Super Rare Aria Pro II LS-1500VD Leopard Model 1981 - Left-Handed - Cherry Sunburst Lacquer Finish - Les Paul Standard - Flame Top - Original Covered DiMarzio PAF's - Made In Japan - MIJ

Super Rare Left Handed 1981 Aria Pro II LS-1500VD Leopard Model - Les Paul Standard - In Cherry Sunburst lacquer finish - 1 Piece Mahogany Neck - Made in the famous Matsumoku factory in Japan - MIJ.

• Serial Number: 104059 (April 1981 YMMXXX date format)
• Body: Flamed Maple veneer on a 2 piece centre seam maple top, with a 2 piece mahogany back
• Neck: 1 piece mahogany, with glued on wings, no heel cap
• Fretboard: Rosewood - very dark beautiful grain on this one
• Fretboard Radius: About 10"
• Fret Edge Binding: Yes
• Inlays: Real mother of pearl trapezoid inlays
• Frets: 22 x Medium Jumbo (1.1mm tall x 2.7mm wide)
• Nut Width: 43.2mm
• Width at 1st Fret: 44.9mm
• Width at 12th Fret: 52.9mm
• Thickness at 1st Fret: 22.5mm
• Thickness at 12th Fret: 25.6mm
• Nut: Bone
• Tuners: Aria Pro II branded double-ring Kluson style tuners
• Bridge & Tailpiece: Nickel Japanese made ABR-1 style bridge and tailpiece
• Pickups: Original covered DiMarzio PAF's
• Neck Pickup Resistance: 7.64K ohm
• Bridge Pickup Resistance: 7.56K ohm
• Pots: Original 500K pots (no date codes)
• Strings: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 2221 10-46 strings - E Standard tuning
• Weight: 10.70lbs
• Non Original Parts: New selector switch (reused original nut), new knobs
• Case: Original brown leather gig bag
• Truss Rod: Works as expected with room in both directions

This is an extremely rare left-handed 1981 Aria LS-1500VD Leopard Les Paul Standard model. To find these in right handed is rare, to see this in left-handed is super rare - this might be the only left-hand LS-1500VD ever made?

The LS-1500VD and LS-1800VP models were the top-tier Les Paul models that Aria Pro II ever made, first appearing in the 1981 Aria Pro II catalog, which was the last year that Aria made Les Paul style models.

The LS-1500VD had covered DiMarzio PAF's, while the LS-1800VP had Gibson Shaw Buckers.

The "V" in the model stands for "vintage" spec - this was the first time Aria was trying to make a vintage style Les Paul (rather than their other models which were like modern Norlin era spec Les Paul's of the time).

The "D" stood for DiMarzio - for the covered DiMarzio PAF's in this model.

Although this wasn't the first model Aria made with DiMarzio PAF's, this was the only model from Aria to ever have covered DiMarzio PAF's. I'm not sure if this was an option from DiMarzio, or if Aria added the covers.

In 1981 the LS models changed substantially from their 1980 and earlier counterparts. We have thicker maple tops with a different top carve, wider and thicker bodies with no more pancake bodies, higher grade and heavier mahogany, thicker neck with different materials, different hardware throughout, different plastics & binding thickness, different control placement... We also see the return of the "Leopard" script on the headstock - which was only seen in 1977. And these 1981 LS models only appear to be made for a few months in 1981, so they are some of the most rare Aria LS models around.

DiMarzio was the first real aftermarket pickup maker, and Aria Pro II was one of the first Japanese companies to recognize this and put these DiMarzio humbuckers in their production line - in fact they even referenced this in their marketing material. In terms of 80's Japanese made guitars, the DiMarzio PAF's were usually reserved for the highest end models. These are the same pickups in some of the high end Tokai LS models, as well as some Greco EG-800+ models.

They are supposed to be Alnico 5 PAF type pickups. For me, these are great all-round pickups - they clean up nice, or they can play loud and dirty, and can do everything in between. These are some of my personal favourite pickups from this era. When I asked DiMarzio tech support, they confirmed the original DiMarzio PAF's are quite a bit different from the current DiMarzio PAF 36th anniversary DP103's. Although they share the same part number - DP103 - they are different models. The original DP103's are closer to the modern Air Classics they mentioned.

These pickups have the later triangular tabs -this is right around when DiMarzio switched from square to the triangular tabs.

Interestingly, this one has a simple treble bleed capacitor on both the volume pots. Since this is such a rare model, I don't know for certain if it came from the factory like this - but these pots do look original, the are the same as Aria used in their higher end BC Rich clone models (MK, EG models), and these caps look the same as the tone caps.

This one arrived with a broken selector switch, and right-handed amber knobs (likely original), so I replaced the switch with a new 3-way selector switch and replace the knobs with a new set of amber left-handed metric knobs.

