Official Zon Club Part 5

[Devers95]

Must admit I keep changing my mind after seeing what people say with regards to build times. I was quoted 10-12 months on a Sonus custom 6 headless (whether 10-12 months is realistic or not now I don't know). Ive had ideas for a different build that'd be perfect and I probably wouldn't mind the 3 year wait as it'd take that long to save up anyway! Are these build times constantly very late amongst everybody? I'm assuming there are many builds completed within time and its just that dissatisfied people are more likely to provide reviews on customer service?
I could order one and save up if its going to be a few years but I dont want to risk ordering and then 8 months later finding out I need to sell my girlfriend to pay for it or I could order it and say I don't need it completed for 2-3 years and hopefully push one of you poor buggers forward in the queue? Haha

 

[Fuzzbass]

Must admit I keep changing my mind after seeing what people say with regards to build times. I was quoted 10-12 months on a Sonus custom 6 headless (whether 10-12 months is realistic or not now I don't know). Ive had ideas for a different build that'd be perfect and I probably wouldn't mind the 3 year wait as it'd take that long to save up anyway! Are these build times constantly very late amongst everybody? I'm assuming there are many builds completed within time and its just that dissatisfied people are more likely to provide reviews on customer service?
I could order one and save up if its going to be a few years but I dont want to risk ordering and then 8 months later finding out I need to sell my girlfriend to pay for it or I could order it and say I don't need it completed for 2-3 years and hopefully push one of you poor buggers forward in the queue? Haha

Now that's funny. I am pretty sure you do NOT want to tell Joe Zon that he can take his time with your build... unless you don't mind the risk of 2-3 years becoming 4-6!

I believe you are correct that most Zon builds are going out close to ETA. The problem is that way too many are delayed by years.

Just for reference: a good friend and I ordered our Zons in May-June 2017. Mine was a custom headless Sonus 519 with unique electronics. His was left-handed, but not customized. Mine took 9 months, just one month over the ETA given back then, so I can't complain. However his took two full years, which was particularly frustrating for him given the lack of communication from the shop. This is just two data points... the only thing I'm trying to say is that we haven't seen a pattern in why certain builds are delayed. That is, it isn't always the fancier ones.

 

[Angus]

I had long delays with them two times, and I experienced having new finish dates, over and over again, @mrgittleman being the most extreme case.

Nowhere near the most extreme, but since mine was delivered it’s the longest active wait that I know of.

The shop has been operating like this for a long time. Two of my three builds were on time and perfect, but my third order was a teenager by the time it was delivered and had things wrong or missing (even though it’s still a great instrument).

They are a small shop with no office manager/staff run by people who are hyper perfectionists. No question, they’re not business people and that results in a lot of issues. It’s been this way since I first met them about 15 years ago when I lived in the same area. They’re great people who build exceptional instruments, but they are not business people.

I had the most success when I just pestered them, unfortunately. I don’t normally function that way with anything but it did yield results eventually.

 

[Devers95]

Now that's funny. I am pretty sure you do NOT want to tell Joe Zon that he can take his time with your build... unless you don't mind the risk of 2-3 years becoming 4-6!

I believe you are correct that most Zon builds are going out close to ETA. The problem is that way too many are delayed by years.

Just for reference: a good friend and I ordered our Zons in May-June 2017. Mine was a custom headless Sonus 519 with unique electronics. His was left-handed, but not customized. Mine took 9 months, just one month over the ETA given back then, so I can't complain. However his took two full years, which was particularly frustrating for him given the lack of communication from the shop. This is just two data points... the only thing I'm trying to say is that we haven't seen a pattern in why certain builds are delayed. That is, it isn't always the fancier ones.

Ha, I did think that. Im still tempted to go for it at the end of this year/when I finally have a house sorted. My girlfriend insists a house is more important than a custom bass. A Sonus 6 is inevitable, its just the potential wait time that could be a pain in the arse but I suppose it'll be worth it. Got any photos of your headless? Im wondering whether to bother with a headless or not, I liked the idea of it but havent seem many examples of headless Zons.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Ha, I did think that. Im still tempted to go for it at the end of this year/when I finally have a house sorted. My girlfriend insists a house is more important than a custom bass. A Sonus 6 is inevitable, its just the potential wait time that could be a pain in the arse but I suppose it'll be worth it. Got any photos of your headless? Im wondering whether to bother with a headless or not, I liked the idea of it but havent seem many examples of headless Zons.

