Official Zon Club Part 5

[hdfixer]

I have a VB5 I have decided to restring with flats. I purchased a set of LaBella deep talking bass but on the package they warn not to cut the string except at the windings or it will break.

Has anyone successfully put flats on a Vinny?

 

[hdfixer]

I have a VB5 I have decided to restring with flats. I purchased a set of LaBella deep talking bass but on the package they warn not to cut the string except at the windings or it will break.

Has anyone successfully put flats on a Vinny?

I picked up a standard set (45-125) of DR Hi-Beams and they sound great! No issues with the install.

 

[Benko]

Hello,

I need to come to realization that I'll never get my chops right for fretless so my Zon fretless is on the block :

Zon Sonus Fretless 5 | TalkBass.com

Reached out if you're interested!

 

[JuanB]

Hello,

I need to come to realization that I'll never get my chops right for fretless so my Zon fretless is on the block :

Zon Sonus Fretless 5 | TalkBass.com

Reached out if you're interested!

Don't do it! Don't expect perfection, just keep playing it and you will improve!

 

[ModuMan]

Hey, I'm thinking of selling my 1990 Legacy Elite V if anyone is interested. Goncalo Alves top.

Unsubstantiated story from when I bought the bass: this was an SWR test bass. I have absolutely nothing to back that up other than Martin saying "oh yeah, that sounds familiar" when I asked and supplied the serial number. In any event, it's in very good condition - the played but not abused kind.

 

[smeet]

Hey all, I just bought an older Sonus Custom 5-string. It feels good and plays nicely. The sound is good, but…

Normally I would expect a 2 pickup bass to have strongest sound with the neck pickup soloed. When blending 50/50 I expect a mid scoop and maybe slightly less volume.

With this bass the 50/50 blend is by far the loudest/strongest sound, with WAY more low mids than the neck pickup soloed. Neck soloed sounds a bit thin and weak in comparison, as does the bridge pickup soloed.

Seems weird to me, but I haven’t played a Zon before. Is this normal?

Also, the preamp looks a bit janky, with the circuit board just sitting loose on a piece of foam, and two 9v batteries, one of which is covered with electrical tape so it doesn’t short out the circuit. Pic attached below. Does this look like the original preamp? It has a trim pot and 12 dip switches, what do they do? Are there docs available for this pre?

Thanks!

 

[Vic]

Hey all, I just bought an older Sonus Custom 5-string. It feels good and plays nicely. The sound is good, but…

Normally I would expect a 2 pickup bass to have strongest sound with the neck pickup soloed. When blending 50/50 I expect a mid scoop and maybe slightly less volume.

With this bass the 50/50 blend is by far the loudest/strongest sound, with WAY more low mids than the neck pickup soloed. Neck soloed sounds a bit thin and weak in comparison, as does the bridge pickup soloed.

Seems weird to me, but I haven’t played a Zon before. Is this normal?

Also, the preamp looks a bit janky, with the circuit board just sitting loose on a piece of foam, and two 9v batteries, one of which is covered with electrical tape so it doesn’t short out the circuit. Pic attached below. Does this look like the original preamp? It has a trim pot and 12 dip switches, what do they do? Are there docs available for this pre?

Thanks!

View attachment 7075093

I can't tell you how to verify this, but on the surface this sounds exactly as if one of the pickups was wired backwards, which I believe would put them in series when combined. Series wired pickups are known to have more gain, a bit less high end, and a lot more low-mids to mids. That's what gives the Fender P bass it's earthy wooden sound... those two halves are wired in series.

Good luck!

 

[Fuzzbass]

Agree with Vic on series versus parallel. Series has greater output and mid focus compared to parallel.

 

[smeet]

One of the pickups backwards would put them out of phase, not series, right? And if the pickups were in series, I think the blend control wouldn’t work…? But that’s a good idea to make sure they are wired properly.

 

[Benko]

Hey all, I just bought an older Sonus Custom 5-string. It feels good and plays nicely. The sound is good, but…

Normally I would expect a 2 pickup bass to have strongest sound with the neck pickup soloed. When blending 50/50 I expect a mid scoop and maybe slightly less volume.

With this bass the 50/50 blend is by far the loudest/strongest sound, with WAY more low mids than the neck pickup soloed. Neck soloed sounds a bit thin and weak in comparison, as does the bridge pickup soloed.

Seems weird to me, but I haven’t played a Zon before. Is this normal?

Also, the preamp looks a bit janky, with the circuit board just sitting loose on a piece of foam, and two 9v batteries, one of which is covered with electrical tape so it doesn’t short out the circuit. Pic attached below. Does this look like the original preamp? It has a trim pot and 12 dip switches, what do they do? Are there docs available for this pre?

