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Official Zon Club Part 5

I played the Legacy Elite at practice last night (through a Mesa/Boogie Prodigy head and Traditional PH410), and it was nothing but smiles all night. First off, that neck is so darned comfortable! It feels like an old friend, already. Tonally, I am really digging the way this bass speaks. It has a certain "punchy" articulation to it, but so often, if a bass has a "punchy midrange," it can also be described as "ganky" or "boxy." I suspect that this is the result of a stronger response in a fairly narrow band of frequencies (or maybe a couple such "peaks" in the frequency response). But this Zon has that "enhanced, strong articulation" which often comes with basses that are "punchy," but it doesn't have the obvious frequency peaks, or "gank." At least not with the pickups fully blended. Favor the bridge pickup, and you do get a nice burpy bark (and before anyone else says it, yes, Burpy Bark is playing Coachella this year ;)). But again, with the pickups blended, the Legacy Elite has that strong midrange voice, with great "in the mix" articulation, but it still sounds so balanced and even from top to bottom. The bass does lean ever so little to the "dark side" with the EQ set flat, but not in a bad way. Dial in just a little treble boost, though, and that evens out.

When I placed the order for this bass, I knew that I'd be following up later on down the line with a 5-string, 19mm spacing Zon. I was initially leaning towards a Sonus 519, but if this love affair with the Legacy Elite 4 continues, I just may have to get a matching Legacy Elite 5. :cool:
 
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Here's a mid-90's (I believe) Legacy Standard with a composite neck and midrange adjustment made though the back of the body. I picked it up from GC online and besides a tiny ding below the bridge, the thing is perfect. Not a single other blemish!

The neck feels a bit chunky to me but the sound is phemonenal. Amazing clarity across the fretboard.



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Here's a mid-90's (I believe) Legacy Standard with a composite neck and midrange adjustment made though the back of the body. I picked it up from GC online and besides a tiny ding below the bridge, the thing is perfect. Not a single other blemish!

The neck feels a bit chunky to me but the sound is phemonenal. Amazing clarity across the fretboard.



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Hey beautiful bass, I still wish Zon still made these bolt-on versions.
 
I played the Legacy Elite at practice last night (through a Mesa/Boogie Prodigy head and Traditional PH410), and it was nothing but smiles all night...
I know exactly what you mean, tho in my case, the love affair continues with my Sonii. :)
 
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I've got a question for all Zon users. What type/brand of strings you use on your Zons?
On my fretless Sonus, I have used light gauge (.040, .060, .080, .100) Fodera 'handmade round core' nickel strings for the last couple of years and I have been very happy with them. I get them from Dave at Ultimate Basses (Link Removed), Guelph, Ontario for Canadian players. He is OliveFodera on TalkBass.
 
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So today I had the chance to try out some Zon basses at a local GTG just outside Stockholm, Sweden.

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Very nice to get some quality time comparing these different models. They were all very individual and unique in tone, with the 4-string Custom and the 5/2 coming out as my favorites of the bunch. Interestingly enough, when I compared them to my own bass (see avatar picture), I realized that I am more of a set neck person when it comes to tone. I would love to try a Legacy or some kind of Sonus (Elite?) with SN construction.

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Interesting pickup placement on the VB4.
That's what's known as the "Special" pickup placement... whenever you see "Special" in the description of a Zon, it means that the pickups are closer together and are placed further back towards the bridge.

It gives a nice burpy, punchy tone... not everybody's cup of tea, but it can really help you cut through if you're into that kind of thing.
 
That's what's known as the "Special" pickup placement... whenever you see "Special" in the description of a Zon, it means that the pickups are closer together and are placed further back towards the bridge.

It gives a nice burpy, punchy tone... not everybody's cup of tea, but it can really help you cut through if you're into that kind of thing.


Thanks for adding that. I was just checking out a Legacy std at the local shop today that has that pickup placement and wondered about it. Definitely has the punch - almost Wal-like to some degree.
 
FYI... if you haven't been following the Facebook feed at all, they got a huge shipment of the Mosaic Mojo basses in and they were really impressed with the quality and construction. People at NAMM loved these things.

They're now all set up at the shop and available for sale.

http://www.zonguitars.com/zonguitars/mojo/

For the record, I don't make any money or commissions (or anything at all for that matter) for doing this... just thought I'd pass on the information for anyone who might be interested.
 
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