LeftyBassist.com

This came up a while ago and I said I would address it with Joe to get some clarity on his policy.

Because he charges a percentage, some people were reasonably offended by the fact that they would have to pay more for black hardware and a fancy top than a righty would. I took offense to this as well, so I brought it up to Joe.

Here's ZON's official lefty policy...

They charge 10% on top of the BASE PRICE for a lefty instrument... so ANYTHING on top of that is the same as what a righty would pay. A lefty does NOT pay more for a fancy top than a righty does.

So, yeah... it's not as awesome as FREE... it's not quite as cool as a nominal flat fee... but it's better than 15% of the final cost like I've seen some other companies do it.

Some other noteworthy tidbits from our conversation:

• Lefties make up a little less than 1% of their total sales. Joe said he would guess that he makes about one lefty for every 100-125 righty basses they make. He didn't have an exact number, but thought that was close.
• Lefties take quite a bit longer to make in his shop. All of their basses are hand shaped and sanded and are hand cut using band saws and routed using pin routers... it's all old style. No CNC machines. They use "feel" to know when to stop sanding, so he said he needs to completely reverse his thinking when shaping everything. Joe commented that when he makes a lefty he is constantly second guessing himself and rethinking angles and double-checking lines and measurements before cutting in order to retrain his brain to think backwards from the last 100 basses he built before the lefty in his hands right now.
• All of the wiring in his basses is true lefty wiring and uses pots that work both lefty and righty, except for the Polyfusion preamp which is surface mounted and not available in a lefty format.

I think that's all I got... if anything else comes up, I'll add to the thread.

With all that said, here's some pics from my Legacy Elite 5 that should be finished in the next month or two!!!

Good info, thanks!

Looking forward to seeing your finished bass!

Did you get your Gould signature bass updated with his new onboard preamp?

Tell me about your neck!

Cannot wait to see the finished product, homie!

Yes specs please - that's a beauty!
Their lefty uncharge is fair - rather have free but it is reasonable given the explanation.

andrew wrote:Did you get your Gould signature bass updated with his new onboard preamp?

Nope, not yet... I think they had a couple of final details to hammer out and then Joe wanted to wait until a few orders for BG signatures came in before he placed the preamp order since they're hand made. He's mentioned it to me a few times, so I'm on the list to get one eventually.

ezstep wrote:Tell me about your neck!

Standard Legacy neck with MOP dots, but I got 19mm spacing. The neck in the pic is so colorful due to the protective tape over the fingerboard... that'll be removed before final setup.

bhunt1 wrote:Yes specs please - that's a beauty!

• Legacy Elite 5
• Burled Black Redwood Top (Secret Private Stash)
• Mahogany Body (Secret Private Stash)
• Flamed Maple Tone Plate
• 34" Scale
• 19mm Spacing
• Hipshot Ultralight Tuners
• Reverse headstock with D-Tuner on the E string
• MOP Dot Inlays
• Black Hardware
• Bartolini Humbuckers (6-string width, hand-wound by Bill Bartolini)
• Bartolini or Aguilar Preamp... not sure yet.
• Single volume knob on deck with 3-way pickup selector. These will be the only controls on the bass. Pickup balance, preamp gain, and 3-band active EQ controls will all be accessed using mini-pots through small holes drilled in the control cavity cover. I'm not a knob tweaker, so this setup is perfect for me.
• Dunlop Dual Design Straplocks
• Matching burled black redwood headstock
• Old style Zon Logo on headstock
• Blue glow-in-the-dark side dots
• The serial number will be my birthday...

I think that's everything... as if it's not enough.

I'm pumped... I've been absolutely gas-free since I sold a bunch of shit and bought my F-Bass BN5, but this Legacy is pretty much my dream luxury bass.

I'm excited beyond belief

As a carpenter, I understand the amount of time a custom creation can take. Given Joe's explanation of all the extra time, and thought, that goes into crafting a left hand base, 10% sounds reasonable to me... looking forward to pics of the finished bass - it's looking awesome so far!

fivebass52 wrote:As a carpenter, I understand the amount of time a custom creation can take. Given Joe's explanation of all the extra time, and thought, that goes into crafting a left hand base, 10% sounds reasonable to me... looking forward to pics of the finished bass - it's looking awesome so far!

Yeah, I totally agree.

Even if the number were 1 out of 10, I can only imagine that readjusting your brain to think in reverse would even be difficult. But after building, cutting, shaping and sanding a hundred+ basses, muscle memory will inevitably set in and you would need to be very careful that you don't end up sanding something you shouldn't.

I was there when Mark and Joe glued up the body and even through that fairly simple beginning process you could see them habitually place the template down right handed when they were trying to find the best location for the top bookmatching, only to immediately realize it wasn't correct, and then have to flip it over. A couple times Mark double-checked with me to make sure it was all correct before he squeegeed the glue onto the wood and clamped it up.

I made a comment about how I saw him have to readjust and he was like, "Yeah man... you look at dozens of right handed basses day in and day out and then all of a sudden you're building a mirror image of that. It's freaky."

I'm green with envy. I have wanted a Zon since 1983 when I say Canadian prog-rock band Saga (anybody knows them?). They must've been one of the earliest customers.

I don't recall ever seeing a lefty 5-string Zon for sale, and new prices are outside my range. I had the opportunity to buy a lefty NAMM bass about 8 years ago, but I think the bass was too heavy. In any case, I hope to play and own one someday. A local player friend of mine has an older Sonus, and man, every time I hear him live it's amazing the punch and clarity that comes through.

That is beautiful and of all the basses I have ever played or owned there is no builder as good as Joe and his team. 10% for lefty is more than fair as some like USA Spector and many others just say no. I was routing pickups one afternoon and after doing a right handed I started mine where I wanted a reverse P and started it backwards and by the time I realized it then it was too late. A bass I have been working on for over a year for myself I did a traditional P route so it's not broken but it makes me scream inside whenever I look at it...

Congrats Addison that bass looks freaking amazing!

As someone who once made his living as a woodworker, I also agree this is quite fair given the information.

Really looking forward to seeing this one Addison!

Picture update... getting close!



Needs to be sanded and re-coated (this is the third coat in these pics), truss rod access needs to be routed... then sanded again, then fret dressing, buffed and then final assembly (electronics, nut, strings, setup).

Ugh... the wait is TORTURE.

Holy shite! Stupendous.

That top and headstock veneer are INSANE!
And the back of the body is the prettiest grain I've ever seen on mahogany. Incredible!

Matt R. wrote:Holy shite! Stupendous.

What Matt said! Fantastic job so far!

Just got these images 10 minutes ago...

Holly molly what a beautiful job!
This is gonna turn out amazing!!!

That is one Out-Standing piece of top-wood! Really looking forward to seeing this bass with the hardware on!