New VB5, received from Zon on Monday (Feb. 13, ’06).
First, let me say by way of disclaimer:
 I have no affiliation with Zon Guitars and no financial interest concerning them
 I am not a professional bassist. I play in with a band that provides contemp Christian and praise & worship music for a medium sized church (avg. attendance 500 to 600), and we play out as well (community events, Christian music concerts, etc.).
 I started playing bass in 1975 or 76, but put it down for almost 20 years, so my talents are meager at best.
 What follows is my opinion, and I have been known to make mistakes (if you don’t believe me, ask my wife—she’ll clear that up right away!
).
OK, with that out of the way, here are my impressions!
If you’ve seen a Zon bass in person, you know they’re well constructed, and this one is no exception. The VB5 is a 34” scale, 5 stringer, with a composite neck. It’s a “set neck” design and the body/neck joint on mine is seamlessly perfect.
The fretwork is the best of any bass I’ve owned (the list of current and previous basses being 2 Fenders, Rickenbacker, Dean, and Landing). Action is set low.
I chose the standard swamp ash body with flat finish, all black hardware, and had Zon add a ramp made of swamp ash and finished to match.
Playability—This is my first 5 string bass so it’ll take some adjustment. The spacing is 17mm (which I like). Slap sound is way better than my other basses, and is reasonably acceptable even though I have flats on it (Thomastik JF’s). Fret work is top notch. Low action, but zero buzz. I like the ramp, but I find the strings are a bit closer to the ramp surface than I’m comfortable with. I’ve removed it for the time being and plan to sand the bottom (the flat side) down about 1/16”. The B is acceptable for a 34” scale, and since TI’s are relatively low-tension strings, I suppose the fact that it’s a usable B string is an accomplishment. As I said, this is my first 5’er (but I’ve played quite a few in shops etc.), and so far I’m not disappointed in the least with the B string on this one.
Appearance and Construction—Quality of workmanship is first rate. I think if I had it to do over again I’d spring for an exotic wood top. The swamp ash is OK and the flat finish will be, I think, very serviceable, but it is a little plain. The neck is on the thin side (which I like) flaring at the top so you can feel that the end is near
. The neck finish is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. I can’t think of an adjective for the opposite of “sticky” but if there is such a word, that’s what I’d use to describe it. I’m not wild about the “Zon” logo in the body but I guess with no headstock, it had to go somewhere! It appears to be some sort of inlayed material rather than a sticker, decal, or paint applied to the surface (I may be wrong on this but that’s my impression). The hardware is really cool! The method of securing the strings at the top does not require double ball strings like some headless designs. The bridge and tuner assemblies are solid and very precise. Control cavity is well-shielded (copper) and well organized. I would have preferred a battery box that doesn’t require a screwdriver.
Sound—Typical Zon sound I suppose. A lot more focused than my other basses, and perhaps a bit on the brighter side. This can easily be controlled however, with the 3 band Bart preamp. Usable tones are easy to achieve. I think this bass will show up well in the mix, but I don’t have rehearsal until tomorrow night, so I can’t be sure yet. The controls are treble/mids/bass, master vol, and blend. (That’s all I know on controls right now since Zon still owes me info on this. Joe Z said it’s in the mail.) Fairly quiet for single coil pups, but there is some noise when the blend is set off-center. The bass is not as loud as my active basses that have Aguilar pre’s (18volt) perhaps since the Bart pre on the VB5 runs at 9volt (not really sure on this since I’ve heard that the added voltage boosts headroom rather than gain
). Overall, the VB5 sounds, beefy—you can feel it in the chest—punchy, and defined. Not muddy at all. Good slap tone for flats, but if I were a slapper I’d change the strings. Slapping flats—that’s just wrong!:scowl: Nice mids, and clear highs. My general impression is that the sound is very “present”. The TI strings typically produce a really strong fundamental and are more defined and clear than some other flats. IMO, they sound good on the Zon.
Service—Since there was another thread on this I’ll skip the details. The bass was promised “before Christmas” and received February 13. I’ll leave it the readers to decide if that’s good, bad, or indifferent. Suffice it to say that better communication during the process would have made the wait go down easier. Joe Zon is great guy to talk to, and I think he puts forth the effort to produce the best possible bass he can, whether it’s the inexpensive (relatively) Vinny bass or his top of the line models. Overall, I’m OK with the way things went. There are certainly worse stories out there about delays from luthiers (try a search if you’re wondering).
