Post by Tony Ravenscroft on Mar 27, 2022 8:02:31 GMT -6
At the moment, you can find a few dead Arbor listings on Amazon. In particular, I point to the AS series, rather boring Strat clones, AS-300 (sss) and AS-310 (hss).
In my opinion: if you have the makings of a true Frugalista, those poorly lit photos will have got your attention, though you don't yet know why. Here's why:
At the very least, rather ambitious for a bottom-end model, right?
However, there's one more quirk: these are the second version of the AS series.
How do I know this? Because maybe six years ago I bought a used burgundy Arbor s-s-s from The Usual Suspects (likely MGR), and was so charmed by its pretense that I went looking for a twin.
After digging up the model number, I found that all the listings for a new AS-300 had the wrong photo: all were standard Strat shapes. My new toy had the slimmed-down (some say "slightly anorexic") shape that Washburn years ago dubbed the Soloist shape (perhaps most stunningly exemplified by their X-33 model) -- and seeing as nobody else has stepped up, I'm keeping that designation alive, dammit.
As a moderately tall/slim guy, I sometimes appreciate having a guitar that's more consonant with my physiognomy. The Arbor was inexpensive (pretty sure it showed up for less than $100 all-in, including golden whang-bar arm), very pretty (gold-on-purple is spiffy), and decently playable out-of-box.
And to date it's the only non-catalogue skinny AS-300 I've seen.
The skinniness fad also apparently affected their Tele and Jazz clones
-- though I've never seen either in the wild.
A final note. In retrospect, the cosmetic differences between the 300 and 310 date the line, and (given that era) make good marketing sense. They were out when it seemed that everyone absolutely Had To Have an h-s-s so they could use the term "super-Strat!!" as frequently as the law allowed. My guess is that, maybe early '90s, someone in the Arbor food chain left the fancier stuff off the 310 because they were already flying out the door, and sensed that this craze left the s-s-s market more open.
In my opinion: if you have the makings of a true Frugalista, those poorly lit photos will have got your attention, though you don't yet know why. Here's why:
- under the 300's yellow (a decent amber IRL) is a burl maple veneer
- its hardware is plated gold(en)
At the very least, rather ambitious for a bottom-end model, right?
However, there's one more quirk: these are the second version of the AS series.
How do I know this? Because maybe six years ago I bought a used burgundy Arbor s-s-s from The Usual Suspects (likely MGR), and was so charmed by its pretense that I went looking for a twin.
After digging up the model number, I found that all the listings for a new AS-300 had the wrong photo: all were standard Strat shapes. My new toy had the slimmed-down (some say "slightly anorexic") shape that Washburn years ago dubbed the Soloist shape (perhaps most stunningly exemplified by their X-33 model) -- and seeing as nobody else has stepped up, I'm keeping that designation alive, dammit.
As a moderately tall/slim guy, I sometimes appreciate having a guitar that's more consonant with my physiognomy. The Arbor was inexpensive (pretty sure it showed up for less than $100 all-in, including golden whang-bar arm), very pretty (gold-on-purple is spiffy), and decently playable out-of-box.
And to date it's the only non-catalogue skinny AS-300 I've seen.
The skinniness fad also apparently affected their Tele and Jazz clones
-- though I've never seen either in the wild.A final note. In retrospect, the cosmetic differences between the 300 and 310 date the line, and (given that era) make good marketing sense. They were out when it seemed that everyone absolutely Had To Have an h-s-s so they could use the term "super-Strat!!" as frequently as the law allowed. My guess is that, maybe early '90s, someone in the Arbor food chain left the fancier stuff off the 310 because they were already flying out the door, and sensed that this craze left the s-s-s market more open.