Other than those items, everything else appears to be original, and the guitar is in good players grade condition. This one has had a rock'n'roll life, and there are scratches, scuffs, swirling, dings, dents, chips, all over this guitar - but nothing that affects the playability or sound of the guitar, and the overall patina is consistent across the guitar - it's got real deal mojo.

This one is finished in a beautiful cherry sunburst lacquer - it melts when it comes into contact with acetone. This is unique to this model, and was only available on the LS-1500VD and LS-1800VP, as well as a handful of LS and LC models that Aria made in 1977/78.

Many of the Aria's guitars before 1980 were hollow or chambered style bodies - but by 1980, they were all solid maple tops on Mahogany backs.

This one has a really nice 2-piece centre-seemed flamed maple veneer on top of a thick 2 piece centre-seam maple cap which is on a 2 piece solid mahogany back, with a 1 piece mahogany neck and a beautiful rosewood fretboard with real mother of pearl trapezoid inlays. The centre seam under this veneer lines up virtually perfectly with the veneer top - the luthier who made this guitar really tried to make this veneer look like it's part of the maple underneath.

The neck has a wide and thick C shaped carve - which is different than what Aria did in previous years - and it starts out at 22.5mm at the 1st fret and making it's way up to 25.6mm at the 12th fret. It fills the hand nicely - if you like thick necks, you'll love this one.

The 22 medium jumbo, with fret edge bindings (i.e. fret nibs) have been played and there is light play-wear across the board. Almost all of the frets under the high E, A and part of the D strings have dents in the frets - not typical play wear but more like the strings were pressed into the frets. The good news is that the medium jumbo frets have essentially 100% of their life left, so re-crowning these frets would bring them back to life.

All the guitars I sell, I test, thoroughly clean, and setup completely before I list them. Anything that is missing, damaged, or non original is mentioned in the listing.

I setup all my Gibson style guitars to Gibson factory specs - including neck relief, action, pickup height, intonation, and tailpiece height. So this guitar will be ready to play out of the box (after you tune it up - I ship my guitars with the strings loosened).

Comes with the original brown leather (pleather) gig bag, that is in used condition - both zippers work, but the pulls on both zippers have broken.

Overall, this is an incredibly rare and classic looking, sounding, and playing guitar you'll love - it plays well, looks great, is built really well, and sound awesome.

If you're looking for a Japanese Les Paul, don't miss this one.

CONDITION ------------

Overall it's in good player grade shape.

I've tried to capture all of the flaws in the photos and in the description.

The selector switch and knobs are new.

There is a common top coat finish crack on the back of the heel where the neck meets the body - this is only in the finish and not in the wood - the neck is solid and there is no movement.

The binding around the waist of the body, and a little bit along the edge of the bass bout on the body, has separated from the body slightly. This is pretty common to see on MIJ Les Paul's with veneer tops from this era.

On the low E side of the neck, by the nut, the lacquer finish where the neck binding meets the neck has cracked slightly. The binding is solid and there is no movement in the binding.

Over the entire guitar, including the top back and sides of the body, back of the neck, and front, top and back of the headstock, there are multiple dings, dents, chips, scratches, scuffs, and swirling.

The nickel hardware, bridge, tailpiece, tuners, are in relatively good shape, with varying degrees of corrosion, tarnish, pitting and/or rust - but the patina is consistent. Everything works as expected.

All of the front cream front plastics, and back black plastics have typical scratches and swirling on them.

All of the Aria Pro II nickel plated Japanese made Kluson style tuners are all straight and work properly.

Around the strap buttons there's some strap marks/swirling.

The 22 medium jumbo, with fret edge bindings (i.e. fret nibs) have been played and there is light play-wear across the board. Almost all of the frets under the high E, A and part of the D strings have dents in the frets - not typical play wear but more like the strings were pressed into the frets. The good news is that the medium jumbo frets have essentially 100% of their life left, so re-crowning these frets would bring them back to life.

The truss rod works as expected with room in both directions.

There are no signs of a heel or headstock repairs.

SHIPPING ------------  

Every shipment is expertly packed with great care and includes tracking, signature required on delivery, and full insurance coverage for both the purchase price and shipping.

Every guitar is fully wrapped in bubble wrap, in a cardboard box meant for guitars, with proper support inside. To reduce environmental impact, the packing material (paper, newsprint, gift wrap, bubble wrap, air packets, foam, carboard boxes and/or tube supports, etc...) used may be recycled.

Package dimensions are 118cm x 47cm x 17cm

Note: if you want an exact shipping quote, just send me a note with your postal/zip code, and I'll get a proper quote for your address. 

Note: If you're buying from outside of Canada, you as the Buyer may be required to pay import duties, tariffs, taxes and/or VAT upon delivery, depending on your location and the purchase price.

QUESTIONS ------------

Any questions? Want more photos or detailed shots? Measurements? Shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to answer them, or send more pics, or take any measurements you want/need.

Thanks for looking!