Official Zon Club Part 5

[BluesWalker]

Cool. Is it the standard narrow string spacing and bolt-on?

yes and yes, string spacing is 16.5 mm

 

[basschanges]

Madonna Mia, that is beautiful. It's somewhat comforting to know you went through the same delays. Jeez, now I'm wishing I got both basses with the same 32 inch scale.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

yes and yes, string spacing is 16.5 mm

Hopefully the bass will be perfect for you. If it's not, let me know

 

[bobunit]

My fretted TJ5 is arriving at the Zon shop today to have the preamp reinstalled with a switch added and to have the fingerboard extension cut off so there will be room to slap. Martin said it should take just two days, so I'm hoping that stays true.

I sent in my Sonus to have the bridge replaced and a blend pot added. Martin quoted a couple days and sure enough it was done as quoted.

 

[Stachio]

Sounds like I've been caught in the Bartolini spiral which has pushed back my delivery date, but expecting this one at the end of May:
- Sonus TJ6 string
- Bubinga top
- Gallery top
- Matching headstock
- Wenge tone plate- Fretless, 1/2 lined, 1/2 blank
- Fingerboard extended to pickup
- Ramp between pickups
- 16.5mm string spacing
- Black hardware
- Bartolini pickups moved closer to bridge
- Radiused humbucker pickups (standard pickups but radiused)
- 3-band EQ (no selector switch)
- Bartolini electronics with volume on front and rear accessible controls

Looking forward to it. Hope to have some pics soon.

Anyone see Dick Lovgren's new Zon? Not everyone's cup of tea but I really dig it.

 

[Angus]

Sounds like a killer spec! What body wood did you go with?

Pretty awesome that they built a bass for Lovgren- I'd love to see them live with a Zon on stage. I've seen Meshuggah 6-7 times now, and they're always great.

 

[Stachio]

Thanks, Angus. You've got a killer collection.
Going alder on this one. That will be a first for me.
Talking to Joe, the electronics on Dick's bass were pretty intense: individual pickup EQ's with a buffered output. He said this would be the last time they did this type of setup.

 

[basschanges]

Everyone talks about Fodera's ingenuity, rightly so. But I think Zon is the most inventive and utilitarian bass builder in the States right now. (I would say world but that would make me ignorant, since there are a TON of foreign builders I know nothing about)

 

[Angus]

I think I would associate ingenuity with Zon way, way before Fodera, honestly.

 

[basschanges]

Well, the standard Fodera is a design that's basically been unchanged since Vinny started working with Ken Smith in the 70s right? But they have done some cool stuff with their artists, the Presentation bass, Victor's bow bass. Still I agree, Zon is the ultimate in ingenuity and maximizing utility. That's why I'm waiting for them to produce my instruments and not Fodera

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I think I would associate ingenuity with Zon way, way before Fodera, honestly.

I dunno, Angus- they found a pretty ingenious way to make your 33" bass play like a 36" scale

 

[Angus]

I dunno, Angus- they found a pretty ingenious way to make your 33" bass play like a 36" scale

A 33" bass that plays like 36" would be a disaster! I'd rather have a 36" that played like a 33".

It has a good B string. Nothing ingenious.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

A 33" bass that plays like 36" would be a disaster! I'd rather have a 36" that played like a 33".

It has a good B string. Nothing ingenious.

Huh? I mean the one where they put the bridge way up on the body.

 

[Angus]

Huh? I mean the one where they put the bridge way up on the body.

Oh! I thought you were making fun of my usually-overly-enthusiastic descriptions.

Yes, they sure did. That one was a mess.

 

[Addison]

Dick Lövgren has been a ZON artist for almost two years now... he's been playing a custom Sonus live on a song or three live. Unfortunately, he got it just after they finished filming for their last live DVD.

Here's a pic of their tech, Kent, wiping it down during a show...

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And here's a video of Dick playing it for an interesting improvised session with renowned Swedish composer, Jesper Nordin.



The electronics in it are crazy... each pickup has its own individual preamp, so gain, EQ and everything is done separately for each pickup.

The Explorer bass was a first for Zon... and he loved it. He played it at Kirk Hammet's horror fest show the same night he got it and we're waiting for some pics from him.

I'll post them when I get them... it came out killer.

 

[Addison]

I think I would associate ingenuity with Zon way, way before Fodera, honestly.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[BluesWalker]

The electronics in it are crazy... each pickup has its own individual preamp, so gain, EQ and everything is done separately for each pickup.

Sounds like something Phil Lesh and Alembic did year ago

 

[Addison]

Sounds like something Phil Lesh and Alembic did year ago

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply it was the first one or anything... what I meant by "crazy" has more to do with the design they decided on.

Check it out...

There's a single master volume knob on deck... so the bass only has one knob.

The EQ, individual pickup volumes and preamp output gains are all controlled through mini pots in the back of the bass.

It's the ultimate "set it and forget it" rig for someone who is incredibly particular about getting their signature tone, while not having to worry about it anymore while they're playing.

 

[Angus]

I did that with my '92 Sonus 4 about 10 years ago.

A very cool bass!! I had no idea he was using Zon- I saw them about a year and a half ago, and he was definitely not using one on stage.

 

[BluesWalker]

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply it was the first one or anything... what I meant by "crazy" has more to do with the design they decided on.

Check it out...



There's a single master volume knob on deck... so the bass only has one knob.

The EQ, individual pickup volumes and preamp output gains are all controlled through mini pots in the back of the bass.

It's the ultimate "set it and forget it" rig for someone who is incredibly particular about getting their signature tone, while not having to worry about it anymore while they're playing.

That is pretty cool!