A guitar so interesting that there's an identical one on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA!
Made by the Matsumoku factory in late 1982 for release in Aria Pro II's 1983 catalog, the Urchin Deluxe was a new model in the U series and featured a brand new modern "Green Black Burst" finish. Solid alder body with a laminate flame top and back bolted to a maple neck with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard (648mm scale length), it weighs 3.8kg's.
Loaded with the original MMK45 "Protomatic" humbuckers, a Stratocaster style tremolo with brass saddles and Aria Pro II branded tuners, apart from a replacement output jack plate this one appears all original.
Good vintage condition as pictured with wear and tear from general use but no breaks or repairs. The neck is straight and the frets are shiny and smooth with plenty of life, professionally serviced prior to listing.
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From the MFA Boston website:
The dramatic curves of the Urchin guitar might have been inspired by the spiny points of the instrument's sea-dwelling namesake, or they might suggest the sinister fins of a shark. Regardless, the reference to ocean life is evident, with the deeply shaded blue-black varnish over a striped maple veneer that suggests ripples in a sandy beach as the ocean breaks over it. Various other guitar models from the 1980s experimented with abstract, pointed designs, as heavy-metal bands sometimes used their instrument's weapon-like appearance as a visual complement to the loud, thrashing music that was their trademark. Probably inspired by the work of B.C. Rich, a California guitar maker who started building guitars with similarly spiky outlines a decade earlier, the Urchin never sold as well as the company's more traditionally shaped models of classic American guitars.
