Sex always sells…or so they say. And certainly when you’re marketing an electric solidbody guitar to testosterone-heavy adolescent and young adult males, showing a bit of female flesh is sure to get attention, whether or not it will move product. Few guitar ad campaigns have pursued this strategy with more verve than the one for Aria Pro II’s RS Series Knight Warriors in the mid-1980s!
Vintage 1985 Aria Pro II Knight Warrior Electric Guitar Ad
The association between guitars and “getting the girl” is almost as old as mankind. Or at least it seems so. In studies of “primitive men” (who are, of course, not really the same as “early man,” despite their low-tech and seemingly non-evolved conditions), musicians frequently have a special place in the culture. It’s not uncommon for musicians to travel around among different villages, and there is plenty of testimony about these wags being a threat to the virtues of local village maidens. It would take some work, but I’m sure one could fairly easily assemble a list of musicians from the historical period who got into the drawers—and subsequent trouble—of the fairer sex. It would probably be a long list.
Indeed, I recently read Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote de la Mancha, one of the first novels written in 1605 and 1615. Guitars are mentioned four times, three in the context of serenading/wooing lovers. Two instances were in the context of guitarists coming to town and seducing the local beauty, before absconding with her virtue and fortune.
Vintage 1985 Aria Pro II Knight Warrior Electric Guitar
Of course, we all play guitars here and if I asked for a show of hands of those of you who first got into music motivated by trying to impress chicks, I imagine the majority of readers would be waving the flag right now! (I’ve never understood why there are so many fewer female guitarists, but the few I’ve known have had to work more at fending off guys than attracting them.)
As I said, there’s a whole sub-class of music advertising that features babes in various states of dress (or not) mugging to get you to look at this or that guitar or amp. Aria’s Knight Warrior ads went one further, fusing heroic fantasy with male libido. A sort of Ivanhoe in skivvies (with his guitar strapped on his back) holds the hot gal he’s either just rescued or is carrying off, to the boudoir, no doubt. (Or maybe those striped silk shorts were supposed to be knight’s pants, not BVDs…) Laughably unsubtle, but it never failed to get my attention, and implant a desire to find out what the fuss over the Knight Warrior was all about. In due time I found this one, suitably after it had gone out of fashion.
Vintage 1985 Aria Pro II Knight Warrior Electric Guitar
Aria Pro II introduced its Rev Sound (RS) Series of guitars in the late 1970s, initially neck-through competitors to Ibanez’s Musician series. Pretty nice guitars. In the early ‘80s, these became svelt bolt-neck, slightly dinky Strat-style guitars with cool switching options. Most Aria guitars for the rest of the decade were based on these Rev Sounds. Next came the Cats and the Knight Warriors, which got pretty good coverage in the guitar press.
Vintage 1985 Aria Pro II Knight Warrior Electric Guitar
I had low expectations when I found this guitar, but Aria’s guitars were consistently better than you’d expect back in the day. Many were built by the legendary Matsumoku factory. This guitar might have been built there, but by the mid-1980s the Japanese had gotten so good at making guitars, this could have been made by any number of superb manufacturers.
There’s nothing not to like about a dark-to-bright red sunburst, in my opinion! The tuners are Gotoh and the vibrato a genuine Kahler, all top-notch. The electronics configuration is a little less ambitious than previous Rev Sounds, but it still has enough horsepower for any Superstrat need. These blade pickups are strong and clear. The simple volume and tone control is really about all you need in a performance context. The tone pot is push-pull, tapping the humbucker to give you single-coil sounds. If you’re not hung up on brand envy, this axe would be perfectly satisfactory, even for a pro.
Now, I admit a redburst guitar doesn’t make me feel like Sir Lancelot and I never used this guitar to try to pick up any chicks (in any sense of the term), so I don’t know if it really would work. At my age, I don’t really see myself trying it out. But I do love the Kitschy way it was marketed with sex and, if you can get past the names and image, Knight Warriors are pretty darned good examples of mid-‘80s extravagance.
Me saying I personally like them would be an understatement by far. I have 6 of them, all black. Some modified some not. Love the blade pickups.
I had a friend that had one of these and it always sounded great next to my Fender P-Bass. While Aria may not be as big a name they made a TON of really great instruments throughout the 80s that you can now find as “pawnshop specials” and are well worth picking up IMHO.
And how about some love for us bass players? Aria, Washburn, and Carvin made some truly wicked basses in that period that are as great to look at as they are to play. I have several very nice Fender basses but every time I bring my “personalized” Washburn Force 4 with its glitter painted faceplate and 1940s pinup girls it never fails that I get several offers to buy her, she looks unique compared to the 50 billion P-Basses there are out there that everybody seems to want it.
A feature on some of the cool basses of the 70s and 80s would be much appreciated.
Well I bought one in ’85 (black). It remained my main guitar in bands for the next 10 years. Incredibly versatile and not just a one dimensional ‘superstrat’. Still have it, although I don’t get it out much. After this I think I may have to dig it out again. Good memories.
