Like many guitarists, my journey with the instrument has taken some unexpected turns. My sister’s Aria guitar, a relic from the 1970s when ‘The Sound of Music’ was captivating audiences, marked the beginning of an unforeseen chapter. She acquired it for lessons during that era, and while memories of accompanying her to classes and then catching a movie at ‘The Castle’ are vivid, the guitar itself faded into the background for years.
Fast forward to a decade ago, when the desire to learn guitar finally took root. Baseball had been my sole pastime growing up, but the allure of strings proved irresistible. My sister, who had long since set aside her musical aspirations, offered me her old Aria Acoustic Guitar. Eager to begin, I accepted, yet quickly encountered frustration. The Aria, untouched for years, proved incredibly difficult to play, almost causing me to abandon my guitar ambitions altogether. Thankfully, the purchase of a Yamaha guitar provided a more forgiving learning experience and kept my musical aspirations alive.
Time moved on, and the Aria became a distant memory. Loaned out and eventually forgotten, it resurfaced unexpectedly at my office six months ago, its return shrouded in mystery. Armed with more guitar knowledge than I possessed a decade prior, I decided to breathe new life into the vintage instrument. Replacing the tuners, meticulously adjusting the truss rod, making subtle tweaks to the saddle, and fitting a fresh set of quality strings yielded surprising results. The Aria acoustic guitar was transformed. It was no longer the unplayable obstacle of my early attempts, but a genuinely pleasant instrument.
Its smaller, 3/4 scale size has now found perfect purpose with a friend, a petite woman eager to learn guitar. The Aria is proving to be an ideal beginner guitar, its vintage charm matched by its newfound playability. This Aria acoustic guitar, once nearly discarded, is now building a new legacy. It’s a keeper, a testament to the enduring quality of even older instruments, and one I’ll happily continue to lend out and share.
