NTM Zon Custom came home

Well I finally found the means to get my first Zon and she's a beauty.

If you've been to the Bass NW site recenty then you've already seen the bass. I'll post a photo anyway since I snapped a few.

It's a really cool looking myrtle top. Mytle is usually kinda swirly but this is real straight almost like zebrawood. It reminds me of a tigereye ring that I had many years ago.

It's in immaculate condition for a 7 year old bass. A bit on the heavy side but not bad. When I tested it out I wasn't impressed with the piezo (how do you pronounce "piezo, anyway?). But through my gear at home it sounded real nice when it is mixed. The magnetic pups sound great with no issues at all. I'll have to read through the book to figure out how to work the adjustments on the preamp. If anyone has tips on setting the midrange and high pots that would be appreciated.

The bass plays like butter and the 34" scale suits me to a "T". The B string sounds and feels solid. The setup seems fine for me and there isn't a string buzz that I can find at any of the 24 frets. I really like the look of the phenowood and I just work better with a dark board than I do with maple.

I'm a happy camper here. Evan and Aaron, at BassNW, treated me real well yesterday. The place wasn't that busy so that was nice. Just a real positive experience.

I truely believe that Joe builds some very nice basses and I've wanted a Zon Custom for several years now. It's just not been the time until now.

 

Thanks guys.

I must say that after spending about 5-6 hours playing her, that this is one very fine instrument. Very first class lutherie. I can't find a single issue. Hey, even the smooth finish on the neck is of no concern. I don't even give it a second thought as my first bass was a '73 P Bass with the smooth stuff. And the phenowood looks like a nicely mottled maccassar ebony.

People like Brad with his Legacy, Gard, Josh, embellisher, Neptoon swear by their Zon's. People who's opinion I highly respect, always spoke with the highest regard for Joe's basses. This kinda stuff kept the GAS-o-meter running. I just had to wait until the right one, at the right moment, came along.

Just some observations:
- For a 9 volt system the Zon seems to put out almost as much signal as my Monarch. And for some reason more than my 535.

- This bass can come very close to the sound of my '69 Jazz. It has the best J tone of any non-J bass I've played.

- Harmonics ring like crazy all over the place.

- Sustain is as good if not better than any of the basses I have. Maybe not as good as my old Lakland, which was almost rediculous.

- There has been some discussion about relief in the older Zon's being too much. I measured mine at the 7th fret and it's 0.016" which is about as flat as I like it. I don't know what the new ones are like but I don't have an issue at all here.

- Joe Zon proves again that you can get a GREAT B string on a 34" scale bass. Clarity all the way down to the open B and solid feel.

- Joe Zon proves that even a bass with a composite neck can sound organic. Which confirms that the pickups and electronics play a, if not the most significant role in the tone. (if you read Matt's (FBB bass) interview last month he confirmed this).

- I can just only imagine that as a fretless the Zon's would be pretty tought to beat. Coupled with the fact that the neck doesn't shift you would incredible consistancy of fretlessness. (Ah crap, I can feel another case of GAS starting to build. )

I guess I could go on but I don't want to bore you guys.

pee-eh-zooos, huh? cool thanks!