NBD: Zon Sonus Special 5 Elite Fretless

[Addison]

Here's a couple of quick body shots of the new SONUS Elite!





SPECS:

• SONUS Special 5 Elite Fretless
• Koa top
• Wenge tone block
• Spalted alder body
• Half-lined fretless (both sides of neck)
• 19mm spacing
• 26 fret neck
• Glow-in-the-dark side dots
• Extended cutaway
• 3-Band Bartolini 918F Preamp
• Bartolini Radiused Pickups
  
  *Not Shown*
• Matching Koa Headstock
• Recessed Straplocks
• Reversed Headstock with Hipshot D-Tuner on B and E strings

[AzWhoFan]

Addison, I am EXTREMELY jealous of you right now. I have had one of these on my G.A.S/bucket list for a looooooong time.

Congrats m'man.

And call me when the honeymoon is over

[Matt R.]

[leftieray]

Kool bro.

[Jeroen]

Man, that's pretty!
Congrats! Beautiful bass. If it plays and sounds half as good as it looks it must be absolutely killer!

[Addison]

Thanks dewds!

Honestly, it plays and sounds BETTER...

You guys might think this is bullshit, and I probably never would have believed it if someone else tried to tell me this, but hear me out for a second...

I did not consider myself much of a fretless player at all before I had this bass. I mean, I could make my way around and "get by" but it wasn't very easy for me and the amount of effort it took for me to get good intonation and tone kind of sucked the fun out of it. Because of this, I actually thought it was pretty stupid of me to order such a ridiculously fancy fretless... but I went for it anyway.

Bottom line... I am a better fretless player on this bass. Now, I'm not trying to say that I'm an overnight Jaco or Michael Manring or something... I still have A LOT of work to do... but I brought this bass to a rehearsal last night and my intonation was better, my feel was better, my tone was better. I was inspired.

I dunno if there's any logical reason behind any of it, or if I'm just balls deep in a serious honeymoon phase right now... but, I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I'm having fun.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

my intonation was better, my feel was better, my tone was better

You forgot, "my sex life was better, my health was better, my finances got better"

Just kidding, but seriously did you order it directly from Zon or through a dealer? Are those made in the US?

[andrew]

glued in neck?

[Addison]

"my sex life was better, my health was better, my finances got better"

Just kidding, but seriously did you order it directly from Zon or through a dealer? Are those made in the US?

I got it from the source... I'm doing some design work for Joe, so he was able to accommodate me that way. You can contact the shop directly if you're not aware of any dealer in you area and they can point you in the right direction. Sometimes it's nice to have that local support that you can only get through a neighborhood dealer if you have one available.

Here's his list of dealers: http://www.zonguitars.com/zonguitars/dealers/index.html

This bass was made in the US, but Zon does have a bolt-on wood-necked "Standard" series that's made overseas.

glued in neck?

Yep... it's an "Elite" model, which means it has a set neck.

[gravesbass]

Here's a couple of quick body shots of the new SONUS Elite!

Badass Chris. Wish I could have seen it in person when you were in town. Thats near the same specs I was looking at when I talked to Joe last except I want lines all the way thru. He can do lines light where you barely see them.

Killer Bass for one of the BEST builders around.... and great guy!

[fivebass52]

That indeed is one Beautiful Bass! I hope you can grace us with a clip or two of its tonal caliber....!

[markcv]

Beautiful Chris! I agree with you about a quality instrument affecting your playing. When I had my F Bass BNF-5 I felt waaayyy about my playing too.

[markcv]

Beautiful Chris! I agree with you about a quality instrument affecting your playing. When I had my F Bass BNF-5 I felt waaayyy BETTER about my playing too.

Geez... I need to feel better about my proof reading...

[markcv]

Hey Chris,

Just listened to your version of Continuum on Soundcloud. The sound is phenomenal. I also think you were being a little hard on yourself in regards to the intonation... sounded pretty good. Any chance you can post some more good big pics of this beauty? Would be nice to see the whole thing.

[Addison]

Hey, I just noticed your reply Mark... sorry about that.

Thanks for the kind words too, man... totally appreciated!!

I got a couple of glamour shots and added a few other pics for anyone interested... still don't really have a solid full shot of the entire bass, but I'll get one eventually.

Nice angled body shot...


Headstock shot... I requested a reverse headstock (2 on top, 3 on bottom) so I could add a Hipshot D-Tuner to the B and E strings.


Joe Zon giving the bass a quick once-over after cutting the nut and making some adjustments. Not many people know this, but Joe is actually a really good player.


Here's an interesting shot that you might not get to see much... it's the finished bass surrounded by the original cutoffs from the raw body block.


Here's a great shot of the fingerboard without any strings and with a fresh rubdown with WD40. Yes, that's what is recommended on these fingerboards... crazy!

[Matt R.]

Man. Love that body shot.

[funky42]

WOW!!!!! THAT IS ONE CLASSY LOOKING BASS!!!!! A TRUE STUNNER!!!!!

[fivebass52]

The story and pictures just keep on getting better! Truly a great bass!

[fivebass52]

Hey Chris,

Just listened to your version of Continuum on Soundcloud. The sound is phenomenal. I also think you were being a little hard on yourself in regards to the intonation... sounded pretty good. Any chance you can post some more good big pics of this beauty? Would be nice to see the whole thing.

Can't find the link to the Soundcloud song... is it in one the posts here? Please point me in the right direction!

[Jeroen]

Awesome pictures, if that thing sounds anywhere near as good as it looks it must be absolutely killer!