I have a Kiesel Aries here. I have also upgraded the case to the current era Ultimate Soft Case with the new logo. I believe this is an early 2020s model.

Conditionally, this guitar looks great.

The body top shows a minimal amount of glossing in that common spot below the two pickups. This commonly occurs on satin matte finishes, where the spots that are frequently touched will look a little shinier than the rest of the matte finish. Beyond that, I did not find anything describable on the body top. There's no buildup of any surface swirling. I didn't find any dings or bumps. The black hardware looks great. Any superficial swirling or traces of guitar pick strumming will be absolutely minimal to nonexistent.

The body sides/edges look excellent across the perimeter. I did not find any indents, bumps, or chips. Any superficial signs of use, again, will be absolutely minimal. I didn't find any describable playwear.

The body back looks exceptionally clean. There is no buckle rash or worming. Nor did I find any accumulation or buildup of any lower intensity pattern playwear. Even the back plate looks clean.

The neck shaft contour looks and feels great, with nothing to report there. The headstock looks great as well. I did not find any chips. The fretboard looks great. There is no fret wear on the stainless steel frets. The inlays look great. The setup plays nice. The original electronics are working as they should.

I will rate this one a 9.4/10 and grade it as excellent. I found a minor bit of shininess to the satin finish below the two pickups as the only notable mention here. This guitar has been very well kept. It is structurally and sonically sound and performs beautifully.

So this is a very nice build. I have recreated the core specs of this guitar on the Kiesel builder. It totaled out to just under 2400$ with the current Kiesel sumemr sale going on. Here is how it breaks down.

Specifications

6 String

Hipshot Fixed Bridge

25.5" Scale Length

Swamp Ash Body

Translucent Vintage Yellow

Ultra-Thin Raw Tone Satin Finish

Antique Ash Treatment

Reverse 3+3 Pointed Headstock

Swamp Ash Headstock Overlay

Painted Headstock

Walnut Neck

Tung Oil Neck Finish

Rosewood Truss Rod Cover

Rosewood Fingerboard

24 Frets

Block Inlays

Black Acrylic Inlay Material

14" Fingerboard Radius

Stainless Jumbo Frets (.055" Height × .110" Width)

Kiesel Beryllium Bridge Pickup

Kiesel Holdsworth Neck Pickup

Black Pickup Coils

Silver Pickup Poles

Cream Pickup Bezels

Black Hardware

Elixir 10-46 Strings

Drop Shadow Logo (Black on White)

Black Graph Tech TUSQ Nut

Black Rear Electronics Cavity Cover

E Standard Tuning (10-46)

Black Ultimate Soft Case

Tonally, this guitar is on the brighter side, with excellent articulation and cut. An ash body fundamentally always gets you that. That's the guitar wood that has a resonant, tight, crisp attack. The walnut neck is a slightly warmer and more neutral tonal variant of maple, but very much still a hardwood with projection similar to maple. The rosewood fretboard warms things up slightly and tends to give you a little more of a layered, three-dimensional tonality. Whereas ash and walnut have more singularity and focus. So it's a very nice balance of tonewoods. Beyond that, you get all the Kiesel goodness as usual.

If you have seen some of my listings here over the years, you know i am very high on the Kiesel brand. As a guitar player myself this brand has been my personal favorite, and i feel they offer perhaps the best pure value in performance and quality at this price point. Every aspect of their guitar building is innovative and top notch. From the use of dual carbon rods to stabilize the necks. flawless SS fretwork, specially processed/treated wood that maximizes the harmonic content, gorgeous and durable finishes They in my opinion fully deserve the acclaim and following that they have garnered in the last few years.

Note that this listing may come down at anytime as I am a multi-platform seller and do sell locally and on my own Site as well in an effort to keep sales fluid. State sales tax will be charged on Reverb sales when applicable, so factor that in to your purchase.

I will immaculately pack it as well. I use quality shipping boxes, ample tape on all sides. And sufficient bubble wrap filler and bracing inside the box. And always Marked/denoted as fragile. I generally detune guitars 1/2 half step prior to shipment as well if needed.

Thank you for reading and considering!