Thanks!

View attachment 7075093

I'm not sure what is your preamp here, is it the backside of the polyfusion (you got the Sonus Custom right?)

This is how it looks on mine, I'm not aware of 18v (ie 2 batteries) preamp used in Zon but again they can all be customized

Beside checking if the pickups are wired "correctly" you can have a look at if you need to upgrade the preamp (my 3 ZONs have all different flavor : 1 Barto, 1 Polyfusion, 1 OBP3...and they honestly all sound killer)

 

[Vic]

One of the pickups backwards would put them out of phase, not series, right? And if the pickups were in series, I think the blend control wouldn’t work…? But that’s a good idea to make sure they are wired properly.

You're right. Still odd tho... generally speaking, in phase is fairly equal, and out of phase you have some cancellation which would make dual/blended lower output, right? So still backwards from his experience. This is a wierd one.

 

[Fuzzbass]

One of the pickups backwards would put them out of phase, not series, right? And if the pickups were in series, I think the blend control wouldn’t work…? But that’s a good idea to make sure they are wired properly.

After surfing around a bit, series wiring is apparently possible (and somewhat popular?!) with J-style basses. And that includes basses with pan/blend. So, I learned something new today.

 

[Vic]

After surfing around a bit, series wiring is apparently possible (and somewhat popular?!) with J-style basses. And that includes basses with pan/blend. So, I learned something new today.

Yeah, but the blend is inactive when in series mode, so that still throws my initial comment out of the water... well... maybe... I saw the proposed circuit, and I think it might function (tho poorly), and maybe even provide the OP's results, since basically you're taking "a" pickup and basically turning half of it on or off to get the bridge vs neck sounds. IMHO, that's a terrible solution, but I now wonder if that is what happened to this Custom?

Good find.

 

[kesslari]

Smells like someone mucked with it, and a proper rewiring is in order. Perhaps with a "know what this is" preamp.

 

[smeet]

I'm not sure what is your preamp here, is it the backside of the polyfusion (you got the Sonus Custom right?)

This is how it looks on mine, I'm not aware of 18v (ie 2 batteries) preamp used in Zon but again they can all be customized

View attachment 7075465

Beside checking if the pickups are wired "correctly" you can have a look at if you need to upgrade the preamp (my 3 ZONs have all different flavor : 1 Barto, 1 Polyfusion, 1 OBP3...and they honestly all sound killer)

Yeah, it’s a Sonus Custom. But the preamp board has no brand name on it. And the surface I showed is the “front”. The other side is just the solder points. And, the board is just sitting on top of a chunk of generic non-fitted foam, and it has two batteries even though the cavity only has room for one. So almost definitely not the original preamp.

Smells like someone mucked with it, and a proper rewiring is in order. Perhaps with a "know what this is" preamp.

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about the John East Uni Pre. I hope it would fit, it is a big preamp.

 

[31HZ]

That's 100% not a factory-installed preamp, if that hasn't already been determined.

 

[Benko]

I'm indeed curious what kind of pre-amp is that, I would probably look into upgrading it, the Polyfusion is (almost) impossible to get separately

For reference here is the OBP-3 in my Sonus Custom 4 :

and the Bartolini in my 519-34 :

 

[smeet]

OK, I just got off the phone with somebody at Zon (not Joe). As already determined, it is NOT anything that Zon makes or uses. The installation seems to have been done pretty crudely, resulting in the aforementioned strange blend behavior. The original preamp was a Polyfusion ZP-2.

I would have to mail my bass to Zon to have the ZP-2 installed. So... Seeking opinions and experience - Polyfusion ZP-2, or John East Uni-Pre? The Uni-Pre has sweepable mids, a passive mode, a bright switch, and configurable low and hi frequency controls. Is the Polyfusion better for this instrument in some way?

By the way, here's some more pics. The back side of the preamp board (says basstec?):


And the pickups, are these original? Neck:

Bridge:

 

[smeet]

Oh also, the bass was made in 2012 and not 2004. I don't care either way, but what if any difference is there between basses in those years?

 

[Jefus]

I would have to mail my bass to Zon to have the ZP-2 installed. So... Seeking opinions and experience

I would recommend strongly against sending something to Zon. It is hit or miss that you will get it back in a reasonable time. If you haven't looked it over already, check out the pinned post about Zon at the top of the Basses forum. Some people are getting repairs back, others have been waiting years. Personally, I'm 3 1/2 years into a "14 month build", for full disclosure.

This may be a great opportunity to really lean on the "Custom" in the name of your bass and add whatever preamp you like. Personally, I love the Tone Capsules and I usually add a passive tone to them.

I'll be interested to see which way you go with the preamp. And I'd love to hear samples of before and after!

Cheers!