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should I buy a zon sonus?

sifi76

sifi76

Mar 14, 2007
447
174
New Zealand
#1
Hey all

A friend of mine in germany has offered to sell me his zon sonus custom 4 for a steal. It's got a pretty nice lacewood top, and d-tuner along with the usual bart soaps, and a classic zon '4 knob' pre-amp. Couple of nicks here and there, but no issues. I play rock and metal mostly but also some funk, and tend to favour a very aggressive mid-heavy 'ray/jazz' tone. Clarity is the most important factor to me so the graphite neck has me interested. Is this bass a good option for that style? I know adam duce from machine head plays a sonus, and bart williams from black dahlia murder but I figure they would be good for rock or even funk in general. Also, I'm used to maple necks, satin and finished, is the switch to graphite an easy one or even that noticeable at all?

If any zon owners can help me out that would be great
 
#3
I've owned several and found them to be excellent basses. There was no "transitioning" from a regular wood neck to the Zon graphite neck for me. The phenowood fretboad gives the Zon a more "wood-like" tone rather than what is sometimes described as a sterile tone from some other graphite necked instruments. If the price is right I'd jump on it.
 
#4
I didn't buy my Zon to immulate a MM; more of an opportunity to buy from a company that will respond to you..I know.. they get busy sometimes. Initially I wanted a 5 string fretless with Barts. For $100 more, I ordered a 6. As I hadn't made thatg kind of financial commitment to an instrument before, I was a little too shy. I wish I had gone all-out; L.E.D.'s , Zon strap, shirt, hat etc.

A couple of years before I bought my Sonus, I was trying-out basses at GC. I was actually blindfolded, so as not to be impressed with headstocks or labels. I brought my powered headphones, so I could hear individual basses without partiallity toward an amp's tone. When the salesman brought me the Zon, within moments, I snatched off the blindfold..I could not believe my ears; had to see what was making all of this beautifuul noise; it was a Zon Sonus fretted. 2 years later, I placed my order. [ GC Atlanta no longer carries ZON]

I was friends with the late Greg Curbow, R I P, but his basses for same specs cost thousands more. I looked at Pedulla, Ken Smith as well as others and bought exactly what I wanted in a "Boutique bass" from ZON for thousands less than other manufacturers. My Sonus 6 custom fretless is 11 years old; no issues or complaints.

It sounds fabulous;looks beautiful and plays like butter. I only wish I was worth of the instrument..I AM NOT.

I have had no need for "customer service"..PERIOD.

You will not regret buying a Zon Sonus.
 
#7
I have never played one, but I've seen them played live several times in clubs around here. Even though I can play better than the bassists using them, :D, they still sounded great. They have a very even tone all over the fretboard and cut through the mix very well. They seem versatile to me so they would fit just about any style you could think of.
 
#11
You'll be hard pressed to find a better bass at any price than a Zon. And a huge plus if you tour much is that the neck will not budge. Your action and feel will be the same in New Orleans as it will be in Calgary. ( Or, in your case, the same in the South of France as it will be in Norway) And the sound is great. My Sonus Custom sounds like a hi-fi vintage jazz bass.
 
#12
Ok this is starting to sound like the way to go.. the lacewood finish isn't anything special, I'm a buckeye boy at heart but I can get over that.. she has a few dings, but nothing over a small dent, and there's a tiny chip or two off the head, but again, surface dents only and tiny.

oh and it's being offered at aprox $1500 USA to me, so I guess this is a good deal? I was also looking at a sr5 HH stealth, but I figure the zon is probably miles ahead in quality, both from a engineering standpoint, and in tone, and prob closer to my old spector euro's haz-lab growl, which it is replacing.. hmmm, I should prob pull the trigger on this, yeah? :hmm:
 
#13
I know it's not a Zon, but I have a Modulus. I also have a Music Man. I have played a few Zon's and they are NOT miles ahead in engineering or tone. They are all great basses in their own right. One doesn't really outshine the other. They all do their thing great and do most really good.

That being said, you can't lose. You'll have a great bass. Sometimes wood matters. I haven't played a bad Zon yet!
 
