NGD! Zion Classic carvetop

[Dave L]

I´ve always been a fan of these! About six or seven years ago I ordered a Zion Radicaster and I´ve been using it in some capacity on everything I´ve done ever since, so I´ve had an eye out for one of these older carvetop Classics ever since. Well, yesterday this turned up and it´s a real beauty. There are still some adjustments to be made, but the build quality is sky high. I´m really digging the neck shape, it´s somewhere inbetween my two favorite necks and definitely right up my alley; not thin, not bulky, not too flat.

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Beautiful top!

 

[Dave L]

Sure is! That downward slant of the figuring gives it a very special look, like molten gold almost.

You´ve had a few Zions, right? Do you have any clue about the serial numbers? Dale at Zion doesn´t have any records from Ken´s time and uses a different numbering, and while I guess this is from the mid 90s judging from the logo and the Kahler Floyd it´s hard to tell exactly. I think it´s in the 6000-6100 range.

 

[mudf00t]

Zion's are nice guitars. I had an early 90s Bolt T that I sold a few months ago. Solid guitars.

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, at the prices you can find these at now I´d say there isn´t a better buy out there when looking at high end superstrats. Definitely on par with anything I´ve had.

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Sure is! That downward slant of the figuring gives it a very special look, like molten gold almost.

You´ve had a few Zions, right? Do you have any clue about the serial numbers? Dale at Zion doesn´t have any records from Ken´s time and uses a different numbering, and while I guess this is from the mid 90s judging from the logo and the Kahler Floyd it´s hard to tell exactly. I think it´s in the 6000-6100 range.

you could message Ken on hatebook. He can give you info on it I think??

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, probably, just didn´t want to bother him if anyone on here maybe knew something about it

 

[Dror520]

Yeah, at the prices you can find these at now I´d say there isn´t a better buy out there when looking at high end superstrats. Definitely on par with anything I´ve had.

On par with Tom Anderson?

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Yeah, at the prices you can find these at now I´d say there isn´t a better buy out there when looking at high end superstrats. Definitely on par with anything I´ve had.

On par with Tom Anderson?

Definitely

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, at the prices you can find these at now I´d say there isn´t a better buy out there when looking at high end superstrats. Definitely on par with anything I´ve had.

On par with Tom Anderson?

Sure, Zion just never got the wide-spread reputation Anderson, Tyler and Suhr got and the used market reflects that, bigtime. I guess being on the Carolina coast limited the LA exposure.

 

[mixn4him]

Use to stop by his old shop all the time and just hang out, Ken was/is such a great guy. These carve tops are great guitars; you have to search out the Mahogany back versions vs. the Basswood, they sound better. The build quality is on par with any of the top builders.

 

[Halen]

That is one sharp looking top, congrats!

 

[mooncobra]

wow, bitchin guit man!!

 

[stratjacket]

Love the top, cool guitars. I haven't seen a Zion in a long time

 

[Dave L]

Thanks guys, I´m very pleased with it so far and I suspect it´ll see regular rotation with the other main-type guitars once I have it dialed in just right!

 

[mooncobra]

Yeah, at the prices you can find these at now I´d say there isn´t a better buy out there when looking at high end superstrats. Definitely on par with anything I´ve had.

how much they going for?

 

[JerEvil]

Didn't Zion used to make some really wild pointy guitars ala Jackson/BC Rich as well?

 

[SDMF38]

Congrats, definitely a killer build.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Ken Hoover builds a great instrument,
Extremely underrated!
Fine man too...

Keith

 

[Dave L]

Didn't Zion used to make some really wild pointy guitars ala Jackson/BC Rich as well?

They did also use a pointy headstock for a while, yeah, but they mostly kept to that same dinky-ish body shape. The finishes were pretty wild, though!

As for the pricing, well, at any given time you can always find more than a few floating around under $1000, and often comfortably under. They can be more expensive than that, though, and these Classics are often a good example of that. But still a lot less expensive than what a similar model would cost from any of the more well-known makers of the time.