• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Official Zon Club Part 2

Status
Not open for further replies.
#925
BigOldHarry said:
Another question for my fellow Zonistas: Given the high price of today's new Zon basses, do you see an obvious quality difference between today's basses and the basses made in the '90s / '00s?
Click to expand...
Well, FWIW, I have a Sonus 5 that I think is an '03, and it'd be really hard for me to imagine anything significantly better made. Fit/finish were/are perfect, and it feels/sounds great. The only thing is it's the 17mm spacing, so these days, I don't get it out as much, and I've had to do the pot spray to clean/lube them as they started getting a little crackly. Phenomenal instrument tho, IMHO. Joe's necks are just insanely great for tonal consistency and an absolute lack of dead or even dull spots. They all ring perfect, true, and long.

I'm currently trying the get the ball rolling on one of the newer 19mm spaced 34" 24 fret models, and it's moving pretty slowly, but that's actually a good thing for me right now.
 
#929
BigOldHarry said:
Another question for my fellow Zonistas: Given the high price of today's new Zon basses, do you see an obvious quality difference between today's basses and the basses made in the '90s / '00s?
Click to expand...

I doubt the increase in price has anything to do with quality. They were quality then. It's simple inflation. Everything costs more. Does anything today cost what it did in the 90s?
 
#930
bassjigga said:
I doubt the increase in price has anything to do with quality. They were quality then. It's simple inflation. Everything costs more. Does anything today cost what it did in the 90s?
Click to expand...

You know... I normally would agree - and I've played new $5000 Zons that don't seem particularly "better" than my 1998 Zon that would have cost ~$2000 new... But that $3000 delta seems *zany* to me without some obvious improvement. Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy with my Zons and would be very happy with a new one... But for another $3K???

I just used this "on-line inflation calculator" to see what $2K in 1998 dollars would be now... This particular one only went up to 2010 and it says that amount would be $2662 (a delta of $662, which seem about right). So where is the other $2300? And more power to Joe if he can get it!
 
#931
BigOldHarry said:
I just used this "on-line inflation calculator" to see what $2K in 1998 dollars would be now... This particular one only went up to 2010 and it says that amount would be $2662 (a delta of $662, which seem about right). So where is the other $2300? And more power to Joe if he can get it!
Click to expand...
I'm not saying there isn't a bit of extra fluff in there to support whatever Joe may have deemed appropriate, but that number seems pretty light to me for a 13 year period, and I'm betting its applicability to specialized work like this is also skewed by a fair amount.

But really, none of that matters. If his prices were really above what his market segment would bear, he'd be out of business already anyway, so it's moot. So clearly, to the majority of his total serveable market, he's priced right.

Remember, in a free market system, selling price is not determined strictly by what it costs to make plus some standard formula markup, but rather, what it's worth to the target market. Admittedly, however, if you're talking commodities available from multiple competing sources, they are close to the same thing.

IMHO FWIW anyway.
 
#932
I'm just glad I found my Legacy Elite used! It wasn't cheap, but still about half the cost of a new one. I've considered the idea of having a new one built exactly how I want it (pretty much the same thing but as a 519 and having the mids on the *front*) but it's tough to justify it when I am pretty happy with what I have.
 
#933
BigOldHarry said:
You know... I normally would agree - and I've played new $5000 Zons that don't seem particularly "better" than my 1998 Zon that would have cost ~$2000 new... But that $3000 delta seems *zany* to me without some obvious improvement. Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy with my Zons and would be very happy with a new one... But for another $3K???

I just used this "on-line inflation calculator" to see what $2K in 1998 dollars would be now... This particular one only went up to 2010 and it says that amount would be $2662 (a delta of $662, which seem about right). So where is the other $2300? And more power to Joe if he can get it!
Click to expand...


I guess you don't have much familiarity with the increase in housing costs in the Bay Area over that time period, or in general how expensive it is to have a large facility here.

It's more than the ~30% the inflation calculator calculated..because that's national average. That isn't very useful on a local level.

The prices Fodera charges aren't high for no reason- they're paying NY rent. And when I was in NY recently scoping out a possible move there, the cost of rent of an apartment in Manhattan of similar size, etc, was only about $100-200 more per month than where I am now in Redwood City (same as Zon). Property is very, very expensive here.
 
#934
BigOldHarry said:
You know... I normally would agree - and I've played new $5000 Zons that don't seem particularly "better" than my 1998 Zon that would have cost ~$2000 new... But that $3000 delta seems *zany* to me without some obvious improvement. Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy with my Zons and would be very happy with a new one... But for another $3K???

I just used this "on-line inflation calculator" to see what $2K in 1998 dollars would be now... This particular one only went up to 2010 and it says that amount would be $2662 (a delta of $662, which seem about right). So where is the other $2300? And more power to Joe if he can get it!
Click to expand...

The other thing to remember - while a new Zon CAN run 5K, it doesn't have to. A 4 string fretted Sonus will run you $3049, new. A 4 string fretted Vinny - $2575. That seems pretty comparable to your $2K 1998 bass.

The other thing is comparables - and while that works both ways, MTD basses run as much or more than Zon, as do Fodera. There are some luthiers that charge less, some who charge significantly more.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back