I bought a used Ariah Pro II Les Paul Custom, dark tobacco sunburst, in 1983 and this guitar was perfect in every way, and i’d owned a real 70’s Les Paul Standard. I later took it in to trade at a local music store and the salesman/guitar player at first was like, “OH, ok, i GUESS I’ll try it out”, but in a few minutes he was like, “Damn, this thing is NI-I-I-I-CE” !!! Wish i would have never got rid of that one.
i have recently seen a “cat series” on a aria headstock its not a bob cat or wild cat or the cat its just “cat series on the headstock its a aria pro 11 it dosnt sat rs either im trying to id it to see if its matsumoku or not ?
If someone has a Black Knight Warrior for sale, please let me know.
It has to have the original pickups and Kahler tremolo.
I bought the exact same finished guitar as shown in the above article. It’s more of a “purpleburst” than the described “Redburst” in the story. Anyway its official color was called “Purple Haze”. This was my gift to myself for H.S. graduation, 1986. I still own this guitar 29 years later. It’s all original except for the leather strap locks I attached. This is still me #1 guitar for its ease of play. I could & have put this away for years on end. Pick it up & in five minutes its like I never put id down. The neck is incredibly fast & the finish has held up very well. This is a little less purple in the finish now, the red dominates. The blade pup’s haven’t let me down. I basically play in the bridge position. Instead of the Kahler tremolo unit, mine has a Floyd Rose like Act 3 Locking Tremolo unit. It holds the string in tune no matter how much I work the tremolo bar. I play it through a Vox AC15 with a tube screamer, a treble booster, wah wah & digital delay. It can sound very jazzy or bluesy all the way up to screaming with gut wrenching metal!
I have a one just like the one pictured in this article. I have it in the original hard case for 30 years. I just the other day took it out, dusted it off, plugged it into my Marshall JCM900 and started shedding away. It has the USA Kahler and it simply refuses to go out of tune. EVER! Its too bad that most pro’s absolutely insist on having famous brands and names on their headstocks. Its hard to imagine, but some of our favorite songs might have come out even better with different guitars. Try to imagine Randy Rhoads on this guitar, the solo in Flying High Again and Crazy Train might have actually made speakers bleed!
I have gone thru countless Gibson’s, Gretsch’s, ESP’s, etc in my 30+ years of playing. But my Aria Pro II RS Knight Warrior in PurpleHaze Burst is one that will never leave my house and will be handed down to my grand daughter some day…if she’s worthy 🙂
I had been given an Aria Pro II Knight Warrior – Jet Black by a friend (he passed on & left it to me). I was learning guitar from another friend when my now ex husband Pawned the guitar for beer money – would not tell me where he pawned it (ex con – should have known better). I loved that guitar & someday hope to replace it.
I also own an ARIA PRO11 RS KNIGHT WARRIOR ELECTRIC GUITAR! ! It’s a nice piece of kit!!
great axe!
Hi guys, I’ve picked up my old aria Pro 2 RS knight warrior and struggling to string/tune it due to the dials and widgets on the body of the guitar where the strings start. Last time I picked it up must have been over 25 years ago. Any help by way of a video or link to a Web page would be truly grateful.
I bought a Purple Haze Aria in the summer of 1985. I still have it and play it. I installed a DiMarzio X2N in 88, custom made a black pick guard and made it a 1 pick up guitar with a coil split switch. The 2 controls are the same but put a 22pf cap instead of the original .47.
It has held up very well for its age and usage.
Milwaukee, WI 1985, went to pick-up a Washburn guitar with my Mom at the music store. We put down a deposit on the guitar (that was a thing) and were now ready to pay the balance and take it home for Christmas. No Washburn, it was sold. I was crushed, then and there the salesperson presented a black Aria Pro II Knight Warrior. I was unimpressed, but wanted something new, I pretended to like it and we took it home. Replaced middle and bridge pickup, played it for a number of years, just loved it! Went in the case around 1996. The sound and playability was/is superb on this guitar.
I became a full-time guitarist a few years later, specializing in early jazz. No use for the Aria, but never got rid of it, in amazing shape and feels great. Always loved indie music, last year I pulled the Aria out of the case and used it in-studio on this track! So fun!
https://annastine.bandcamp.com/track/company-of-now
Robert Bell …. Or anyone here know the size of the allen wrench for the truss rod?
Hello, i follow up, i took a Black Knight Warrior same as in the adverdising, here in Germany, for 70,00 euros 6 month ago, is worn und have some dents, but sounds so damn good…
Hi, I got one last year, an ProII RS Knight Warrior in a lovely red colour. Amazing condition considering it’s 1986 apart from a paint chip on the bottom. Kahler Flyer trem and high quality machines. Had to buy imperial allen wrench for the string locks as it came with a string missing.
Had a black one since they came out and to be honest it kind of ruined other guitars for me as it’s so nice to play. Tacky name. Tacky marketing. Not exactly timeless looks. But it plays so damn good. When I demoed it in the shop it was up against guitars twice the price that I couldn’t even afford and the only two I liked more were a Gibson SG and a Yamaha SG. I bought an SG1000 a couple of years ago and after I had the Aria refurbished, I’d still say the Aria is the better player.