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Official Zon Club Part 2

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#601
Angus said:
Yeah, he's had the option available but never made any sort of formal announcement- I'm not sure why. I hate 19mm spacing and think humans are silly for coveting it...
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For me, it's not so much that I don't like the 17mm as much as it is I like to bring multiple basses to a gig, and most of my stuff is 34"/19mm these days, so it's about consistency. Also, officially learning slap is still on my to-do list, and while I know lots of folks are great slappers on the narrower spacing, I think it would be easier on the wider stuff. My favorite of all is a narrower nut with the 19mm spacing. Kinda' good compromise for me.

Also, on the lack of an announcement... it actually makes good sense to me. If someone's really serious, they'll ask directly, then he can say yeah. Otherwise, his build lots are more of the same type stuff which is probably easier to deal with in a small shop.

The blackened redwood...
katalox...
I'm completely converted to one of Zon's favorite combos now: guanacaste with a very hard wood top. My 5 is guanacaste/katalox...
guanacaste/cocobolo, which I think is Joe's specific favorite...
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I'll have to look that stuff up. I wish I had your shop access (tho it could be really dangerous for my marriage :D).

By the way, 7.5lbs? Insane. My Sonus 5 is 8lb 4 oz and I was ecstatic after years of playing my 12lb Sonus 6. I'd love to have one that's 7.5lbs!
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BELIEVE IT! Yeah, when I got it years ago I assumed they were all like that. It was my first Zon ever... actually the first one I'd ever even touched. Then I got all the others which ranged from 9-10 pounds. Great basses, but I still liked the sound of mine best, so they moved on. In my case, as long as they're under 9 pounds, I'm happy, but when you get one like my current one that has all that tone and is so easy on the shoulders at the same time, you keep it forever. :)

Interestingly, a while back, I found out there was some guy that used to work at the shop when mine was made, and he remembered it specifically. Adrian Garcia was my dealer at the time (another reason the bass is special to me. RIP, my brother.)
 
#603
Angus said:
The blackened redwood he has is amazing- he's so proud of it. There is a ton of it, too! There is one stunning slab that looks like it's covered in birdseyes.
...
Have you seen any instruments made from it? I know at least one went to Planet Bass, and they still have pictures up.
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Just saw the TJ5 you're talking about. Holy crap, I think you just selected my top for me!

On the Guanacaste, is that typically a heavier wood? I have NO experience with that wood at all.
 
#605
Haha, happy to help! The coloring looks a lot like walnut in person, but with a bit more variation in coloring.

Guanacaste probably varies, but the piece I have is really light. Like I said, 8lbs 4oz, though it has a deep cutaway that removes a bit of weight, but is offset with a katalox top, which is roughly the weight of ebony. If the top was redwood, I bet it would be close in weight to your bass, though tending to slightly heavier. I don't think it gets closest to the lightest pieces of ash, but it's still pretty light.

The sound is different though- I think I remember him describing it to me as similar to a mix of koa and alder, or something like that. I have no idea if that's true, as the carbon neck throws off the comparisons for me. But I don't think it sounds like ash. I imagine Joe could give you a much better explanation, as obviously he's played and heard all of the variations.

If you know you like ash, I'd stick with it!

Vic said:
Otherwise, his build lots are more of the same type stuff which is probably easier to deal with in a small shop.
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Yeah, I think that's exactly why, to be honest. "Customy" stuff really slows things down for any shop.

I'll have to look that stuff up. I wish I had your shop access (tho it could be really dangerous for my marriage :D).
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Actually, all of the ones I played were in shops around the country while I was travelling. A shop down the street from me is a Zon dealer (not at all surprisingly) and had a couple guanacaste/katalox basses and I almost got one of them while I was waiting for mine!
 
#607
I do all the same stuff (minus slapping, but I do play like a classical guitar player) and can't seem to go narrow enough. I think it's just preference rather than a technique that really benefits from wide spacing.
 
