A New Signature Axe for Meshuggah’s Dick Lövgren
Not just another addition to the Zon Guitars Sonus range, we’re talking a brand new signature model that’s a result of a collaboration between Joe Zon and bassist Dick Lövgren. It’s a stunning take on the Sonus model, built to the Meshuggah bassist’s exact specifications. It features a hollow African mahogany body with a ‘floating’ flame maple top and composite neck, but the business side of this 6-string is based around Graph-tech ‘ghost’ piezo pickups in the bridge saddles and a hand-wound Bartolini magnetic pickup in the neck position.
“The body is about 4-inches thick,” explains Joe Zon. “The flame maple top is ‘floating’ so it’s able to freely vibrate. The bridge rests on the top as to not dampen, but transmit the vibrations from the top wood and reproduce those vibrations via the piezo saddles. The glued-in neck is attached using a traditional dove-tail design. The strings anchor to the bottom of the bass and ‘drape’ across the bridge in a fashion that’s similar to an arch top.” This hard ‘n’ heavy setup is complimented by dual 3-band active electronics that are adjustable via trim pots located in a recessed panel in the side of the body. This system allows for independent EQ for both magnetic and piezo pickups.
“It has blown everyone away,” Dick told us. “This bass is spectacular and thanks to the EQ and the mix of piezo and magnetic pickups, I can get that sweet high mid frequency sound that’s pretty squeezed together with lows and highs from the magnetic pickups, which is more dynamic. All the natural overtones are there too. It just sings! I can’t wait to record with it.”
