Ok awesome! If you have time with a gauge that's great, but knowing that it's that low to begin with is good info. Thanks so much!
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- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,084
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,084
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
@Angus do you know? It needs to be a short one to fit, and so I can't figure out the size.
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,084
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
I’m on a business trip but can let you know exact size on Sunday night if you haven’t heard back. Don’t remember off the top of my head because I haven’t had to touch it in like 10 years.
I have 2 Legacy Elite 6 strings and my guitar tech that lives about and hour & 1/2 from me had adjusted both Zon's for me roughly 3 weeks ago and he just sent me a message saying the truss rod size is either 4mm or 5mm
if he had my basses in front of him he could tell me for sure but he recalls it was again either 4mm or 5mm, hope this kind of helps.
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,084
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
I picked up my 1994 Sonus Special 6 that I purchased a few weeks ago via Craigslist (it was at a friend's house 300 miles away). Upon disassembly (it looks to have been stored away in a closet for at least a decade) it appears to have some kind of trussrod-like adjuster at the bridge end of the neck. Since it was made well before Zon started putting trussrods, I mean "relief adjustment rods" in their necks, I hadn't expected to see this.
Anybody know what this might be? If it's a trussrod adjuster, might this neck have gone back to Joe's shop to have had it added at some point? EDIT: Seller says he bought it new in the mid-to-late '90s from a reputable shop, and that the bass never went back to Joe.
Anybody know what this might be? If it's a trussrod adjuster, might this neck have gone back to Joe's shop to have had it added at some point? EDIT: Seller says he bought it new in the mid-to-late '90s from a reputable shop, and that the bass never went back to Joe.
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Oh, and you know you got lucky when you pull a battery out of the rear compartment that expired 8 years ago, with zero leaks or corrosion. 
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,230
- 45,084
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Thanks all. Got it ordered thanks to your assistance.
I'm pretty sure Joe wasn't doing truss rods back then. None of my Zons had one (fretless '97 Sonus Special 5, fretted '98 Sonus 5/1, fretless '99 Sonus 5/1).I picked up my 1994 Sonus Special 6 that I purchased a few weeks ago via Craigslist (it was at a friend's house 300 miles away). Upon disassembly (it looks to have been stored away in a closet for at least a decade) it appears to have some kind of trussrod-like adjuster at the bridge end of the neck. Since it was made well before Zon started putting trussrods, I mean "relief adjustment rods" in their necks, I hadn't expected to see this.
Anybody know what this might be? If it's a trussrod adjuster, might this neck have gone back to Joe's shop to have had it added at some point? EDIT: Seller says he bought it new in the mid-to-late '90s from a reputable shop, and that the bass never went back to Joe.
I picked up my 1994 Sonus Special 6 that I purchased a few weeks ago via Craigslist (it was at a friend's house 300 miles away). Upon disassembly (it looks to have been stored away in a closet for at least a decade) it appears to have some kind of trussrod-like adjuster at the bridge end of the neck. Since it was made well before Zon started putting trussrods, I mean "relief adjustment rods" in their necks, I hadn't expected to see this.
Anybody know what this might be? If it's a trussrod adjuster, might this neck have gone back to Joe's shop to have had it added at some point? EDIT: Seller says he bought it new in the mid-to-late '90s from a reputable shop, and that the bass never went back to Joe.
That looks like the truss/relief adjustment nut on a Moses neck from a bass I no longer have. Every Zon I've seen (admittedly - not a very many) with a truss-rod had a 5mm'ish allen/hex socket.
Did the seller say they bought it *directly* from the shop as 'first owner' or was it bought used? Wondering whether it might have visited the Moses workshop at somepoint to have the truss-rod fitted? In terms of high-quality graphite neck work in the US in the 90's, other than Zon, I only know of Modulus & Moses...
Edit: sorry, re-read your post, and saw you said the previous owner bought it NEW. in that case - what I wrote above is unlikely to be helpful.
Turns out that it is a stock trussrod, per Martin. 
They built certain basses that way for a short while, but apparently folks were breaking them by over-adjusting, so they stopped until they started using a much beefier 2-way trussrod in 2007.
They built certain basses that way for a short while, but apparently folks were breaking them by over-adjusting, so they stopped until they started using a much beefier 2-way trussrod in 2007.
Looking for a Zon 619 or 519 34" scale if anyone ever wants to sale. I’m assuming that it still takes a very long time to get one if custom ordered? Tried to custom order one years ago and the dealer wouldn’t take my money because of their bad reputation. Anyone know of any changes?
- Apr 29, 2003
- 9,078
- 9,800
- Disclosures
- Contributor- Bass Musician Magazine | Marketing Manager- Trickfish Amplification
519 is 35” 19mm so it sounds like you’re looking for a sonus or sonus custom with 19mm spacing.
my takeaway (or one of them) from this thread is that given the inconsistent wait times, one of the through lines is that custom orders seem to take longer. So I’d be more inclined to order a stock instrument than something that’s going to require a custom neck or custom electronics/hardware. It still doesn’t sound like that’s any kind of guarantee for a quoted timeline but customization seems to be one of the things that pushes timelines way out.
all that being said, as much as I love Zon basses, for me it would 100% be about finding an existing used one with a truss rod.
Curious to see that the discussion about the interpretation of 519 on the Zons is ongoing. as you suggest, sometimes it's taken to mean 3(5)"-(19)mm spacing, others take it to mean (5)-string (19)mm bridge.
I happen to have a 34" specimen (5-string) with a 19mm string spacing, and logged as Sonus 519 on both the outer documenet sleeve, as well as the 'Birth Certificate' inside the document pack.
Moral of the story? Perhaps if you're buying a 519 'remotely', explictily ask the seller to measure/double-check scale length just to be sure. Happy hunting (to the OP)!
