Official Zon Club Part 3

[Angus]

Katalox is what you are thinking of- that was me who said it. It is very similar to ebony, and sonically I'm sure is pretty much the same.

I'm certainly not an unbiased source as I have five instruments made with it, but Joe was a big fan of the katalox top/guanacaste body combination, as I have with my five string. After he made mine, he subsequently made a few customs and specials with the same wood combination.

I gave Joe a really special piece of katalox to use for my bass, and it yielded four tops worth. I know he used another piece soon after, but he may or may not still have some- it was about three years ago. I know he's purchased other pieces and used for some of the other basses he made with it, so he probably has some on hand. I was considering ordering a 5/1 with the same wood combo, but I was "gently" told that it needed to wait until we moved to a permanent spot. I want another.

I have some sound clips of both of my weird Zons, as they both have a less common wood combo- walnut/ebony/bubinga and guanacaste/katalox, and they both sound pretty unreal. My walnut/bubinga bass is always my go-to instrument. Unfortunately, most of the clips I have are owned by other artists, so I can't post them. Hopefully in the next month or so I'll have time to make some clips and post them up.

[Vic]

Originally Posted by Angus

...guanacaste/katalox, and they both sound pretty unreal...

I remember Joe talking about this particular combo at NAMM. I almost bought this config myself, but decided to play "safe" with combos I knew I liked.

[Angus]

That's definitely the way to go. I'm just excessively adventurous and happened to stumble upon two combos that worked well, with Joe's help (the guanacaste was his suggestion in one case, and the bubinga was his in the other). It doesn't always work out, as with a fretless by another manufacturer where I went with their odd suggestion and it sounds like ass.

There is nothing particularly ground-breaking about any of the above combos, though- they just sound really (really) good. Same is true with fretless maple-bodied Zons and the mahogany/maple Sonus Studio setups. They just seem to work well.

[Vic]

Originally, I was gonna' go REAL safe and stick with redwood/ash just exactly like my other Zon, but that Koa he had just looked so nice, and I'd played some Koa/ash combos before and been really happy with them, so that was it. It's an amazing bass.

[golower]

Must admit Iam a huge fan of ash and am glad to be back with it over alder.Pretty excited about this bass.The tone is super punchy and grumbly.Ill admit I was trying to duplicate in general a Stingray 5 with this bass.I am really satisfied with everything about this bass.The neck is thin like a jazz bass and a pure joy to play.Effortless.I have severe tendonitis in my elbows from repetetive lifting as a food service delivery driver -you know those guys that deliver thousands of pounds of food out of a semi to restaurants with a two wheel cart .So my arms are very sensitive to a bass that does not play easy.My stingray 5 would just sit in its case for months because it was not fun to play it anymore(but I love that Stingray 5 tone! and hated parting ways with it .) This is the bass! If you are thinking of getting a new bass definately check these Zon basses out .Thanks to Joe Zon and Co.This bass kicks my ass.

[bigsnack]

I'm sure a number of you have seen the killer Sonus 5 that just hit the 'bay this morning. Check it out! Item 261152602072.

[Angus]

Yours, I take it?

[golower]

Stuart Claytons version of shape of my heart was a utube clip that I would listen to alot while dreaming of and waiting for my Zons arrival .I find my basses tone quite different than that tone for obvious reasons .Where are good sound samples found of these basses for those looking for or waiting to be able to get a feel for the tone of these fine instruments? the dealers for these are few and far between We should make a tone bank with all sorts of samples of these for people to listen too. Bass type ,wood type ,pickup configuration ,amp setup . I would have really enjoyed more availability of that,it seemed a bit limited to access samples .Bass San Diego has tone samples and that was nice .Utube has some stuff .BTW Stuart Clayton that is a really cool version of Stings song .

[bigsnack]

Originally Posted by Angus

Yours, I take it?

Actually no, I wish I had the green to pick it up! It just looks like a nice find in extremely good condition.

[drgroove111]

I would like to try a Sonus 5 with hum buckers if any body is aware of someone selling.
Recently missed the red figured maple top Sonus Custom 5 that sold here last week for $1400 DOLLARS.
Missed it by a day!!! arggggggghhhh!!!!

email is best way to contact me...

Thanks

[neptoon]

anyone have a clean sonus 4 string with black hardware that they are considering selling?

[Sleepwalker42]

Originally Posted by neptoon

anyone have a clean sonus 4 string with black hardware that they are considering selling?

You can buy mine and switch hardware?

[neptoon]

Was yours the green one or the purple one?

[neptoon]

Purple...check...i am considering that one...looks sweet...i got the zon bug again after watching one of the faith no more live concerts

[neptoon]

Especially this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPyc...e_gdata_player

[lsu921]

I've been absolutely blown away by the 519H I just picked up. I've always preferred JJ pickup configs in every bass when available, and my previous Zon dual coil experiments all ended up with a quick flip. This one has been much different though; I'm not sure if the 519H pickups are the same as the Custom DC's or not, but man this thing is smoking. The Koa top makes itself known in the midrange content, but it's not over the top at all. Joe's attention to detail is second to none, and his fretwork is off the charts. LOVING this thing!! I'm still a little jealous of Vic's, as that would have been my identical spec (minus the chrome hardware) had I built one myself.. Though I think the chrome might actually be a better choice.

[tombowlus]

Wow, nice!

[Vic]

Originally Posted by lsu921

I've been absolutely blown away by the 519H I just picked up. I've always preferred JJ pickup configs in every bass when available, and my previous Zon dual coil experiments all ended up with a quick flip. This one has been much different though; I'm not sure if the 519H pickups are the same as the Custom DC's or not, but man this thing is smoking. The Koa top makes itself known in the midrange content, but it's not over the top at all. Joe's attention to detail is second to none, and his fretwork is off the charts. LOVING this thing!! I'm still a little jealous of Vic's, as that would have been my identical spec (minus the chrome hardware) had I built one myself.. Though I think the chrome might actually be a better choice.

Beautiful bass, and I empathize! I really struggled with the black/chrome thing, and almost went with black, but I just felt the chrome gave the whole bass a nice brilliance. I could always still switch, but I just continue to dig it the way it is, so I'm happy.

Man, I wish I could check that one out because I've had similar experiences to you on the soaps on Zons... they sound great, but the split coils have always called me back. Interesting to know if they are a new flavor tho. Maybe check with Joe on that? Probably have to be after NAMM at this point tho... I know they're always slammed with NAMM prep during this time.

[The_Owl]

Originally Posted by neptoon

Purple...check...i am considering that one...looks sweet...i got the zon bug again after watching one of the faith no more live concerts

+1. I am still waiting for a BG4 to show up in the classifieds. I got a bonus today from work, which I am aching to spend on gear

[neptoon]

i would go for a 4/2 as well...after just listening to one, i think i may actually prefer the tone over the sonus