#14
BTW, I never noticed the difference from wood to graphite. What I DID notice was some notes were not dead and came alive. I also noticed it stayed in tune longer and I NEVER had to adjust the neck from room to outdoors. That was worth it. I still have a few basses, but will always play Mod outdoors. Some think it's sterile, but pups and amps can change lots of minds. Kinda brighter sounding, but that can be rolled off.
 
#16
I play a 5 string Zon Sonus. Had it about a year and a half, and love it. It's a bit modded, but the tones are even and flexible. As mine is essentially passive, I use a preamp pedal to alter eq, but it's honestly incredible straight into the amp. In recordings it often catches me off guard just how nice it sounds straight. I'd originally got interested in the Zon because of Billy Gould from Faith No More using one. FNM have incredibly broad song styles, and I thought anything that flexible was worth looking at, as I am just as interested in diversity.

For playing, it took very little time to get used to it... honestly, it felt like it was built for me (I bought it from a TBer). Just feels so right, and as has been said, the neck is awesome, very fast and sensitive to touch. I've played through a bunch of basses, and none really felt so quickly like home. Most people I let play the bass make the same comment. My guitarist in my band didn't much like it, whereas the Stingray was his 'home' /shrug

That siad, I haven't much liked pick tone. I play 95% with fingers, but the times I've gone pick, something just sounds uncool... especially on the D and G. Others may have different experience with their Zons though.

Customer service, in my experience, has been weak.. I've had quite frustrating service responses... mostly from them being incredibly busy, from what people have said. Which is fair enough, but not if you're a customer trying to get some info/parts shipped out. Others have had similar poor service, while others have nothing but glowing praises. So really depends on the allignment of the stars that day, I guess.

I paid the same for mine, and couldn't be happier... it's a really great price. I have seen 4 strings go down to $1200 price range, but it's rare even to see a Zon pop up, let alone for those prices.

Good luck!
 
#17
A little late to the party but... I just got a Sonus 4/2 in trade. My normal go-to bass is an EBMM Sterling. Nothing feels like a good MM oiled neck to me, but moving to the Zon has been no problem. The 24-fret neck sits 'normally' for me - a lot of 24s feel way out left. Every note on the neck is pure and strong. The frets are larger than my ideal preference, but they are finished so nicely I can easily deal with them. I'm finding that I need to play the Zon with my top-level technique. My old slurs and hammer-ons need a little more precision on the Zon, but the rewards are there. Chords especially ring beautifully, each note is very articulate. So yeah, get the Zon, it's a great bass that might make you play better!
 
#18
Ok, so good news thanks to all the advice I finally went the Zon way and got a hold of an even better deal going, a zon sonus 4, the j pup's are more my style, and it's in a very restrained natural ash finish.. which is good cause I won't get any "colour clash" moments on stage lol.. it's the usual sonus control setup, one stacked pot, vol and blend but it also has a midrange "pick/screwdriver" adjustable dial that is a custom option installed on the front.. oh and there isn't a dent or scratch on it.. picked it up for 1500 usd, which I think is a pretty good deal considering what it is.. now I just have to wait for it to get over here :hyper:

methinks I'll be joining the tb zon club pretty soon :D

in the meantime, I'm gonna go listen to some FNM, Machine Head and Black Dahlia Murder for some sweet zon tones
 
#19
I'm sure you'll love it. The 4/2 (black, also clash-free!) has become my usual go-to bass since I got it over the summer. It's really versatile tone-wise and always sounds great. It's a joy to play and is incredibly comfortable all night.
 
#20
Yeah It's on it's way to me as we speak.. I was looking for a bass with a very articulate and pronouced voice, because I play a lot of chords and harmonics in my band and well those notes tend to die or aren't as clear on everything else I have tried so far (warwick streamer lx and ss1, spector euro and usa, stingray and sterling both H and HH, various fenders, lakland 44-94's with Hanson and Bart and Chi-sonics pickups etc etc) Some fellow tb'ers recommended Zon (handy considering I dig billy gould's tone.. well after the aria he used to play that is) I was looking initially at modulus because I figured graphite might solve my problems but was put off by the 35 scale.. the other option was a status bass.

I figure the Zon will hopefully give me the tone I need.
 

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