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That grain would look siiick with my purple stain on it.In 2016, I bought a Zon Vinny 4 from Maidenbass here on TB. I loved the bass, pictured below. Humbuckers, composite neck, small form factor...awesome. I started speaking to Martin Peters about pretty much recreating this bass but in set-neck form.
I am a big of Mr. Peters and Mr. Zon. They were always nice, personable, and responded within 24-48 hrs for most things. We ended up exchanging many emails over the ensuing few months, and I gave them a "spec sheet" of exactly what I wanted. I reviewed it with Mr. Peters and he spoke to Mr. Zon, stating that all specs were easily doable.
I was initially quoted a lead time of 8 months in February 2017. There was a little hiccup along the way (accidental battery route was added, and they warned me it would definitely add to the lead time to wait for another super lightweight piece of wood, but I told them I was ok with it). I was and am perfectly OK with waiting a bit longer to find quality materials, and I let them know that REALLY wanted them to stick to the spec sheet.
I am creating this thread because, over the last 2 months I've been unable to get in contact with Mr. Peters. I've called a few times, and I spoke to Mr. Zon on one occasion. He was very, very nice and he recalled some of the things I wanted, but also stated he still had to make a battery route and some other small things I didn't really want. No problem, he's a very busy man with a lot on his mind, and my spec sheet is definitely not at the top of the priority list. He was very nice and we reviewed the spec sheet together and again he stated that there was no problem doing it all. He also said he would ask Mr. Peters for a print out so that he had it right by his bench as he worked on the instrument. Awesome, I felt happy about that.
I tried following up with Mr. Peters and asked him to confirm receipt of my emails over the last 2 months. I've tried calling them a couple of times but I understand that they are very busy and I don't at all want to be a nuisance. Based on my previous interactions, I'm actually a bit worried that Mr. Peters might not be alright (i.e. hospital visit or something else awful).
Does anybody know if he is OK? Perhaps there's a TBer that lives by the Zon shop that can visit and let them know I'm trying to get in touch?
The email listed on the site is the one I already use, and I'll try calling again later today (I'm on vacation at the moment, 10 hr time difference).
Overall, I'm still excited about the bass, and I'm happy with the company and people who have interacted with me. I just want to ask the largest bass community I know of if it has any "inside" knowledge of the happenings over at Zon.
Thanks guys, requisite pic and a copy of the rough spec sheet below.
Again, best of luck to you. Angus over in the Zon Club thread recently got his bass after a delay much longer than yours, which is somewhat promising, but Zon was not only hampered by COVID shutdowns, but are currently impacted by the California wildfires.
Again, best of luck to you. Angus over in the Zon Club thread recently got his bass after a delay much longer than yours, which is somewhat promising, but Zon was not only hampered by COVID shutdowns, but are currently impacted by the California wildfires.
Order date was sometime around Feb 2017, original estimated completion date was 8 months later, so around Oct 2017, but that was pushed back, understandably, a couple of months...and then the wheels fell off a little bit (there was some health trouble with key staff family member, they changed shop locations) and now of course the pandemic is another wrench in the works...
I do want to reiterate though that, when it comes down to it, they do message me back to let me know I'm still somewhere on the radar...it just seems that there's other matters they deem more pressing than me, which I totally get...maybe if I was a jerk things would move faster and by being passive they can 'get away with it' a little longer, but I don't want to be that guy and honestly, I'm not a touring musician so I get I'm lower on the totem pole. It's all good, let's see how this plays out
Maybe they'll feel so bad they'll refund me 1/2 the cost of the bass...I'd be happy with that
The best decision is the one taken so Im sure the bass will look badass! Dont sweat the little things or what could have been or youll just get anxious/mad.
