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Official Zon Club Part 2

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#421
Vic said:
@Zon resale...

Other than that, maybe the fact that the (now more typically popular) 19mm spacing is not as prevalent across models, and folks just tend to shy away from 17mm spacing? Keeping in mind that's also only on 5 string models?
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I was pretty happy to find my Legacy Elite 5'er as they don't seem to come up too often. I have *never* seen a used Legacy Elite 519 which is my preferred scale and string width.

If anyone comes across one please let me know! :)
 
#423
You could probably say that about most high-end basses. Fodera, F Bass, Elrick, Benavente- you see a ton of crazy ones pop up on Japanese bass store sites, then disappear forever.
 
#425
fretless4string said:
I found this information on "Junior" from the extended notes to Michael's album (I recommend this album to all Zon enthusiasts) Soliloquy...

Zon Custom Sonus/Hyperbass Hybrid (aka "Junior")

"Junior" got his name because he's kind of a hybrid, and thus, the son of my previous workhorse Zon 4-string fretless, nicknamed "Bub", and the Hyperbass. Built in 1996, Junior is based on the Zon Sonus design, but with the fingerboard extended to three octaves with an accompanying cutaway, as on the Hyperbass. The bass also has Hipshot Ultralite Xtender Keys on every string. The body woods are ash with center laminate of purpleheart and bubinga top. Electronics include two custom Bartolini pickups and on-board preamp

.. Angus, this must have been where I read it was a three octave neck. We will have to ask Michael.

Alastair
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FWIW, I looked through my stock of officially-taken pictures of completed instruments, and the double-pickup'ed Hyperbasses all had 31/32 positions (ie, last dot at 31, and theoretically enough space for the 32nd position).
 
#426
Angus said:
It's particularly true with Legacy basses- they sell WAY more there than here. They aren't very popular here, but they're very popular there.
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The relative unpopularity here means that when I walked into rehearsal last week and brought out my Legacy Elite 5 for the first time, everyone in the band stopped in their tracks! They had no idea what I was holding. We got to play "new bass show and tell" for a few, and it was very interesting to hear the comments, since no one had seen a Legacy before.

Interestingly, I always think of the Legacy body shape as being very "futuristic" - or at least, not like a traditional solidbody bass, but both the keyboard and guitar players immediately thought it was a vintage instrument... until they counted the strings. (Not that there aren't vintage 5 string basses, like the Bass V, but I digress...)

Also interesting, our guitar player is a big fan of Gibson SGs, and he felt right at home with the set-neck, the slim body front to back, the general headstock shape, and even the Goncalo Alves top (which to him appeared a bit like mahogany).

I hadn't really made the connection (Maybe I am dense), but now I can't help but see a Gibson influence all over the bass. Interesting!
 
#427
Angus said:
FWIW, I looked through my stock of officially-taken pictures of completed instruments, and the double-pickup'ed Hyperbasses all had 31/32 positions (ie, last dot at 31, and theoretically enough space for the 32nd position).
Click to expand...

Hi Angus. Yes, I found the pictures you posted of your Sonus Hyperbass and I noticed there was not a second double dot on the side of the neck. Of course, there would be if it was a three octave neck. The reason I am curious about the range of the Sonus Hyperbase is as follows. I had the opportunity to talk to Michael when he was up here at the Canadian Guitar Festival and Pinnacle Music. I told him I was learning his piece Gizmo, transcribing it myself. The best version of this in my opinion is on the excellent album that Michael recorded with David Cullen called Equilibre. Michael offered to send me a copy of his concert chart - which he generously did. However, on my four string Sonus Special I can't get reach the high notes. The body just gets in the way.
 
#429
fretless4string said:
Hi Angus. Yes, I found the pictures you posted of your Sonus Hyperbass and I noticed there was not a second double dot on the side of the neck. Of course, there would be if it was a three octave neck. The body just gets in the way.
Click to expand...

Yes, my former Sonus had 32 positions, though it wasn't a Hyperbass in any sense. I currently have a Sonus with 36, but it has a single pickup.

As far as that piece goes, what is the highest note? The body getting in the way is different than the number of positions the fingerboard has. Although it's an aside, you could probably get away with playing an artificial harmonic instead of a fully plucked note.

Not much of Michael's music actually takes advantage of notes above the 24th fret- only a few pieces go above, and even then it's very sparsely used (for good reason).

AJ Brown said:
I sort of miss my Legacy 6.
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I hear you. I hate the feel/ergonomics of the Legacy body- it's not for me- but I prefer the sound of Legacy's to Sonus's, all things being equal, which is why I spec'ed my Sonus 5 to approximate a Legacy (except the pickups). I just happen to like the sound of Zon's set-necked instruments with a warmer body wood for most applications, but americans seem to prefer ash/bolt-on, for whatever reason.

Of course that doesn't explain why my main instrument is a bolt-on Zon with a walnut body. But whatever.

sundaybender said:
Interestingly, I always think of the Legacy body shape as being very "futuristic" -

Also interesting, our guitar player is a big fan of Gibson SGs, and he felt right at home...

I hadn't really made the connection (Maybe I am dense), but now I can't help but see a Gibson influence all over the bass. Interesting!
Click to expand...

Yeah, and yet surprisingly it was the model that came before the more traditional Sonus.

I can't speak for where Zon's inspirations came from, but I think it's reasonable to assume that he had substantial Gibson influence in his early life, given that the first instrument he made was a Thunderbird replica, and given that there was not much else back in those days beyond Gibson and Fender.

I'm still not sure that I can attribute a set-neck and the color of Goncalo Alves to a Gibson influence, though. The slim body? Nah. The headstock....yeah, definitely!
 
#430
Angus said:
As far as that piece goes, what is the highest note?
Click to expand...

The motif from the second section starts on an E flat. Assuming one is using a 4 string with standard tuning (an assumption that may not be warranted with MM!) that places the note at the 20th fret. It is not hard to reach this position on my Sonus. It is hard, however, to play the piece at the speed MM plays it and keep it in tune. Michael did tell me the piece was hard! A set neck would certainly be an advantage.

In the recording with Cullen, the last section involves some beautiful arpeggios that MM starts on the bass and Cullen completes on the guitar. The bass part wanders up to a C above the E flat at the 19th. That C would be in the third octave (29th fret?).

Oh but the way, I was watching an interview that MM does with guitareuroshop and he does say at one point that the neck on Junior is "almost three octaves".

All the best
Alastair
 
#435
I have these silly pictures that I took when showing someone what Lane Poor humbuckers look like under magnetic paper.

390178417.jpg


390178420.jpg
 
#437
fretless4string said:
Thanks Andy. When Angus gets some strings on the Sonus he is all set to learn Gizmo! For the purposes of full disclosure, I must say that playing Gizmo on the TJ5 is easier.
Click to expand...

I bet it is. I re-listened to Gizmo this morning and it seems like quite the challenge. Makes me want a fretless again... this time a 4-string. However my wife would kill me.
 
#439
Damian Erskine has one, though it has bridge/mid pickups and I think is labeled "Damian Erskine signature", even though he switched to Skjold not much later. For all intents and purposes, its just a TJ4 with a different neck pickup position.

Then again, the same is true of TJ's- his bass is the only one with that particular neck pickup location.
 
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