• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Official Zon Club Part 5

#61
Musicman1901 said:
Yeah I would have to flip the wal to buy the zon :hmm: I cant afford to have 2 basses of that value. I think the zon will shine in the areas where the wal lacks but I just fear the zon not getting a gutsy enough sound. I know its not gonna mimic a wal, nor do I want it to. I just want to make sure im able to get some of that growly low end
Click to expand...

If you love your Wal, my suggestion - there's no hurry. No babies will die if you don't buy a Zon this week. Make time to get to where you can play one. You're talking two big decisions - selling a Wal and buying a Zon.
 
#62
Don't know if Angus is hanging around these days; but I finally installed the U-Retro in place of the Polyfusion in my Sonus Special 5. Night and day difference. Thanks for the recommendation.

Took me a while to get up the courage to drill that 1/4" Bubinga top; and, in fact, there was, sadly, a bit of damage. Tough wood to work with. Literally.

But, the Polyfusion had to go. Don't know if it was fried or what; because that's the way it was when I received the bass. Lower output than my passive Jazz Bass.

Anyhow, the Retro (Deluxe) has tons of get up and go and good tones. Going to take a bit of work to learn it. Everything is interactive.:hyper:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dean N
#63
kesslari said:
If you love your Wal, my suggestion - there's no hurry. No babies will die if you don't buy a Zon this week. Make time to get to where you can play one. You're talking two big decisions - selling a Wal and buying a Zon.
Click to expand...

Haha I enjoyed your way of wording it. Yeah, I am really wanting a Zon but I would def. have to dump the wal to get it so I would have a hard time selling such an expensive bass then buying such an expensive bass without being 100% sure. There are not alot of clips/videos of Zon's online either which does not help. I cant even decide which pickup style I would want. I like the classic sonus 4 alot but the sonus custom with the humbuckers looks awesome too. Decisions :rollno:
 
#69
Yah, here's a link to a short thread about the ACG differences, and at the bottom there is a link to a UK page with samples.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f38/acg-preamp-john-east-u-retro-896681/

See what you meant about the filters. Sort of reminds me of my Alembic. They are different and offer more variations.

I had a pretty specific tone in mind for the Sonus. The Retro delivers that.
 
#70
bucephylus said:
Don't know if Angus is hanging around these days; but I finally installed the U-Retro in place of the Polyfusion in my Sonus Special 5. Night and day difference. Thanks for the recommendation.
Click to expand...

I am! Just a bit less lately as I've been very busy traveling.

Glad the recommendation worked! I love the preamp. Though I do either let someone more proficient than I with woodworking to drill into the finish top, or I use a simple reamer. The reamer is always a safe solution and won't chip it out.

As far as the ACG discussion, I had the filter-based preamp in my 5 string Zon at first, and it was AWESOME for a select set of tones, but then also could not do a number of other things I wanted. It nailed a reggae-friendly low-passed sound, and did a great Wal impression on my bass, but it was hard to get much in between. I wanted more control of the midrange in particular. In the end it was a horrible fit with the Lane Poor pickups, which tend to need a bit of bolsering on the bottom end. If you get a bass with really bassy pickups and a very full, even sound, then the preamp works better imo. It was a little too specialized for my needs, so I swapped back to the standard U-Retro.

I would try it again now that East is offering the dual-filter setup that actually shows up in ACG basses, where each pickup has it's own filter controls. This would be way more ideal, as you can leave the bridge pickup in full range, and low-pass the hell out of the neck pickup. I'll probably try at some point in a future instrument.

There will be another soon. :D
 
#73
Angus said:
Oh really?! Who did you get your doctorate with? Awesome. Was here for a long time, then moved to New Haven, CT for a bit, and now I'm back.
Click to expand...


I was in Materials Science. Worked with Huggins, Nix, and Barnett. Bravman was a classmate (dates me). So many great people there.

I also did a couple years in New Haven. Didn't have such a great time there but loved Pepe's Pizza.
 
#74
In bands, playing in rehearsal or live seems to be a major game changer in comparison to playing alone with just your rig or checking a piece out in a music store.Part of that for me in a live situation was playing heavier rock and metal.Those types of guitar players with four twelve cabinets gained up in loud rock fashion always seem to put the tone you searched for out the window.Having a rig that could stand up to that and still sound favorable would quickly appear as a more prominent need at that moment.Any subtle or not so subtle tone quality be it string choice, pickup selection ,pre amp brand etc almost fell to the wayside.
In my musical situations in bands within my life, being able to produce good loud rock tone live seemed to rule the day over fussing about my tone elements alone at lower volumes because it didn't seem to be as noticeable once the volume was turned up and the band blazed trail up over the pass in true rock fashion.No one ever said -what was your onboard eq setting ?People have said - that kicked my ass.Funny how we are so fuss driven about our tone.I never can tell what preamps people are using in their bass when Iam listening to songs on the radio in my car on the way to work. I have used Aguilar,Bartolini,and Audere all with good results.Whats happening off board with your amp and cab(s) seems a bit more noticeable to me.Out of all those the Bartolini seemed to be very good in a Genesis bass but none of them seemed to be the "golden ticket" to the tone I was after over other considerations.Sometimes Iam reduced to being overwhelmed by having two sets of tone controls and just want non active electronics to simplify things because in the end it doesn't matter as long as Iam getting the good solid tone I want coming out of those cabs. Zon certainly fits the bill with doing that!
 
  • Like
Reactions: FlatwoundFunk
#75
For those interested in the ACG preamps. As Angus pointed out it works as a system if you have two Lowpass filters. This is the reason the 02 version of the preamp has been dropped you really need to have the Lowpass filter for each pickup in order to get the best from filter preamps. If anyone has any questions feel free and I will do my best to supple the answers.
 
#78
golower said:
In bands, playing in rehearsal or live seems to be a major game changer in comparison to playing alone with just your rig or checking a piece out in a music store.
Click to expand...

This is one of the hardest but most important lessons to learn about gear, if you're going to play in live settings often. You simply never know how something is going to sound at gig/rehearsal volume and in a full band mix until you try it in that setting. I've played tons of gear that sounds amazing at home but gets lost in the band mix, as well as plenty that seems unspectacular when solo'd but shines live.

With my first Zon on the way, my only concern is what will happen on that fateful moment of truth when I first fire it up with the band going at full volume...
 
  • Like
Reactions: FlatwoundFunk
#79
MCS4 said:
This is one of the hardest but most important lessons to learn about gear, if you're going to play in live settings often. You simply never know how something is going to sound at gig/rehearsal volume and in a full band mix until you try it in that setting. I've played tons of gear that sounds amazing at home but gets lost in the band mix, as well as plenty that seems unspectacular when solo'd but shines live.

With my first Zon on the way, my only concern is what will happen on that fateful moment of truth when I first fire it up with the band going at full volume...
Click to expand...

I've had that same issue with a number of rather nice basses. In my fusion 3 piece I can say my Zon throws hammers in the mix, especially as I take solos.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kesslari
#80
This is the piece of Koa being used for my Legacy Elite 6 string that Joe Zon picked out for me.
Man I'm so freaking stoked here I can't wait to receive this bass.
 

Attachments

  • ZON_Koa_for_John_T_2_14.jpg
    ZON_Koa_for_John_T_2_14.jpg
    47.2 KB · Views: 608

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back