What would you say about the Zon ?
Not enough adjectives to describe how sweet and comfy the Sonus is, Sonicus. It's as beautiful and light a piece of swamp ash as I've ever seen (abolutely flawless trans red burst finish). Ultra light -- an honest 7 lb. The Zon neck is a delight to play, slim, nice radius (11 I think). The preamp is straight forward and easy, but the bass is very responsive to amp settings. The tone from the swamp ash/graphite combo ranges anywhere you want between raspy/aggressive and creamy/smooth/pillowy.
I have two Modulus VJ basses loaded with the Villex system and p/ups which is THE most versatile passive electronics I've ever used.
It was the Modulus VJs and Genesis offering Villex that aroused my curiosity about Villex. Than I found a significant cadre of Villex fans who all wanted to talk about their setups. I found Bill Villex to be great guy to talk to and very accomodating when I went looking to buy the parts. The Villex is truly unique - fully passive, but very versatile (the separate mid boost is something every passive Fender should have). The only thing I'm not wild over is the passive 4 position boost. It does what you'd think, but I've recently found a greater facility to find sweet tone if I don't use the boost at all and at the same time, moderate the midboost. The Villex range of sounds is hard to describe - sort of vintage and modern combined - amazingly articulate with very nicely sorted out harmonics.
My MusicMan/Status bass is one of my faves, just like bassman said...warm and even...and super comfortable.
That's a nice looking Ray, Elwood. I am amazed at how organic-sounding space age composites can sound. I'll bet the Status neck takes it up a big notch.
Not to be overlooked, my Alembic is the anchor among my go-to basses. I love the combination of all that mahogany (incl the neck), Rock of Gibraltar neck, bridge, overall feel and Alembic sound flexibility. Still my preference to bring the BB, but the graphites are nicer to bring to a bar gig involving a dodgier environ.
I've been through a LOT of different basses looking for different things. But I can tell these three basses will keep me intrigued and satisfied for a long while. The Status/Villex is sort of a passive wonderhorse - alder body - many more traditional tones. The Zon is more of a swamp ash, active Super J bass (but with the flexibility to do more traditional sounds too). And the Brown Bass is like an old friend, warm, woody but very, very smart (Smart?). Sorry, I wax poetic. But I do think I'll be unloading a few other basses that don't seem likely to get played any time soon (to fuel my amp GAS, of course!).
Bill