I was overdue for a new picture, so here you go. Appearance was inspired by the Billy Gould sig, but I decided I wanted headless, and also chickened out on the BG electronics package. Joe suggested that this is the first headless 34" scale Sonus with wide string spacing, but I think someone here already had one. "Firsts" like that don't matter to me anyway.

As for whether to go headless: this was my first, but I'm glad I did. String changing is a lot different from what I've been accustomed to over 40-odd years, but I wouldn't say it's any more complex. Obviously headless won't work with a hanging stand, so I had to get a couple of new stands (one for home, one for gigs) that support from the bottom. There isn't much of a volute, so caution is advised when carrying by the neck. The one curiosity is that there's no nut behind the zero fret, even though there appears to be room for one. Because of this the strings can shift a bit on the zero fret. I haven't had any problems keeping the bass in tune* and my fingers don't notice, but still, I'd call that an oversight.

I regularly play bar gigs in cramped conditions, so the lack of headstock is nice. It's a little odd not having that counterweight on the far end of the neck... feels like swinging a wiffle bat when I'm doing my rock-star posing. Not a concern at all, I just find it amusing. The body is non-chambered alder -- not heavy, but not light. So, the lack of headstock doesn't make this a featherweight bass overall, but I'm fine with that, it's not why I went headless.

*To the contrary: because of the composite neck and roller tuners that don't get bumped in the gig bag as traditional tuning keys often do, this is my most reliably in-tune bass, even when I take it out of the case.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the instrument. Build quality is impressive, and it's far from my first "boutique".

 

[kesslari]

I thought of going headless with my Zon, but ran out of money. Had to cut costs somehow. So I kept the headstock. But I couldn't afford frets...

 

[lsu921]

Knowing what I know about Joe I played it smart. Another TB’er had the exact bass built that I wanted in 2012, so I just told him to let me know when he’d be ready to get rid of it. It took 8 years, but that seems to be faster than some new builds and I didn’t tie up a deposit!

I’ve owned almost 20 of Joe’s basses, and he does excellent work but that doesn’t excuse the way he runs his business. Hate to say it, but I don’t think anything will change with him. Artistic folks don’t always make good business people and vise versa. These shops run on a shoestring budget, so I get that he probably can’t afford an admin type person.. but again that doesn’t excuse what he does to people. Simply, he just needs to do better.

 

[RodRy]

Knowing what I know about Joe I played it smart. Another TB’er had the exact bass built that I wanted in 2012, so I just told him to let me know when he’d be ready to get rid of it. It took 8 years, but that seems to be faster than some new builds and I didn’t tie up a deposit!

I’ve owned almost 20 of Joe’s basses, and he does excellent work but that doesn’t excuse the way he runs his business. Hate to say it, but I don’t think anything will change with him. Artistic folks don’t always make good business people and vise versa. These shops run on a shoestring budget, so I get that he probably can’t afford an admin type person.. but again that doesn’t excuse what he does to people. Simply, he just needs to do better.

I'd love to go your route!
The basses that I'd like to own (Sonus 8 models) that have been sold or listed on TB I've tried to contact the owners on, but none have responded to me. One that I nearly had negotiated on Reverb backed out and has said that he'll never sell it. If any of you have a Sonus 8 that you'd consider selling, please let me know.

 

[Devers95]

View attachment 4224383

I was overdue for a new picture, so here you go. Appearance was inspired by the Billy Gould sig, but I decided I wanted headless, and also chickened out on the BG electronics package. Joe suggested that this is the first headless 34" scale Sonus with wide string spacing, but I think someone here already had one. "Firsts" like that don't matter to me anyway.

As for whether to go headless: this was my first, but I'm glad I did. String changing is a lot different from what I've been accustomed to over 40-odd years, but I wouldn't say it's any more complex. Obviously headless won't work with a hanging stand, so I had to get a couple of new stands (one for home, one for gigs) that support from the bottom. There isn't much of a volute, so caution is advised when carrying by the neck. The one curiosity is that there's no nut behind the zero fret, even though there appears to be room for one. Because of this the strings can shift a bit on the zero fret. I haven't had any problems keeping the bass in tune* and my fingers don't notice, but still, I'd call that an oversight.

