If you have any other questions not answered here, please use our contact form.
Faq
- What is Arium? Where does it come from?
- Arium was developed by a team of engineers at Delft Technical University. You can read more here but basically it is a man-made material designed to be as resonant and musical as possible - even moreso than wood! It is injected in a liquid state and then hardens.
- So the guitars are built in a mold? All one piece?
- Correct! A lot of research went into applying Arium properly to the guitar instead of just sticking a neck on something. There are many different layers inside a durable exoskeleton. When the guitar is removed from the mold, a lot of additional steps are required, and eventually the fretboard, pickups, and hardware are mounted by skilled luthiers. Then the guitar is set up, tested, and shipped.
- How long has Aristides been making instruments?
- Over 10 years! Like we mentioned earlier, a huge portion of that time was early research and testing. No one had done this before! We were in uncharted territory and a lot of effort went into making sure our guitars were great before they were released. There are designs we don't even build anymore -or some that never made it beyond prototyping - because so many things have changed. Things like the neck, body, contours, fret access, hardware, and more have evolved over time to where they are now. A lot of that time was training too - we couldn't only have good luthiers - our luthiers had to figure out how to build a guitar an entirely new way!
- Does it feel like a regular guitar? It must sound weird.
- We set out to make great guitars that happen to be made out of Arium. Not to rely on a proprietary material, but to make great instruments that benefit from that proprietary material. It plays like a regular guitar, but with the added benefits provided by one-piece injection-molded construction, like an almost non-existent neck "heel" with amazing upper fret access. As for the tone, our guitars are very resonant and loud acoustically. One of the main purposes of Arium was to dampen as few frequencies as possible so you hear a pure, 3-dimensional tone. This results in a very even sound across strings, with full bass that isn't muddy, and present highs that aren't icy. It's not really comparable to carbon fiber, acrylic, or aluminum guitars. Our customers say it sounds like wood "but more."
- How are Aristides guitars affected by the weather and travel?
- This is one of our favorite parts... they're extremely stable! Our touring artists love this, and so do our amateur and semi-professional customers who live in extreme climates, or don't like having to adjust their guitars often. Our instruments do still have truss rods, though, so you can change the setup whenever you wish.
- What is the neck like?
- Our necks vary slightly model to model, and you can find the exact measurements on each model's page. All are comfy C's on the thinner side. This means that while they are thin and fast, they are rounded and don't result in any discomfort or fatigue.
- What pickups sound good in Aristides?
- We equip a large range of pickups in our guitars at customer request including Bare Knuckle, Seymour Duncan, EMG, Lundgren, Fishman Fluence, Dimarzio, and more. Including piezo. Generally speaking if you like the pickups, they will sound good in Arium, because the guitars are a resonant and full sonic building block.
- Can I have a reverse headstock? What about a baritone six string?
- Unfortunately our molds take a lot of time to develop and construct, as well as being expensive. Basically we have to focus on building customer guitars and anything like neck shape, headstock, scale length, etc. would require a huge investment to develop... and potentially only sell to one customer. So for now these kind of specs are fixed on our instruments.
- What about new models? 4 string basses, singlecuts. Those would be cool!
- We are always working on new models and try to have at least one out every 1-2 years. Things like new basses and shapes are coming over time.
- When will left handed models be available?
- The 060L is available right now! So is 020L. We are working on getting more models done at some point in the future. A 7 will likely be next.
- How can I order one?
- You can fill out this form or contact us directly!
- Do you ship to my country?
- Yes! ...Probably! We ship worldwide and can provide a quote for guitar that includes shipping cost when you contact us.
- What colors are available?
- You can check out a wide variety of our finishes and other options in the gallery portion of our website, or you can contact us and ask for more info. If you have seen it before it is probably available barring some small exceptions such as the paint no longer being produced or an artist asking that the color not be reproduced.