Netherlands · Est. 2009
Aristides Instruments
Pioneers of composite materials in lutherie, Aristides builds guitars from their proprietary Arium material, eliminating the inherent variability of wood.
About the brand
Aristides Instruments is a Dutch company founded in 2009 by Aristides Poort, a materials engineer with a passion for guitar. Their proposition is radically different from anything else on the market: instead of wood, bodies and necks are made from Arium, a composite material developed entirely in-house.
Arium has unique properties: it is unaffected by humidity or temperature changes, offers highly uniform resonance, and eliminates the between-instrument variation that is unavoidable with wood. Every Aristides guitar sounds exactly as it was designed to sound, regardless of environmental conditions.
The brand is especially popular in the Netherlands and among rock and metal players worldwide who value consistency and premium finishing. The 0/5, 070 and H series models are the most recognised. Guitarist Paul Davids, also Dutch, is one of their most visible international ambassadors.
Key facts
- Bodies made from Arium, a proprietary in-house composite material
- Sound unaffected by temperature or humidity fluctuations
- Founded by a materials engineer in the Netherlands
- Perfect tonal consistency across instruments of the same model
Iconic models
Aristides 010
The first mass-produced guitar with an arium body, Aristides' proprietary composite that eliminates wood and delivers superior resonance.
Aristides 070
Aristides' 7-string model, bringing the arium material philosophy and Dutch precision design to the extended-range metal world.
Aristides 080
Aristides' 8-string version, with a multiscale neck and arium body that delivers unmatched sustain and clarity in extreme registers.
Aristides H/059
Aristides' hollow-body model built from arium, an innovative proposal demonstrating the material's versatility beyond metal.
Notable guitarists
- Devin Townsend