Aria Guitars To Unveil Cliff Burton Signature Bass at NAMM

Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass

Aria Guitars has announced they’ll be launching the Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass at NAMM this week. A year in the making, the bass is a replica of the Black ’n Gold I bass Burton played.

The bass made with the authorization of the late bassist’s family and bandmates in Metallica, with whom Burton set the bar for heavy metal bass before his tragic death in 1986.

Featuring neck-thru construction, the the Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass is built with a 7-ply maple and walnut neck, alder body, and rosewood fretboard with cat eye and mother of pearl inlays. It’s fitted with an Aria MB-V passive pickup with a tone and volume controls as well as a dual sound mini-toggle switch. Other features include 24K gold plated tuners and bridge, 100% solid brass bridge unit, brass nut, a deluxe ostrich hardshell case, and a certificate of authenticity.

According to the Aria Guitars website, the bass will be limited to 250 instruments and will sell for ¥588,000 (Approx. $6,530 USD). The official release at NAMM will include a presentation with Cliff’s father, Ray Burton, who will do the introduction and sign autographs on Friday, January 25th at 12pm at the Aria Guitars booth.

Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass Photos:

Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass Specs:

  • Headstock: Original SB Design
  • Neck Shape: Standard, Medium
  • Neck: 7 Ply Maple/Walnut
  • Neck Joint: Neck-through, Heel-less Cutaway
  • Tuners: Handmade Solid Brass Tuner Buttons, 24 K Gold Plated
  • Nut: 40mm Width Solid Brass
  • Truss rod Cover: Solid Brass
  • Headstock Front Inlays: Patent Statement
  • Headstock Back Inlay: Cliff Burton Authorized Signature
  • Fretboard Scale: 34? or 864mm
  • Frets: 24 Frets
  • Fretboard: Rosewood
  • Fretboard Inlays: Cat Eye, Mother of Pearl Inlays
  • Body Shape: Original SB Shape, Super Balanced Body
  • Body Material: Alder
  • Pickup: Aria MB-V Passive Pickup
  • Controls: 1xVolume, 1xTone, 1-Dual Sound Mini-Toggle Switch
  • Knobs: Black SB Knobs
  • Tailpiece: Solid Brass With 24K Gold Plated Saddles and Black Plated Body
  • Strap Pins: 18K Gold Plated Solid Brass
  • Strings: Rotosound RS66LB (35, 55, 70, 90)
  • Certificate: Certificate of Authenticity Signed by Ray Burton and Toshi Matsumura
  • Case: Deluxe Ostrich Hardshell Case With Gold Hardware

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Leave a Reply to Lars Tinderholt Cancel reply

  1. “Approx. $6,530 USD”.
    There must be a typo. Please remove the comma and the zero.

  2. I wonder how much of a cut Metallica will get?

    • Nothing of course. But his father will. The first signature bass was called just CB. Now they have paid his father tous the whole name. Because of that they want you to pay 5000$ more this time. Blind devotion came, rotting your brain

    • Please, this thing is lightyears away from that awful SB-CB. This thing is a really Aria SB-Elite, made in their Japanese custom shop. I own a 2011 SB-1000CB (Custom shop version) that I paid $1600 for and it blows the CB out of the water.

  3. It should be sold only to whoever can play “pulling teeth”

  4. I thought I could buy the whole company for 5000 bucks 6530$ bitches please do I get to sit in with the band a couple of shows or what.

  5. even for its limited production run, it is way overpriced esp when I can buy a verry good 6 string for less than half of its price and get better eletronics and wood choices! Definately not worth the money!

  6. nice, but incredibly late and way over priced. also, wtf is his signature on the BACK of the head stock? they put bs company info on the front. weird.

  7. ¥588,000 = $94,603.91 so yeah I would say a typo. I could see a MSRP of about $946 or ¥5,880. With a street price of about $699.

    • Hey George, It looks like you converted from Chinese Yuan instead of Japanese Yen. The Aria Guitars site lists it as 588,000 Japanese Yen, which translates to roughly $6,500 USD. I did read however that the street price will be closer to 499,000 JPY ($5,570 USD). Not a drastic change considering, but a difference nonetheless.

  8. WHAT? , LOL , YOU CAN FIND THE ORIGINAL ARIA PRO II MODEL FROM THE 80s FOR MUCH LESS MONEY , THE SAME HAPPENS WITH THE FENDER JAZZ BASS SPECIAL duff mckagan SIGNATURE. THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE MODEL IS MORE INEXPENSIVE THAN THE NEW MEXICAN COPIES. DOn’t BE STUPID , DOn’t BUY THIS KIND OF SHIT.

  9. of course its a typo, probably about 60,000 yen, about $600. That is a very reasonable price.
    Compared to this – http://bit.ly/10eNWZ8.

  10. For everyone wondering about the price, the information is not a typo! I’ve edited the article to include a link to the Aria Guitars website where the information is listed. Keep in mind that this is a handcrafted instrument from a Japanese custom shop that features 24K gold on several of its features. It’s also a limited edition bass.
    Regardless, we’ll be getting a closer look and more info on this bass once it’s presented to the public at NAMM, so stay tuned!

  11. Only 250? and for $6k+ way to crush a poor bass players dreams… first 26 years too late, and 5 grand over priced….THX ARIA :( </3.

  12. I insist. Signature basses are a rip off. You end up paying 3-4 times more for a couple of features like the finish and a thing here and there. Definitively not worth the money.

  13. 6500$ for a signature? Sorry but I’ll spend that money in a good custom handcrafted bass.

  14. The father will sign autograph… Will he “scum” them? Ridiculous…:-(

  15. Looks like I’m selling my car to get one of these.

  16. Have to agree with Daniel Deuce. It’s way too late. And that price is not in the spirt of what Cliff Burton represented to fans.

  17. Who set the price, Lars?

  18. That’s not even an actual replica. The controls are different and there’s no 5-way selector switch or an LED for the battery…FAIL!

    • Common misconception. Cliff played a few gigs with an SB-1000 which had the features that you describes, but his main bass later on was a Black ‘n’ Gold, which this new bass is a perfect replica.