So that’s it! Apologies for the length. Take a look at the pics—as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Peace,
Matt
First, let me say by way of disclaimer:
 I have no affiliation with Zon Guitars and no financial interest concerning them
 I am not a professional bassist. I play in with a band that provides contemp Christian and praise & worship music for a medium sized church (avg. attendance 500 to 600), and we play out as well (community events, Christian music concerts, etc.).
 I started playing bass in 1975 or 76, but put it down for almost 20 years, so my talents are meager at best.
 What follows is my opinion, and I have been known to make mistakes (if you don’t believe me, ask my wife—she’ll clear that up right away!
).OK, with that out of the way, here are my impressions!
If you’ve seen a Zon bass in person, you know they’re well constructed, and this one is no exception. The VB5 is a 34” scale, 5 stringer, with a composite neck. It’s a “set neck” design and the body/neck joint on mine is seamlessly perfect.
The fretwork is the best of any bass I’ve owned (the list of current and previous basses being 2 Fenders, Rickenbacker, Dean, and Landing). Action is set low.
I chose the standard swamp ash body with flat finish, all black hardware, and had Zon add a ramp made of swamp ash and finished to match.
Playability—This is my first 5 string bass so it’ll take some adjustment. The spacing is 17mm (which I like). Slap sound is way better than my other basses, and is reasonably acceptable even though I have flats on it (Thomastik JF’s). Fret work is top notch. Low action, but zero buzz. I like the ramp, but I find the strings are a bit closer to the ramp surface than I’m comfortable with. I’ve removed it for the time being and plan to sand the bottom (the flat side) down about 1/16”. The B is acceptable for a 34” scale, and since TI’s are relatively low-tension strings, I suppose the fact that it’s a usable B string is an accomplishment. As I said, this is my first 5’er (but I’ve played quite a few in shops etc.), and so far I’m not disappointed in the least with the B string on this one.
Appearance and Construction—Quality of workmanship is first rate. I think if I had it to do over again I’d spring for an exotic wood top. The swamp ash is OK and the flat finish will be, I think, very serviceable, but it is a little plain. The neck is on the thin side (which I like) flaring at the top so you can feel that the end is near
. The neck finish is as smooth as a baby’s bottom. I can’t think of an adjective for the opposite of “sticky” but if there is such a word, that’s what I’d use to describe it. I’m not wild about the “Zon” logo in the body but I guess with no headstock, it had to go somewhere! It appears to be some sort of inlayed material rather than a sticker, decal, or paint applied to the surface (I may be wrong on this but that’s my impression). The hardware is really cool! The method of securing the strings at the top does not require double ball strings like some headless designs. The bridge and tuner assemblies are solid and very precise. Control cavity is well-shielded (copper) and well organized. I would have preferred a battery box that doesn’t require a screwdriver.Sound—Typical Zon sound I suppose. A lot more focused than my other basses, and perhaps a bit on the brighter side. This can easily be controlled however, with the 3 band Bart preamp. Usable tones are easy to achieve. I think this bass will show up well in the mix, but I don’t have rehearsal until tomorrow night, so I can’t be sure yet. The controls are treble/mids/bass, master vol, and blend. (That’s all I know on controls right now since Zon still owes me info on this. Joe Z said it’s in the mail.) Fairly quiet for single coil pups, but there is some noise when the blend is set off-center. The bass is not as loud as my active basses that have Aguilar pre’s (18volt) perhaps since the Bart pre on the VB5 runs at 9volt (not really sure on this since I’ve heard that the added voltage boosts headroom rather than gain
). Overall, the VB5 sounds, beefy—you can feel it in the chest—punchy, and defined. Not muddy at all. Good slap tone for flats, but if I were a slapper I’d change the strings. Slapping flats—that’s just wrong!:scowl: Nice mids, and clear highs. My general impression is that the sound is very “present”. The TI strings typically produce a really strong fundamental and are more defined and clear than some other flats. IMO, they sound good on the Zon.Service—Since there was another thread on this I’ll skip the details. The bass was promised “before Christmas” and received February 13. I’ll leave it the readers to decide if that’s good, bad, or indifferent. Suffice it to say that better communication during the process would have made the wait go down easier. Joe Zon is great guy to talk to, and I think he puts forth the effort to produce the best possible bass he can, whether it’s the inexpensive (relatively) Vinny bass or his top of the line models. Overall, I’m OK with the way things went. There are certainly worse stories out there about delays from luthiers (try a search if you’re wondering).
So that’s it! Apologies for the length. Take a look at the pics—as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
Peace,
Matt
). I'll use a SansAmp for the wet signal.
