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Zon basses - is everything OK ?

#964
ZonSonus said:
***EDIT*** Shortly after posting this, I got a response from Martin. They are short handed and very busy, but also waiting on Bart for pickups and Gotoh for tuners, delaying everything. Hoping to have the parts to finish my bass "at the end of the month." This is my first goalpost shift...going to try to be exceedingly optimistic. ***EDIT***

I'm downright despondent after reading this thread.

I bought a used Sonus in 1996 as a college kid...saved up every penny from two summers of working 80+ hours a week. That bass has been my daily driver (and the only full-scale bass I own) ever since. It had a bad neck issue due partially to operator idiocy and partially to the older epoxy/composite not being as stable. I had a friend DIY repair the neck. Terrifying story...I have a picture somewhere of the neck, mid-repair. My buddy took a grinder to the neck, all the way to the fingerboard, from nut to 13th fret. He worked at a yacht service place and rebuilt the neck using the carbon fiber and epoxy they make racing yacht masts out of. To his credit, the fix was a remarkable success, but the action never fully recovered.

After a few years of playing it like that, I started a conversation with Martin about replacing the neck outright. Due to the age of the bass and changes to the neck pocket measurements, it was going to be a pretty hefty job and cost nearly a third of a new build. Martin convinced me to just pinch pennies and let him know when I was ready to spec a new one.

That day finally came last December. After 25 years of dreaming of having my very own Zon built, I placed an order for a Sonus Special 5 (matching Bub headstock, all black hardware with a passive circuit). I paid up-front. I didn't want to be a pain in the ass, so up until my estimated delivery date (12/1/2022) I sent two emails with a couple of design questions and heaps of praise. Once 12/1 passed, I sent a short (I swear!) email requesting an update. Forwarded that request again today, 11 days after the first. Tried the phone a couple of times, too, which goes straight to voicemail. Can't get a reply from any method of communication.

I'm just gutted. I thought for sure I'd be debuting my new Sonus at my last scheduled gig of the year (on my 45th birthday, no less). Now, I find this thread and it sounds like I'll be lucky if I see it by December 2023. Gonna go cry, now. Sorry for the long vent/rant. Bass on, low enders.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting your edit. I have my bass on order, and was about to call my credit card company and put a stop payment on the funds before I read your post.

Hope I'm not screwed.
:unsure:
 
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#971
Rumblefisher said:
Sigh. Lesson learned. I too paid in full, a kind of good faith gesture to say I'm all in on this, please return the favor with great attention to detail on my bass.

Feb 2023 will make 6 years I believe.
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Rumblefisher,

Sorry to hear this. Completely unacceptable. When was your last contact with the shop?

Has Joe been able to explain why your order is so delayed?

I am starting to get nervous as it appears very few orders are shipping.

Does anyone know if a lawyer can help and what kind?

I just don’t understand who gets their orders and who doesn’t. They always claim to be super busy. They always claim your bass is on schedule or almost done.

Maybe they are busy doing nothin!!!
 
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#972
Last contact was over 6 months ago. I've sent 3 emails since then, nothing.

Joe did offer some explanation in the form of family emergency, which I totally understand. That was 2 years ago now I believe...if not 2 then close to 2. There was the pandemic of course slowing things down too.

I've lost track. Not sure what I can do 6 years on other than ask and wait. I guess I could make a fuss but I fear that would result in a "here's your bass" kinda thing with parts slapped together to get me to shut up.

In the grand scheme of things, so long as my daughters and wife are healthy, I could give a flip about the rest. It is annoying for sure. They did warn me that there would be additional lead time after an errant battery compartment routing...but that's 3 or 4 years ago now. I think that's a good lead time.
 
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#974
Rumblefisher said:
Sigh. Lesson learned. I too paid in full, a kind of good faith gesture to say I'm all in on this, please return the favor with great attention to detail on my bass.

Feb 2023 will make 6 years I believe.
Click to expand...

Don't know if your misery would appreciate company, but a friend of mine paid in full up front for two Zon customs, both of which were heavily delayed. Won't rehash that drama here; point is that he'd been a longtime customer of Zon, with many previous orders. His mindset was similar to yours, and additionally he thought that payment in full would speed delivery, given that Zon wouldn't have to worry about collecting the remaining balance.

As kesslari said, it rarely if ever works that way: companies tend to prioritize the orders that will bring in the most "new money", so to speak. Especially true for companies in trouble -- but years ago there wasn't much speculation that this might be true for Zon, most believed that they just needed more staff or better management.
 
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#975
What I don't understand is they continue excepting deposits when what they need to do is stop taking orders and get caught up.
I don't know if they just don't know how to money manage but to keep on excepting deposits just baffles me.
Wal basses stopped excepting orders sometime back in 2021 and they had everybody email them to be put on a list until Wal was going to start excepting deposits for new orders, I had put my name on the list last year but honestly lets be real by the time they get to my name it will be not until sometime next year in 2023 and if I was to give them a deposit on a new order it will adleast be another 2 to 3 years later til I actually got a bass, and one thing to point out is Wal is not locking in price once you put your first deposit down, they will finalized price much later. I don't know if the whole thing with the internet just exploded for a lot of these high-end bass companies but it seems like they just can't keep up with the demand.
It used to be that the high-end bass companies had dealers to sell product, there where some music stores in Denver that carried all the high-end top brands like Alembic, Ken Smith, Modulus, Pedulla, Zon, Fodera, and the list goes on, Rockely Music & First Bass where 2 music stores that carried these brands and if they didn't have what you where looking for they would just order it and at most maybe a couple of months depending on the situation but now since the internet boom both of these music store are long gone and a lot of bass manufactures take for ever to get product out do to demand.
In all honesty I think Joe Zon needs to reach out to people with orders and explain the situation and maybe stop taking deposits and try to get caught up, I honestly don't know what the real answer is.
 
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#976
I wish it were true that paying in full would help speed things along as a sign of good faith. Sadly, it does seem to be the opposite with builders, who are not immaculate with their timetables and build order. I know things happen with parts being delayed causing unexpected hold ups, but this seems different.

I am a fan of: send a slightly larger deposit than required, as a sign of good faith, and no more until it's done. Assuming it's a 50% deposit situation with the balance due on completion, which seems to be the norm.
 
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#977
Fuzzbass said:
Don't know if your misery would appreciate company, but a friend of mine paid in full up front for two Zon customs, both of which were heavily delayed. Won't rehash that drama here; point is that he'd been a longtime customer of Zon, with many previous orders. His mindset was similar to yours, and additionally he thought that payment in full would speed delivery, given that Zon wouldn't have to worry about collecting the remaining balance.

As kesslari said, it rarely if ever works that way: companies tend to prioritize the orders that will bring in the most "new money", so to speak. Especially true for companies in trouble -- but years ago there wasn't much speculation that this might be true for Zon, most believed that they just needed more staff or better management.
Click to expand...

^^ genuine question:

In this situation, which orders are the ones that bring in “new money?”

Like would that be orders from high-profile players, the most expensive orders, orders with the highest outstanding balance, or ?
 
#978
sullen-moon said:
^^ genuine question:

In this situation, which orders are the ones that bring in “new money?”

Like would that be orders from high-profile players, the most expensive orders, orders with the highest outstanding balance, or ?
Click to expand...

I think he means, instruments that were not paid in full up front. If a builder finishes a bass, and gets the remainder of the balance due upon delivery, thats "new money" as opposed to having been paid in the beginning, at which point all of the money is long gone when it comes time to finish and deliver. Correct me if Im wrong Fuzzbass
 
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