In the beginning . . .

of my guitar playing that is, I got this for my 13th birthday. For those of you who know my age, do the math—this thing is old. It’s my first guitar—a Japanese copy of a Les Paul Custom, made by a company called Aria. I probably could have scored a Les Paul from my dad, but felt they were too expensive, so I asked for this one. It came from A&M Music at Rivergate mall, where I was taking lessons from a friend of my dad’s.

My brother has one too, that has an “Ice Tea burst,” so I wanted to get a different color than his at the time, thus opting for the “Cherry Sunburst.” Playing guitar was one of the things my brother got into that I followed suit on, which when I was young, was just about everything—drawing, throwing frisbee, playing guitar and listening to music.

I changed the rear pickup to be a Dimarzio Super Distortion at some point and swapped out some black plastic parts for all gold parts, which have aged poorly. Note to all 3 people reading this—stay away from gold hardware on your instruments.

I also had a different bridge on there for a long time as well as black speed knobs, but got some parts from a friend a few years back to bring it closer to its original state by replacing the bridge and knobs with ones like it had originally. I used to sit in my room as a teen, and play this Aria Pro II through a little Fender amp my mom got me for that same birthday, as well as a RAT Distortion pedal. I’d play to all my favorite albums, having a blast, and this guitar served me well. It also serves as a dear reminder of my love of playing guitar that has lasted more than half my life, and also is a symbol of one of the best things my dad ever did for me or buy for me.

To this day, I still have the red strap I bought to go with it, as well as the guitar stand that I set it on all the time. I wish so bad I still had that Fender amp and my original RAT pedal, but I did buy a reissue of my old RAT a few years ago, so at least I have that part of “the beginning” in tact to still enjoy along with my guitar. This instrument is very dear to me—it’s what started this love affair with guitar 28 years ago that has brought me much joy in this life.