Electric Guitars

Since the origin of FIFA football World Cup in the 1930’s, it has become the most spectacular sporting event in the world and is watched by millions across the globe, just like me and you. 2010, for the first time witnesses South Africa as the host to the finals of the tournament that promises to be the planet’s biggest sporting event ever. Aria, in collaboration with FIFA, are celebrating this epic occasion with the launch of the Goal Rush 2010 themed, solid bodied electric travel guitar. And unlike most of the world cup guitars out and about in the market, the Aria GR 2010 world cup guitar has been fully licensed by FIFA, football world cup’s governing body.

Clever Design:

We know exactly what you are thinking, “This looks like a gimmick”. But, please note that, the Goal Rush is actually very much playable and portable electric guitar with a full scale neck. Its small round body is finished in hexagons so that it resembles a football and also bears the official logo of the 2010 world cup held in South Africa. The central black hexagon that sits directly under the strings is actually a speaker grill that covers a 4” integral speaker that is driven by an onboard 1 watt amplifier. On the rear side of the guitar, the speaker has been given some air to breathe by a larger bore grille. There is also a compartment in the rear for the single nine volt battery that powers the amplifier. The body of the Aria Goal Rush 2010 Travel guitar might appear to be quite thick, but most of its wood has been routed away in order to accommodate the speaker and amp. This travel instrument is finished really nicely as you would expect on an officially licensed FIFA product.

Controls and Strap:

The Aria Goal Rush FIFA World Cup 2010 guitar is equipped with a single volume control topped by a simple black knob. This also acts as an on/off switch for the on-board amp, simply pull the knob to turn the guitar on, push the knob back to turn the guitar off. There are two strap-buttons, one on the base of the body and one on the back of the headstock. This causes the guitar to hand in a unique and not uncomfortable way when standing. But note that you will probably need to use a strap even when seated as the round body makes it difficult to sit the guitar on your thigh while you play while sitting down.

Headstock and tuners:

The headstock design is so radical that it can be described as just one thing, an extreme reverse explorer. Then comes the moment when you will drop your jaws just as you realise that it represents a black football boot on a white stocking foot and the tuning knobs representing the spikes or studs on the sole of the foot. The unexpected advantage though is, because of the shortness of the instrument, the headstock design offers up the tuners in a really accessible way when the guitar is on a strap. There is one string guide that uniquely guides the fifth and sixth strings. Though the truss rod access is uncovered, it is well finished.

Neck, Frets and Pickups:

The bolt-on maple neck in Aria Goal Rush FIFA World Cup 2010 Electric Guitar is nicely contoured and finished smoothly, feeling slim and comfortable in the hand. The rosewood fretboard has an even and tight grain. There are traditional pearloid dots Fret-markers that are mirrored down the player’s side of the neck. There are 22 well finished standard medium frets and the neck joins the body at the 18th fret and, because the body is circular, there is no cutaway to make the upper frets accessible. You will be totally deceived by the single pickup that looks like a single coil, but is actually a stacked humbucker.

Other Features:

The tuners are of sealed mini types, having a smooth and professional feel to them. The white plastic nut is a set in a slot cut into the fretboard. Though it has been finished nicely, the extremely splay of the strings as they cross the nut might cause some wear over time. The bridge is mostly a self contained wrap-over model. The strings are loaded from the pickup side of the bridge, pulled through and wrapped over the bridge to begin their journey up to the headstock. The saddle is integral to the moulding of the bridge, and so, it is not adjustable, but it is compensated for best possible intonation. Action or string height can be generally adjusted via two large screws, one at each end of the bridge.

In spite of the fact it has an on-board amp, you can still play through an external amp. The jack socket for this sits on the lower edge of the body set in an oval chrome plate. The GR2010 also comes with a custom fitted gigbag.

Performance:

Now let us find out how this fabulous football like guitar performs. The speaker and the on-board amp produces a reasonably loud sound with a good response. Just as you increase the volume the humbucker overdrives the amp progressively harder so the loudest output is heavily overdriven. After this little guitar is plugged into an external amplifier, the guitar takes on a really different character; the humbucker reveals a richer, mellower tone. Being independent of the limiting factors of the 4 inch onboard speaker the sound takes on a surprising depth.

Verdict:

The Goal Rush FIFA World Cup 2010 is a perfectly playable and attractive little travel guitar and we would really like to see Aria produce it as a standard model without the FIFA branding after the World Cup tournament has finished. This banjo shape and style of the guitar looks a lot more natural than the “mini-me” shrunken guitar shapes often seen in the travel guitar market. As it stands, it is a great little collector’s item that commemorates a prodigious sporting event. Recommended? Of course!

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Aria FIFA 2010 World Cup Electric Guitar - Technical Specification Table

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