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Official Zon Club Part 5

#1,241
Maiden Bass said:
FYI Joe is in the process of reducing his wait times. I'm not exactly sure how he's doing it (didn't go into the details) but he did tell me that they are working diligently on reducing wait times for ALL orders! All meaning both current and future orders!

:thumbsup:
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That's great news. Placed my order for a headless Sonus 519 on June 8th, and was quoted an 8 month turnaround. I'd be thrilled with that!
 
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#1,243
Maiden Bass said:
Is this your first Zon?

Wait until you play it!
You are in a for a fantastic surprise!
:D
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It'll be *my* first Zon, but I'd played a few already. Including recently: I was on the fence about my custom order, but then I played the Sonus 619 at my local dealer :woot:, and went completely over the fence.
 
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#1,244
Fuzzbass said:
It'll be *my* first Zon, but I'd played a few already. Including recently: I was on the fence about my custom order, but then I played the Sonus 619 at my local dealer :woot:, and went completely over the fence.
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Yea once you start playing a Zon composite neck all other basses will just not interest you anymore.

I have an absolutely incredible brand new Spector Forte (which I'm currently selling in the classifieds) and without a doubt it's one of the nicest basses that I've EVER owned in my life. Could not stop playing it when I got it, it's that good! But then once my Zons showed up it's like I don't even want to touch any other bass, no matter how good, except my Zons!

So I guess the only negative to having a Zon is be prepared to sell your other basses, unless you just like collecting dust with them. :laugh:
 
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#1,247
I enjoy variety far too much to have a favorite bass, but I'm looking forward to having a CF-necked bass in my collection again. For decades I had a Music Man Cutlass I (Stingray with CF neck) -- loved it. When I went to five-string I owned a Modulus Quantum: nice bass, but the overall tone was a bit too modern for my taste, which I believe was more from the EMG pickups and 35" scale than from the CF neck. I'm confident I'll love the tone of my Sonus 519 (fwiw it'll be 34" scale with bart pups).
 
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#1,249
Fuzzbass said:
I enjoy variety far too much to have a favorite bass, but I'm looking forward to having a CF-necked bass in my collection again. For decades I had a Music Man Cutlass I (Stingray with CF neck) -- loved it. When I went to five-string I owned a Modulus Quantum: nice bass, but the overall tone was a bit too modern for my taste, which I believe was more from the EMG pickups and 35" scale than from the CF neck. I'm confident I'll love the tone of my Sonus 519 (fwiw it'll be 34" scale with bart pups).
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FYI years ago Zon used Modulus Graphite necks. I talked to Joe about why they eventually made their own necks and part of the reason is of course because the patent expired, but a bigger reason is because Joe tuned his neck to sound more wood-like and not as Hi-Fi sounding (or modern as you described it) as a Modulus.

I've done direct comparisons of Modulus vs Zon and there is a big difference between the actual tone of the instruments. Sure the EMGs sound different than Barts, but if you notice Joe is making more Zons with EMGs now (like the recent one he made for Conner Green) yet they still sound like a Zon and not a Modulus!

 
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#1,250
kesslari said:
My-Three-Sons-Cast-1967-CBS-TV-wiki-pd.jpg
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I'm getting ready to put down a deposit for my third Zon! But it will probably be around a year until I actually get to join the "My Three Zons" club!
:laugh::D:cool:
 
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#1,251
Maiden Bass said:
FYI years ago Zon used Modulus Graphite necks. I talked to Joe about why they eventually made their own necks and part of the reason is of course because the patent expired, but a bigger reason is because Joe tuned his neck to sound more wood-like and not as Hi-Fi sounding (or modern as you described it) as a Modulus.

I've done direct comparisons of Modulus vs Zon and there is a big difference between the actual tone of the instruments. Sure the EMGs sound different than Barts, but if you notice Joe is making more Zons with EMGs now (like the recent one he made for Conner Green) yet they still sound like a Zon and not a Modulus!

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My Music Man Cutlass had a Modulus neck.

Both EMG and bartolini make a lot of different kinds of pickups and preamps so there's lots of variety within each brand. Over the years I've installed EMGs in some basses with fantastic results, so I shouldn't have implied that it was just an EMG thing. Maybe I would have preferred a Quantum with warmer electronics and a wood fingerboard. All that said, I'm sure I'll like my Sonus much better than the Quantum.
 
#1,252
Fuzzbass said:
My Music Man Cutlass had a Modulus neck.

Both EMG and bartolini make a lot of different kinds of pickups and preamps so there's lots of variety within each brand. Over the years I've installed EMGs in some basses with fantastic results, so I shouldn't have implied that it was just an EMG thing. Maybe I would have preferred a Quantum with warmer electronics and a wood fingerboard. All that said, I'm sure I'll like my Sonus much better than the Quantum.
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I agree!