#609
Nono- I CAN slap, and do it in the studio when asked... I just hate the sound, so I don't for my own music. But I don't have trouble doing it on 16.5mm, because it's what I've been doing for almost two decades! If it's all you have, you adapt your technique.

I don't argue that wider is easier- of course it is! But I don't need it to slap.
 
#610
Angus said:
Guanacaste probably varies, but...
...
If you know you like ash, I'd stick with it!
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Solid advice for sure. I've actually learned this lesson many times with other stuff, too. The gut says ash, so that's gonna' be the deal. :)

Anyway, thanks for all the great info. :)

Angus said:
Nono- I CAN slap...
...I don't have trouble doing it on 16.5mm, because it's what I've been doing for almost two decades!...
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Warwick, right? :)
 
#611
Nah, I HATE most Warwicks. The pair was old Gibson Tobias and a Modulus Q5- they were all I played for the better part of a decade.

I play 19mm now and I feel like I'm jumping from rooftop to rooftop! I don't even play 4 strings because of it.
 
#612
Angus said:
Nah, I HATE most Warwicks. The pair was old Gibson Tobias and a Modulus Q5- they were all I played for the better part of a decade.
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Woah, those were 16.5? I always thought those were 17mm. I can see it tho... and not a huge diff of course. :)

Back in those days, as I recall, it was pretty much all about making 5 strings fit in pretty much the same neck space as a 4, or close to it, so I can see how there'd be some fairly jammed models, depending on the base neck profile. Some of this could also get into what they have on hand for jigs and how hard it might be to change neck profiles and such, too.
 
#613
The Modulus is definitely 16.5mm, and I've seen lower end Gibson Tobias basses with both 16.5mm and 17mm- I don't know why. If I set my Tobias to 17mm, the B and G are off the neck. Most are 17mm, though, so it might just be a weird instrument.

Real Tobias basses, and the nicer Gibson Tobias basses, were 17mm. I have a Renegade, which was their lowest of the low in the 90's. A great instrument when you changed half the crap on it, fixed the frets, shimmed the neck and set the nut correctly. Sigh.
 
#616
Angus said:
The Modulus is definitely 16.5mm, and I've seen lower end Gibson Tobias basses with both 16.5mm and 17mm- I don't know why. If I set my Tobias to 17mm, the B and G are off the neck. Most are 17mm, though, so it might just be a weird instrument.

Real Tobias basses, and the nicer Gibson Tobias basses, were 17mm. I have a Renegade, which was their lowest of the low in the 90's. A great instrument when you changed half the crap on it, fixed the frets, shimmed the neck and set the nut correctly. Sigh.
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MTD's are 19
 
#618
Mike Dimin said:
Angus said:
nicer Gibson Tobias basses
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isn't that kind of an oxymoron
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Nope. The Tobias basses didn't originate with Gibson, and since he's talking about an older bass, the distinction has to be made. Basically, even though there's brand ownership crossover in the higher end of the range, anything up to something like serial number 2044 is simply considered a Tobias, since nobody at Gibson had anything to do with the construction yet. Still purely Mike and the original (Burbank, as I recall) crew.
 
#620
Vic said:
Nope. The Tobias basses didn't originate with Gibson, and since he's talking about an older bass, the distinction has to be made. Basically, even though there's brand ownership crossover in the higher end of the range, anything up to something like serial number 2044 is simply considered a Tobias, since nobody at Gibson had anything to do with the construction yet.
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Vic
I know the history. In fact I would say I know it quite well. I first met Michael a very long time ago, when I profiled him, his business, and his relationship with Gibson in an article for Bass Frontiers (when it actually was a magazine). I was also an MTD artist for years. I also live near the shop and have been there so very many times. I have showed with him at both NAMM and Bass Player Live. I have broken bread and too much Tequila with him over the years. To "school" me that
The Tobias basses didn't originate with Gibson
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is bordering on ridiculous. Especially when it is all too obvious that the joke is that Gibson built quality Tobias basses. IMEO, the last good Tobias bass was 2044.

Mike
 
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