https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/advice-needed-in-upgrading-a-1982-aria-pro-ii-pe-r80/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:27:22 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/advice-needed-in-upgrading-a-1982-aria-pro-ii-pe-r80/#post-45716 Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:17:27 +0000 I hope you can help. I have a 1982 Aria PE R80 guitar that I am planning to do some upgrades on. It is a Les Paul style guitar. The guitar is 100% stock and I would like to do upgrades that don't prevent me from returning it to its original condition.
For a 33 year old guitar it is in good condition overall. The neck and frets are in excellent shape. The body is in good shape except for a few nicks and scratches. However, the guitar is very noisy. I think that the bridge needs to have a ground wire put in. Also, I am planning to copper foil shield the pickup and control cavities. When I do this, do I connect the ground wire from the electronics to the copper foil shield?

The upgrades I have planned are:

Locking tuners: Schaller or Sperzel or perhaps something else?

Bridge and Tailpiece: Currently it has the stock bridge and tailpiece which are very much like Gibson's tune-o-matic setup. I am looking for recommendations on something that would easily put on without any woodwork. Recommendations are welcome.

As for pickups, I am going to try a Dimarzio Norton DP160 in the bridge position. I welcome recommendations for a complimentary neck pickup and/or a different pickup setup altogether. FWIW, I will be playing classic/modern rock and some country music. I won't be doing any shredding. I really enjoy Neal Schon's playing/sound if that helps. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks and take care.

-JP]]> Guitar Repair and Maintenance jfpenkala https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-repair-and-maintenance/advice-needed-in-upgrading-a-1982-aria-pro-ii-pe-r80/#post-45716