ONE DAY SALE Aria Pro II SB-Elite II 1983 - Padauk red Rautia pickups MIJ Matsumoku

Here is a nice 1983 Aria Pro II SB-Elite II in good condition! The Elite models had the slightly more narrow nut and slightly smaller body compared tot the other SB models of the era. This is a rare bass because it features Rautia replacement MB pickups, which are unfortunately no longer being produced.

In the neck position it has a Rautia MB-1E pickup which is based on the original Aria SB-1000 pickup. This is wired in passive with a on-on-on series/parallel switch but in theory you could rewire it with the BB circuit and 6 position tone selector if you wanted.

In the bridge position is a MB/MM which is based on the MusicMan style of pickup in a smaller Aria SB pickup housing. It is also wired passive with an on-on-on series/parallel switch.

Here is what Rautia said about the wiring for his MB pickups.
“The pickups use four conductor shielded wire.Here's wire colours:Coil1: Red hot, blue to ground   (CCW wound, south up)Coil2: Yellow hot, green to ground.  (CW wound, north up)Coils in series: Red hot, yellow and blue soldered together,  green & shield to ground.Coils in parallel: Red and yellow hot, blue, green and shield to ground.Series/parallel wiring diagram attached.”

I do have the diagram if needed but it has already been wired as Rautia instructed.

Between these two pickups and the 2 on-on-on switches, there are a wide variety of tones possible! The neck MB-1E sounds massive and the bridge MB/MM has the more punchy, articulate tone. I imagine you could get even more tonal variations if you added active EQ for one or both pickups but that would likely involve some control cavity routing. As it is, it’s a fantastic sounding and playing bass! It has a 3 position pickup selector as well as the stacked vol/tone knobs for each pickup.

I recently had the bass setup at Rivercity Rockstar Academy in Salem, OR. It was strung with D’Addario nickels in 45-100 gauge. It’s a fairly low action and easy to play! There was some some finish cracking around the nut in both sides but I had the tech smooth that out with some CA glue. It’s hard to tell anything was there now and is smooth to the touch. Everything else checks out as far as the truss rod, neck, frets, etc.

Cosmetically, there are plenty of scratches, dents, chips, and dings, so please be aware of that! There are a few bigger chips which I try to show. The Padauk red finish brings out the nice wood grain of the body. There is even some Birds Eye maple going on in the maple neck laminate, which you don’t see too often in the SBs.

Aside from the Rautia pickups installed about 3 -4 years ago, the output jack was replace with a Switchcraft about 5 years ago. I will ship in basic Fender gig bag. I can ship in a hard case for more (around $125) if you want one. Shipping will likely be UPS ground.