold hardware and Sunburst finish.
Without Matsumoku’s factory records, and the
fact that Aria’s presence in the US is simply distribution, we may never know the truth about
the odd label in your guitar. When determining value, I always remind people that just
because it is rare doesn’t necessarily mean it is
collectible or worth more than a run-of-the-mill
PE 175. Today, this guitar is worth between
$800 and $1000, but would any collector or
player pay a premium because this guitar is a
possible prototype or the first one produced?
Without trying to sell it and see what it will
fetch in the used guitar marketplace, you may
never discover the true collector value, but it is
certainly a treasure nonetheless.
Zachary R. Fjestad
Zachary is the author of the Blue Book of Acoustic
Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and the Blue
Book of Guitar Amplifiers.
Questions can be submitted to:
Blue Book Publications
Attn: Guitar Trash or Treasure
8009 34th Ave. S. Ste #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425
bluebookinc.com
guitars@bluebookinc.com
