Zon basses - is everything OK ?

[Bass Viking]

My most hated thing to hear when walking into a music store is saying "Excuse me, do you carry the (insert brand/model)? and then hearing the response of "No, but I can order one for you."

“Yes, give us your money and we’ll keep you in limbo for God-knows-how-long and the ball is in your court as far as keeping apprised of the situation.”

I once had my local Long & McQuade order a guitar from another of their stores and have it shipped to my local store. They told me it would take a couple of days. Two weeks later it still hadn’t arrived and they had no idea where it was. I cancelled that order and got a refund. Imagine if they had to get it from the manufacturer!

 

[Thir13teen]

“Yes, give us your money and we’ll keep you in limbo for God-knows-how-long and the ball is in your court as far as keeping apprised of the situation.”

I once had my local Long & McQuade order a guitar from another of their stores and have it shipped to my local store. They told me it would take a couple of days. Two weeks later it still hadn’t arrived and they had no idea where it was. I cancelled that order and got a refund. Imagine if they had to get it from the manufacturer!

What a bummer & hassle. It's a moot point now but it makes me want to demand to know where did it end up? What happened? It went someplace, right?

 

[dhagopian]

Does anybody know if there are any Zon dealers in the country that have basses in stock that you can walk in & buy like I did in the 90's? My most hated thing to hear when walking into a music store is saying "Excuse me, do you carry the (insert brand/model)? and then hearing the response of "No, but I can order one for you."

The thing that would get me worried with these long waiting periods, for example the person that's been waiting 3 years for his Wal is; is it really on the waiting list? Did the order form fall behind a filing cabinet? Did it go missing or is it even in the system? With my anxiety the only way it'd work for me is if the company sent me periodic email/snail mail that gave an update on where my build sits as far as a time frame. Just getting a "Hey, we didn't forget about your bass" type of message would put me at ease.

And maybe I'm wrong on how it works as I've never ordered a custom bass, but if it's like you pay 1/2 the money up front & submitting the form & then never hearing one peep about it for years on end - that would make my nerves shot & question a lot of things. Mostly because of the past Modulus situation that we all know about (I ordered a Modulus Jazz neck through Bass Northwest & paid up front the $550 and after months of not hearing anything about it is when we slowly learned of their situation which was back maybe 15 yrs ago or so).

To the first question, I doubt it. Zon isn't some large manufacturer that pumps out models to fill retail stores. And given that there seems to be a backlog of custom orders, I doubt there are dealers with basses on the wall.

Regarding Wal, I don't know what Paul's system is for keeping track of the orders but he is very good about reaching out when he gets to your place in line. Haven't heard any complaints about that.

Having dealt with both, I can tell you neither Wal nor Zon require 1/2 the price up front. You pay a small deposit.

 

[Bass Viking]

What a bummer & hassle. It's a moot point now but it makes me want to demand to know where did it end up? What happened? It went someplace, right?

It probably resurfaced 10 minutes after I cancelled my order.

Maybe they sold it to someone else, maybe it got shipped to the wrong place, who knows? Certainly not Long and McQuade!

The whole thing was a bit of a saga. I initially ordered a jazz box guitar from Sadowsky. A couple of days later he emails to say that there is damage on the headstock and he can't sell it to me. Then came the Long & McQuade episode, I ordered an Eastman from them. Finally I bought a D'Angelico from Club Bass & Guitar. It arrived quickly and has worked out great.

 

[gwangi]

There are no more dealers regarding Zon, if you want a Zon you go directly thru them.
This particular Zon thread is to educate folks about what is going on with Zon right now with there ordering procedures, unfortunately the way things are now are way different than the way it use to be say like back in the early 90's when I could walk in to the local music store that use to be here in Lakewood, Colorado called Rockley Music they sold just about every high-end boutique bass like Alembic, Pedulla, Modulus. Ken Smith, Fodera, Zon I mean they had everything and the had walls of basses I mean it was a bass players dream walking into that store but with the combination eventually of Guitar Center & Musician's Friend and Sweetwater and the Internet destroyed the Mom & Pop Music stores and obviously the decline of getting High-End boutique basses in a timely fashion.
When I use to play Modulus Graphite instruments, between the order time and receiving was no more than maybe 3 or 4 months, the whole experience now with ordering a high-end bass is kind of stressful and deterring.
I'd really like to get another Zon but my gut is telling me don't, the Wal situation again by the time Wal gets me on there list to order a bass and by the time it's done I'll be most likely pushing 68 years old and the price of the Wal will be pushing upwards of roughly $15,000.00 or more.
I really don't know what's going on with Modulus, I hear from other folks that there not getting back to anybody via emails or voice messages when somebody wants to order and keep in mind it makes you wonder if some of these builders are getting up there in age and just want to retire and stop building, Pedulla is gone forever.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Having dealt with both, I can tell you neither Wal nor Zon require 1/2 the price up front. You pay a small deposit.

In 2017 I pinged my local Zon dealer about a custom order. He said I'd have to go direct thru Zon. Zon initially said that 50% deposit was required, but I negotiated 25%. That was 7 years ago, don't know what's the norm these days.

 

[mmbongo]

FYI Zon has stopped taking orders, probably trying to catch up on 7 years worth of orders.

 

[MarkA]

FYI Zon has stopped taking orders, probably trying to catch up on 7 years worth of orders.

I hope that they are able to do so and come out the other end successfully.

 

[Benko]

FYI Zon has stopped taking orders, probably trying to catch up on 7 years worth of orders.

I think this is a very wise decision! I'm looking forward to see more and more of those beauties reaching the market!

 

[dhagopian]

Wal did the same a few years ago.

 

[gwangi]

FYI Zon has stopped taking orders, probably trying to catch up on 7 years worth of orders.

Is this info posted on there Facebook page or website?

 

[Benko]

Is this info posted on there Facebook page or website?

He shared in a comment :

(I hope they'll make an official announcement on their page, again I think it's a wise choice so they can focus on the builds)

 

[Rumblefisher]

I wish they hadn’t done that…just makes it more complicated for me.

 

[dhagopian]

I wish they hadn’t done that…just makes it more complicated for me.

I would think this would help you...

 

[Fuzzbass]

Perhaps I'm overly cynical, but I've run into situations where a troubled manufacturer publicly claims to have stopped taking new orders, but still accepts them through private channels. That includes some first hand experience, and not just with a certain infamous luthier not named Zon.

 

[Rumblefisher]

I would think this would help you...

I think it’s something that’ll just put their back up. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive. Ty for the thought.

it’s just that he’s going to know immediately it’s me, and we’ve had cordial communications for some time. I just don’t want it to be the thought of: all this time you were bad mouthing me behind my back. I actually have said over and over that I’m a fan of his both personally and work wise, and that this situation is an aberration that I contributed to by changing scale length request after a couple of years.

 

[WG Plum]

"... after a couple of years"

I mean.... is one to believe that the bass has been sitting, mostly constructed, for a couple of years, and that caused them to have to start all over?

 

[dhagopian]

Scale length is a pretty significant change. I can't speak to where the bass was in the process.

 

[WG Plum]

Sure, but the timeline sure is something.

 

[Rumblefisher]

Scale length is a pretty significant change. I can't speak to where the bass was in the process.

it wasn’t put together yet. Basically, I said hey since it’s still just parts can I just get a different neck? They said yes, but it’ll take longer. I said ok…eventually I just said you know what…use what ya got and let’s get it done. They said cool. That’s the gist of it really as far as spec change went.