Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

[Norman_T]

I was at the London Guitar Show today and met up with a number of my old twangers from days gone by and had a good laugh and also a couple of sessions playing as well.

Anyway I noticed that Zion guitars had some guitars and played a couple of them - I played their Classic (strat) which was mahogany body with a book matched AAAAA quilted maple top with DiMarzios (see link for pic):
http://www.zionguitars.com/images/tigereyeclassic.jpg

So have any of you guys tried this guitar, tell me what you think of it and more importantly what about the price in the US - the guy at the show was trying to cut me a deal for £2500 ($4,473) what do you think??

[italic zero]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Yum!

Well, do you like it enough to shell out that much cash?

[Norman_T]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Yum!

Well, do you like it enough to shell out that much cash?

No way - I have two guitars already on its way to me this year and for that sort of money I want better value. It did however play nice but I am not a fan of DiMarzio pups, and they would have to go!!

[Metalman_666]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

I've never heard of Zion guitars.. are they only made in UK? and btw, that guitar looks damn sweet!

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

i like zion guitars, phil keaggy endorses them so they must be good!

no really, they make nice guitars but i dont know if there worth $4000+ though!

[Zerberus]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

I've never heard of Zion guitars.. are they only made in UK? and btw, that guitar looks damn sweet!

LOL, read the homepage, they´re made in North Carolina (USA)

I had 2 or three while still working retail. Not bad axes at all, top notch hardware and workmanship. But they weren´t "Right" for me

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

My old teacher had a few of those, with Floyds and EMG's.
The old ones where fab.

[Dooogz]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

MAn, thats a lot of money!

[Norman_T]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Thanks guys for the responses - but does anyone know what these retail for in the US? I am sure $4,500 is a lot to pay and curious as to what they would go for in the US. My suspicion is that they probably go for something like $2,500? In the UK and probably the rest of Europe we suffer from all these high prices being placed on these sort of guitars.

[Zerberus]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Back in ´99 I managed to sell the ones I had for just under 4000 DM each

[Curly]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Zion was probably one of the early custom makers that I can think of, yet I only know of Phil Keagy who uses 'em.

I have no idea what they sell for here.
Sorry, but in general, I'm not a fan of real fancy guitars - both acoustic and electric. They are often good investments, but not worth it as players. The essential ingredients of a good guitar are pretty basic - the one area where custom instruments show an improvement is an attention to detailed fret work. The fancy inlay, figured wood, and nice finishes look cool, but I'm not sure that gets you any better tone. Sometimes the handwound pickups are great, though.

Just think - most of the classic Les Paul Standards and Fender strats were not fancy or "custom" instruments!

I have a friend who has several high end instruments, and they're nice - I liked his Tyler strat - but I picked up my ol' G & L last night, and doggone if it's not every bit as special to me. I just prefer "off the shelf" guitars - but nowadays you have to sift through a lot of 'em to find a good one ... that is the problem!

years ago I went to many of the vintage shows, and it was kind of the same experience for me. I couldn't really afford the vintage prices, but not only that, I always felt there was such a difference in the inherent value of an old guitar, instrument wise, and it's value, to a collector.

I feel a lot of that market was driven by demographics, nostalgia, and differences in international exchange rates - foreign investors had a lot to do with increasing prices for vintage instruments.

that said, I also have friends who've done well trading in vintage instruments.

anyway, Norman, enough rambling and ranting ...
not for me, but if you're interested, there are a number of nice custom makers now - Tyler, Don Grosh, John Suhr, and others. As far as the difference in price here and there, you could almost pay for a flight here with the difference, and pick it up yourself! How 'bout dealing through a US dealer?

[BluesJunkie]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

Zion was probably one of the early custom makers that I can think of, yet I only know of Phil Keagy who uses 'em.

Ty Tabor from King's X had a signature model for a while before he went back to Yamaha. The only other guy I know that plays them is Bob Hartman from Petra.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

I find myself in agreement with Curly.
It just gets too nice and you worry more about dings than playing it.
Functionality comes before looks.

[Norman_T]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

I agree with you guys as I do think that there are some very good custom makers - and yes I have tried Grosh, Suhrs, Andersons. Not got hold of Bakers, Driskills, McInturffs because they are difficult to find in the UK and come with expensive tags. I agree that it would be best for me to go to through a US dealer and bypass the UK dealers.

I am going to tease all of you and guess which guitar this is - and yes it is a well known US guitar custom builder. I have placed an order (3 months ago) for this one and it is going to be ready in July. It is not a Zion!!

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Zion Guitars - Played One Today!

My best guess would be a Tyler, or a Suhr.....well most a Suhr.