CLIFF BURTON's Posthumous Signature Bass To Be Reissued By ARIA

Aria Guitars of Japan will mark 40 years since the passing of METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton by reissuing the Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass.

The special model, which will be debuted at this weekend's NAMM convention in Anaheim, California, "honors Cliff Burton's groundbreaking tone and legacy" but is "created for a new generation of players," according to a social media post from Aria.

The Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass – SB-CLB will be made available to the public in the spring.

When the original Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass was released in January 2013, it was made available with the authorization of the Cliff Burton family and METALLICA. Cliff Burton was the bassist for METALLICA for their first three albums, "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets".

The Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass was a replica of the Black 'N Gold I bass that Cliff played. Painstaking attention to detail was taken to build a tribute bass. It had a 7-ply maple/walnut neck with a neck-through, heel-less neck design. It had the same headstock with the patent statement on the front and Cliff Burton's authorized signature on the back of the headstock. Each of the tuners were handcrafted out of brass and gold-plated and the 40mm nut was made of brass. The neck had a 34-inch scale with 24 frets. The fretboard was made of rosewood with cat eye and mother of pearl inlays. The body was the original SB shape and made of alder. The Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass was loaded with an Aria MB-V passive pickup. It had a single tone and volume control with a dual sound mini-toggle switch. The bridge was solid brass with gold plated saddles. The bass shipped inside of a deluxe ostrich hardshell case and a certificate of authenticity signed by Ray Burton.

When the new Aria Pro II Cliff Burton Signature Bass was presented to Cliff's father more than 13 years ago, Ray Burton, he stated: "What a beautiful instrument and a wonderful tribute to Cliff. The first year Cliff was with METALLICA he played a Rickenbacker guitar that he purchased in 1982. He loved his guitar, but he did not feel it was a strong enough instrument to withstand the rugged treatment of the daily rigors of heavy metal touring. Early in 1984, Cliff was treated to an Aria Pro II bass guitar. He really liked it and therefore did not seek any other bass to play. He told me it was strong and ideal to play. I never heard a discouraging word about his Aria bass guitars. To give testament to his preference, he had several of them at the time of his death."

Cliff was asked to join METALLICA in 1982 after the band saw him perform with his group at the time, TRAUMA.

The bassist was not willing to move to Los Angeles, where METALLICA was based, so they decided to move to the San Francisco area so that he would join.

Burton played on METALLICA's first three studio albums — "Kill 'Em All", "Ride The Lightning" and "Master Of Puppets" — and co-wrote classic songs like "Ride The Lightning", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Fade To Black", "Creeping Death" and "Master Of Puppets".

Burton's initial replacement in the group was Jason Newsted, who stayed in the lineup until 2001. Robert Trujillo joined in 2003 and remains in the band to this day.

February 10, 2018 was proclaimed "Cliff Burton Day" by Alameda County supervisors. The late METALLICA bassist would have turned 56 years old on that date had he lived.

Burton died in a tragic tour bus accident in 1986.

Cliff's huge talent and achievements were chronicled in book form with the 2009 global publication of "To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica's Cliff Burton", written by U.K.-based author Joel McIver and published by Jawbone Press. The foreword was provided by METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett.