Wow, that is beutiful. I am glad you like it. He deffinetely has some good ideas, and alot of them (radiused pups, the strings, etc) make alot of sense to me, and address problems I can deffinetely feel. I just can't justify giving my money to a person like him.
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The Zachary bass has arrived
- Thread starter vicenzajay
- Start date
Things I like:
It seems to have the minimum amount of body contour to supply maximum ergonomics, pretty neat. I like the clean fretboard and black hardware over body wood that is tasteful and doesn't overpower the shape or look of the bass. Overall very original yet not "too original".
Things I'd change(purely visual and just my personal preference!):
Doesn't look "slap friendly" by my technique. I need a bass to be versatile. If I had zero possibility of ever slapping then better, but I'd still like and need some more room to get down under there. The logo has GOT TO GO!! It adds a whiff of insecurity, IMHO, A good and innovative bass should be recognizable without such an ugly branding. A logo on a headstock, fine! I guess I'm old fashioned.
Congratulations!! That looks like a great sounding bass and I really appreciate seeing it!
It seems to have the minimum amount of body contour to supply maximum ergonomics, pretty neat. I like the clean fretboard and black hardware over body wood that is tasteful and doesn't overpower the shape or look of the bass. Overall very original yet not "too original".
Things I'd change(purely visual and just my personal preference!):
Doesn't look "slap friendly" by my technique. I need a bass to be versatile. If I had zero possibility of ever slapping then better, but I'd still like and need some more room to get down under there. The logo has GOT TO GO!! It adds a whiff of insecurity, IMHO, A good and innovative bass should be recognizable without such an ugly branding. A logo on a headstock, fine! I guess I'm old fashioned.
Congratulations!! That looks like a great sounding bass and I really appreciate seeing it!
I really appreciate the simplicity of it as well....played it for over two hours (again) tonight...the instrument just plays so easily.
lowphatbass - I just adjusted to slapping at the end of the fretboard and popping between the pickups...works like a champ and the large frets prevent any string percussive contact with the wood of the board where I'm slapping. GREAT slap tone, btw...very clear and defined with lots of "authority". For some reason the logo/branding looks very classy and well done in person for me...I can see, though, that it wouldn't be for everyone. I LOVE the shape of the headstock...very clean with just a touch of attitude.
I appreciate all the comments - I'm enjoying the bass very much and I'm looking forward to playing it out this weekend!
Jay
jzbass6
One Nation Under A Groove
That's a very cool bass. I'll bet you're glad the long wait is over!
The guy definitely comes off as a little wacky on his Web site, but I am intrigued by the ZOG strings. I also found some of those negative comments about him very revealing. It's funny how insecure some people get when their conventional wisdom is challenged..
The guy definitely comes off as a little wacky on his Web site, but I am intrigued by the ZOG strings. I also found some of those negative comments about him very revealing. It's funny how insecure some people get when their conventional wisdom is challenged..
It's also funny how insecure and defensive and bellicose some people, like "zachary," get when their eccentric opinions are challenged.
In the 40s and 50s, the greatest players in the history of guitar--virtuoso jazz guys like Johnny Smith or Barney Kessel or Hank Garland, country guys like Chet Atkins or merle travis--were working with string makers to get the feel and tension they wanted. I guess they were all idiots. The guy's claim on the website is that everyone else is an idiot, they were somehow more primitive in the past, everyone before him was a sheep etc etc. And then he claims he's all about individualism? He's found the only right way to make strings, everyone else in the world is a fool, AND he's all about individualism? Hello, massive internal contradictions.
I play a fanned fret dingwall--it works for me, it's the most comfortable and best playing bass I've ever owned. Not everybody likes it, which is fine--why would I expect everyone to want the same thing? Zachary talks about how important it is to think against the crowd, but then denounces anyone who disagrees with him as an idiot. It's karmically messed up. I'd never buy something from a guy who's such a misanthrope. And to be honest, having built four guitars myself from scratch, I think most of what he touts as "innovation" is hype.
But then, we don't all have to like the same thing, except in Zachary's world, where if we don't see his genius we're all idiots. It's a pretty bass and if it plays well for you great.
Absolutely true. And I wouldn't buy a bass from the guy, either. But, I find his insecurity and defensiveness easier to take because he's eccentric.. a lone voice in the wildnerness with nothing to lose. As opposed to people who get angry at him because he might be right about their product being flawed. I'm talking specifically about strings here. What if the ZOG theory is correct, and he exposes all the major string manufacturers for making an inferior product? They'd be angry, but only because they might lose money.
I guess I'm the only one that has a problem with that. I mean, it's Walnut. I have bigger pieces of clear walnut in my scrap bin. If I came across something like that while carving a neck it would go in the firewood bin.
If I were to wait 3 years for a custom, I wouldn't want a knot through the neck. Other than that it looks like a nice bass though.
That was my thought--I could go to the local lumberyard and get a clear piece with no knots in five minutes. Walnut isn't exactly brazilian rosewood, there's a black walnut growing in the park behind my house. And even if you decide to go with the knot wood for the look, why not at least fill the hole--it looks lazy to me, especially considering a two and a half year wait. But I suppose that's a matter of taste
I haven't tried the strings so will keep an open mind on their performance.
I suspect that if one of the string companies could revolutionize and take over the market just by playing around with the core and wrap ratios they'd be all over it. I mean why settle for laughing at all the idiots who buy your crap, when you could be laughing at your competitors - not to mention all the way to the bank.
So, I checked out this guy's website. Had to laugh at him dissing Ed Roman. Him and Ed Roman are like two peas in a pod!
Please don't take that as me defending Ed Roman
Please don't take that as me defending Ed Roman
Also make incredible instruments - congratulations on your last one again...I love that 6-string fretless!
I know that Alex intentionally likes the knot thing from time to time...almost like he searches for it. I know that it's not going to be a problem at all, and it actually adds to the personality of the bass for me. The walnut is just phenomenally beautiful...the grain is mesmerizing.
Jay
That everyone has gotten "used to" the gauges/tensions as they have been for years and years. Thus the string companies provide what "sells", knowing that if they provided something like this they probably would lose sales vice gain them.
Alex just doesn't care...if the strings take off financially, great, if not, he still has made a statement against the "industry-driven" status quo. All I can say is that the string sets - both for bass and guitar - "feel" right...it's very hard to play fairly standard string sets now. The low E (especially) sounds and feels horrible and unbalanced on every other set I have currently on a bass. Just my thoughts and opinions, but what if even/graduated tension actually helps the instrument function "better"? What if it contributes to more even stress on the neck and overall balance of the instrument? It was worth a try for me, and I'm sold on the concept.
I actually came up with the phrase "even/graduated tension" for Alex....it seemed to describe the feel as well as I could. As I said in the first post, his website is designed to create a reaction...to get people to critically think about the guitar/bass industry's seeming desire to dupe the consumer into spending big bucks on "special issue" runs of instruments made on the same machines as 200-300 dollar instruments. For him, it's all about making people think...period. Once you talk to him, he's perfectly willing to give credit to many other builders who also work to challenge the status quo. After talking to me about my Rob Allen, he spent some time researching those instruments and got back to me to say that he really admired his work and ideas. People like to draw similarities between him and Ed Roman...well, I've now talked to both of them, and apart from the websites, they are incredibly different people. Ed is simply arrogant with no real original ideas. Alex might be arrogant at times, but he is driven by original ideas that WORK. Much of the art - both musical and visual - that we enjoy in the concert hall and the museum was created by passionate, quirky, and perhaps "elitist" artists who challenged the status quo of art in their own lifetimes. Not all were like that, but many certainly were. Alex is very, very much a contemporary artist - with the temperament and attitude to match. I really appreciate his work.
Just some thoughts,
Jay
Before I got it - but it actually slaps easily and quite well....my slap point is at the end of the fretboard, the pop point is between the pups - simply an incredible slap/pop tone and very comfortable to boot.
Jay
ROFLMAO....I still don't know, honestly - I really don't consider myself all that worthy!
Jay
First off, congrats on what seems to be an awsome instrument!
Enjoy!
Couple-three years back, I ran into Zach's site and was very intrigued.
I e-mailed him about building a bass and he was thoroughly knowledgeable, pleasant, and very enthusiasic about taking on the project...
I never ordered, but he went ahead and built the bass anyway! It's on his site, with a Korina body, very lightweight as we had discussed, also with some natural "flaws" in the wood.
I like Zachary- he's a breath of fresh air among the many cookie-cutter instruments and builders, and it's obvious he takes a lot of pride in what he does.
From the looks of your instrument, it seems he's getting better and better at building bass guitars.
I'd really like to add one to my arsenal sometime- Enjoy playing yours; it's a beaut.
Enjoy!
Couple-three years back, I ran into Zach's site and was very intrigued.
I e-mailed him about building a bass and he was thoroughly knowledgeable, pleasant, and very enthusiasic about taking on the project...
I never ordered, but he went ahead and built the bass anyway! It's on his site, with a Korina body, very lightweight as we had discussed, also with some natural "flaws" in the wood.
I like Zachary- he's a breath of fresh air among the many cookie-cutter instruments and builders, and it's obvious he takes a lot of pride in what he does.
From the looks of your instrument, it seems he's getting better and better at building bass guitars.
I'd really like to add one to my arsenal sometime- Enjoy playing yours; it's a beaut.
I really like that Korina medium-scale bass - it's what convinced me to order one myself (along with his guitars - they're exquisite).
Jay
Played this bass with both the cover band and the praise band this weekend.
Lead guitar player - "That bass sounds fantastic - cleanest, clearest bass tone I've ever heard".
At church, FOH guy - "That instrument just sits like a dream in the mix...it sounds incredible."
Needless to say...I'm really enjoying this bass.
Jay
Lead guitar player - "That bass sounds fantastic - cleanest, clearest bass tone I've ever heard".
At church, FOH guy - "That instrument just sits like a dream in the mix...it sounds incredible."
Needless to say...I'm really enjoying this bass.
Jay
