What happened to Zoot basses?

[project_c]

Got my Zoot Performer bass out tonight and couldn't put it down for about 4 hours, it's an active ash / rosewood 4 string with a double-j pickup at the bridge, very light, loads of snap and dynamics, great sounding preamp, I could not get a bad tone out of it.

It made me wonder what happened to this brand, lots of people were loving them a few years ago, and you hear nothing about them these days.

[dannybuoy]

Not sure why they aren't so popular, but they do still exist!

http://www.purple-chili.com/iceni-zoot/

[MacDaddy]

Mine is for sale here [size=4] [/size]
http://basschat.co.uk/topic/249351-will-now-post-iceni-zoot-active-and-with-hipshot-detuner/page__gopid__2859361#entry2859361

[project_c]

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1441497428' post='2859362']
Mine is for sale here
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/249351-will-now-post-iceni-zoot-active-and-with-hipshot-detuner/page__gopid__2859361#entry2859361"]http://basschat.co.u...61#entry2859361[/url]
[/quote]

Very nice bass, I did see that. If I had more room in my studio, I would buy every Zoot out there. London home = limited space = strict one in / one out policy. Otherwise I would have already bought it off you.

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1441496274' post='2859356']
Not sure why they aren't so popular, but they do still exist!

[url="http://www.purple-chili.com/iceni-zoot/"]http://www.purple-ch...com/iceni-zoot/[/url]
[/quote]

Looks like that site hasn't been touched in 5 years, it could really do with a re-design.. That chilli logo looks very dated. And the online shop is ..offline. Maybe that's all it is, people search for Zoot and it all looks a bit neglected. Perhaps I should offer to re-design it for him.

[TheKcrimsonKing]

I wasn't even aware they existed until I saw Squarepusher play one, what are they like?

[Bearfist]

They are still there, Mike lives a few minutes drive from me and does any work on my gear I need doing, see him every few months usually and he always has a few new builds hanging around in the work shop for people, he also built me a new neck recently for a project I was working on. From talking to him I think he is just happy taking on as much as suits him and the stuff he finds interesting. He has a ton of amp builds going on, plenty of people like me getting work done on basses and as i said there is always a Zoot or 3 in various stages of completion.

The site isn't the most up to date but drop him an email and he will get strait back to anyone looking for a bass or some work, still top quality as you would expect too.

Edited September 7, 2015 by Bearfist

[lee4]

Got a Zoot 2x12 cab when they first came out.Huge low end,600w at 4 ohms.
But had build issues with mine which resulted in a new socket plate being fitted and the HF tweeter being removed.
On the plus side,I can pick it up with one hand!

[project_c]

[quote name='TheKcrimsonKing' timestamp='1441580831' post='2860080']
I wasn't even aware they existed until I saw Squarepusher play one, what are they like?
[/quote]

My experience of them is 100% positive, the one I currently own is very light, the pickups sound amazing, the preamp is versatile, the neck is nice, and it's pretty easy to play, I barely have to dig in if I want dynamics. The body shape is very comfortable and it balances perfectly. I'd personally change the headstock shape if I could, but it's not something that bothers me massively. There are people here on BC with much nicer Zoot basses than mine, there was a thread many years ago with lots of different examples, i'll dig it out at some point.

[quote name='Bearfist' timestamp='1441609879' post='2860117']
They are still there, Mike lives a few minutes drive from me and does any work on my gear I need doing, see him every few months usually and he always has a few new builds hanging around in the work shop for people, he also built me a new neck recently for a project I was working on. From talking to him I think he is just happy taking on as much as suits him and the stuff he finds interesting. He has a ton of amp builds going on, plenty of people like me getting work done on basses and as i said there is always a Zoot or 3 in various stages of completion.

The site isn't the most up to date but drop him an email and he will get strait back to anyone looking for a bass or some work, still top quality as you would expect too.
[/quote]

Good to hear.

[Sibob]

I've always had good experiences with Mike, he's done a bit of work for me on basses like adding a J pickup to an old white Precision. Good work with a lot of stories from Mike if you ask .
My (now departed) friend Lincoln had a FunkMeister 5 which was very cool, probably the first 'super Jazz' I tried

Si

[Alex B]

It amazes me to see with the couple of Zoot basses for sale on here recently - MacDaddy's being one I'd noticed a couple of times - how far the asking price has come down with no sale forthcoming. They really are great basses, and I can't believe they've not been snapped up at such bargain prices.

Mine has been with a tech for months having a couple of things sorted out. I'm looking forward to getting it back this week, it'll be almost like a new bass day again!

[Bass Culture]

Mike's gearing up to increase his output again, I understand. He's still most certainly active and capable of turning out basses like this, which I picked up yesterday from him:

[URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/Myrtle2014/media/Zoot%20Custom/WP_20160722_09_23_39_Pro_zpseldsho1h.jpg.html][IMG]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/Myrtle2014/Zoot%20Custom/WP_20160722_09_23_39_Pro_zpseldsho1h.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[Geek99]

Well that's made me mess up my screen ....