One other factor to consider is Modulus made neck throughs, and Zon only makes Bolt ons and set / glued on necks. I found that the modulus neck throughs sounded very sterile (not warm) to me, compared to bolt ons or set necks!
 
#1,254
Fuzzbass said:
My Modulus Quantum 5 was a bolt-on, but even so I'd have called it sterile (perhaps because of the electronics). Variety is a great thing, some players love the clarity/transparency, but it was too modern for my taste. The Zons I've played have had the right balance of being transparent/clear but also warm/organic.
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+1 to the above quote.
My Zon Legacy Elite VI sounds exactly as described in the above quote.
 
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#1,255
Fuzzbass said:
My Modulus Quantum 5 was a bolt-on, but even so I'd have called it sterile (perhaps because of the electronics). Variety is a great thing, some players love the clarity/transparency, but it was too modern for my taste. The Zons I've played have had the right balance of being transparent/clear but also warm/organic.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I don't like wood necks anymore! Because the Zon neck gives me everything (that blend you described)!
It's really hard for me to go back to wood necks after playing a Zon because you loose some of that (transparent clear tone as you described)!
 
#1,257
Hey Zoninites,
I'm not as much into the collecting aspect of bass as I used to be, but many years ago decided that if I got a birth year bass, I would get a Buffalo-made Zon to make it a birthplace bass as well. However, after years of casual searching, I've never seen any '87 Zons for sale. I know that Zon moved to California in September of '87... was there a lull in production in preparation for the move? Am I looking for something that doesn't exist? If anyone here has one, I'd love to see pictures!
 
#1,258
blixild said:
Hey Zoninites,
I'm not as much into the collecting aspect of bass as I used to be, but many years ago decided that if I got a birth year bass, I would get a Buffalo-made Zon to make it a birthplace bass as well. However, after years of casual searching, I've never seen any '87 Zons for sale. I know that Zon moved to California in September of '87... was there a lull in production in preparation for the move? Am I looking for something that doesn't exist? If anyone here has one, I'd love to see pictures!
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I think it's just that you're looking for something rather rare. Used Zons come up fairly infrequently much less ones from 1987. In addition to that, how many instruments in general from the 80s do you see for sale? I've seen one from that era pop up occasionally but it may take a while. Good luck in your search! Maybe post in wanted ads?
 
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#1,259
dhagopian said:
I think it's just that you're looking for something rather rare. Used Zons come up fairly infrequently much less ones from 1987. In addition to that, how many instruments in general from the 80s do you see for sale? I've seen one from that era pop up occasionally but it may take a while. Good luck in your search! Maybe post in wanted ads?
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Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I figured they were pretty rare. I'm not super familiar with Zon, so I didn't know what kind of production levels he was at back then. I'm not into the collecting aspect as much nowadays, so I'm going to "let it find me" rather than actively trying to acquire one, and if it never does, no big deal.
 
#1,260
engedi1 said:
Hey zon friends. I recently acquired a 1998 Sonus V which I love to death. It has the Bart three band pre with mid selector. I have to admit the only thing I don't like about this bass is the preamp. I have never liked this preamp, which I had in a Modulus and then in a Lakland USA. The high end is very boring, uninspired, and seems compressed. I am curious if people here have had good luck with various other pre-amps. I love Sadowsky pre-amps which I have in my jazz bass, and LOVE the high end I get, both fingerstyle and slap, with that bass. I am also curious if anyone has put an Aguilar OBP-3 or similar and found it to be an improvement. Any feedback would be appreciated.
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Heya,

just read this post and ... by chance just received a 1996 Sonus 5 which was modified with an OBP-3, Bartolini single coils.

What an instrument, light as a feather, well below 4 kg! It`s one of those you pick up and she talks to you: "I want to play funk!", "I want to be slapped!", " I want to play staccato 16th!".
Compared to my other Sonus 5, 2001, original preamp, Bartolini humbucker, this is a different approach to bass.
I am extremely satisfied with the combination of pickups and preamp, they seem to match soundwise. I also like the option to completely bypass the preamp - which changes sound towards a kind of über-Jazzbass.
The OBP-3 to my feel sits at the right frequencies, bass boosts up to earthquake, treble adds sizzle and presence and the two mid-frequencies are well chosen.

I must admit - I'm never using the preamp to the extremes - I like to set my overall sound on the amp and then use the pre to finetune the sound-character to the song, without leaving the center-sound too much. Better pan the PUs a bit than using the EQ is my approach. And there I find the +/- 18 db WAAYYY to much, I'd rather have 6dbs total boost/cut. This would allow a more precise tuning - with the OBP-3 as is I find myself just moving the pots micrometerwise.

Overall verdict: a good combination!

Cheers,
Tom
 
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