I regularly play bar gigs in cramped conditions, so the lack of headstock is nice. It's a little odd not having that counterweight on the far end of the neck... feels like swinging a wiffle bat when I'm doing my rock-star posing. Not a concern at all, I just find it amusing. The body is non-chambered alder -- not heavy, but not light. So, the lack of headstock doesn't make this a featherweight bass overall, but I'm fine with that, it's not why I went headless.

*To the contrary: because of the composite neck and roller tuners that don't get bumped in the gig bag as traditional tuning keys often do, this is my most reliably in-tune bass, even when I take it out of the case.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the instrument. Build quality is impressive, and it's far from my first "boutique".

That is stunning. Im leaning towards a matching headstock at the moment but we'll see. Cheers for the info!

 

[jim nolte]

View attachment 4224383

I was overdue for a new picture, so here you go. Appearance was inspired by the Billy Gould sig, but I decided I wanted headless, and also chickened out on the BG electronics package. Joe suggested that this is the first headless 34" scale Sonus with wide string spacing, but I think someone here already had one. "Firsts" like that don't matter to me anyway.

As for whether to go headless: this was my first, but I'm glad I did. String changing is a lot different from what I've been accustomed to over 40-odd years, but I wouldn't say it's any more complex. Obviously headless won't work with a hanging stand, so I had to get a couple of new stands (one for home, one for gigs) that support from the bottom. There isn't much of a volute, so caution is advised when carrying by the neck. The one curiosity is that there's no nut behind the zero fret, even though there appears to be room for one. Because of this the strings can shift a bit on the zero fret. I haven't had any problems keeping the bass in tune* and my fingers don't notice, but still, I'd call that an oversight.

I regularly play bar gigs in cramped conditions, so the lack of headstock is nice. It's a little odd not having that counterweight on the far end of the neck... feels like swinging a wiffle bat when I'm doing my rock-star posing. Not a concern at all, I just find it amusing. The body is non-chambered alder -- not heavy, but not light. So, the lack of headstock doesn't make this a featherweight bass overall, but I'm fine with that, it's not why I went headless.

*To the contrary: because of the composite neck and roller tuners that don't get bumped in the gig bag as traditional tuning keys often do, this is my most reliably in-tune bass, even when I take it out of the case.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the instrument. Build quality is impressive, and it's far from my first "boutique".

Interesting, way back in ‘95 I was ready to pull out my credit card and purchase a beautiful amber finish Sonus 5 string with Jazz pups, until I put it on my strap and saw that it had just enough neck dive to always be bugging me, your bass would certainly solve that issue !

 

[kumimajava]

View attachment 4224383

Wow, that looks identical to a headless-black-519 Sonus that I played in a shop in Tokyo two years ago. Wonderful instrument!

 

[Hankenstein]

View attachment 4224383

I was overdue for a new picture, so here you go. Appearance was inspired by the Billy Gould sig, but I decided I wanted headless, and also chickened out on the BG electronics package. Joe suggested that this is the first headless 34" scale Sonus with wide string spacing, but I think someone here already had one. "Firsts" like that don't matter to me anyway.

Wow! I would certainly consider ordering on like that if I didn't have personal knowledge or horror stories about custom orders. If I stop hearing those, I'll reconsider!

 

[lsu921]

Not the best pic of mine. I’ll get some good ones eventually.

 

[JLY]

Not the best pic of mine. I’ll get some good ones eventually.

View attachment 4226058

I want one of these badly

 

[ModuMan]

That's a really nice top!

 

[lsu921]

That's a really nice top!

Thanks. It’s a gallery Koa top.

 

[gwangi]

Not the best pic of mine. I’ll get some good ones eventually.

View attachment 4226058

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
That is simply Beautiful!!!!

 

[kesslari]

The bass makes the picture great.

 

[radmin]

This turned out to be from 1990
I put an aluminum Hipshot a style bridge and Gotoh Res-o-lites on it.
I also moved that top strap pin.
It's much lighter now.

NBD...
I found lots of uprising things when this showed up.
I had assumed the tuners were Gotoh. They are Schaller.
The controls seem like vol vol tone tone. Yet there is a battery and circuit board in the cavity
I'm not sure the year, I need to ask Zon about it.
View attachment 4200461View attachment 4200462

 

[Devers95]

Anyone contacted Zon recently? I emailed Martin two weeks ago about a quote on a 6 string Sonus, I've sent a follow-up email but not heard anything back. Plan is to put a deposit down probably at the end of the year.