1977 Aria Pro II Custom LP-650 Triple Pickup Vintage Electric Guitar, Japan, Ace Frehley

Up for sale, a 1977 Aria Pro II Custom LP-650 electric guitar in exceptional condition and in perfect working order, complete with a hardshell case. This expertly crafted Japanese guitar clearly takes its cues from its Gibson cousin (no relation), and while this Aria Pro II falls squarely under the umbrella of the famed "lawsuit" guitars, competing directly with Greco and Tokai, no legal action was ever taken against these faithful iterations.Produced at the Matsumoku factory, this LP-650 has a distinctive look designed to capitalize on Ace Frehley's now iconic triple pickup Cherry Sunburst Custom. The guitar features a "sandwich" mahogany body, maple top, and trio of stock humbuckers with matching gold covers. The pickups each have an output of 8k ohms, wired to individual Volume controls for a palette of sounds ranging from bold, beefy punch to focused, barky, midrange cut. This Aria Pro II weighs 10lbs 2oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, accurate intonation, and fast action.The three-piece maple neck has a slender C profile carve with nicely rounded shoulders, measuring .800" deep at the 1st fret and .965" at the 12th. The bound ebony fretboard features block inlay and stock slender fretwire with fret edge binding. The frets have their full factory height, showing just a hint of wear beneath the plain strings on the crowns of frets 1-4, and virtually no wear further up the fretboard. The guitar plays cleanly in every register with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The scale length is 24 3/4”, and the original carved bone nut measures 1 5/8“ in width. The headstock has multi-ply binding, the classic "open book" shape, “Aria Pro II Custom” truss rod cover, and split diamond pearl inlay. The stock gold Rotomatic-style tuners turn smoothly and work as they should with metal tulip buttons.On the body, the wiring harness has been upgraded with new full-size USA-made CTS pots and a Sprague Orange Drop tone cap. The modified configuration offers individual Volume controls for each pickup and a Master Tone control. The three-way pickup selector toggles between Neck+Middle, All, and Middle+Bridge. The gold hardware shows light patina on the plating, particularly on the pickup covers. The white plastic parts are clean, and the original amber speed knobs are present. The binding has heavily ambered with notable checking, while in contrast, the gloss Cherry Sunburst finish is incredibly well preserved, with barely a scratch on the body. The neck sports an equally pristine profile with a smooth gloss finish.A vintage black tolex Yamaha-branded hardshell case is included.