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Body Style	Body Wood	Neck Wood	Fbd. Wood	Scale	Frets	Pickups	Switching	Neck Joint	Strings	Weight	Price
Z2	Top: Mirdseye Maple 2 piece Back: Mahogany (1 piece)	Mahogany	Pau Ferro	624mm	26 Large/Medium *Dual Size	Neck: ZachAttack 8.1K A5 Bridge: ZachAttack 16.5K C	3-way pickup select 2-way coil select	Glued	ZOG 11 RW	6 lb	$2950 with case

Commentary for this month and a case in point.

Remember this. A true artist never makes a mistake. A mistake is only an opportunity to make something even better and more unique; better than it would have been otherwise.
Mistakes are opportunities for growth. Each mistake makes the artist grow and become better. There is no art without mistakes.

Case in point, this body was glued and cut several years ago. It was done to the perfect Z2 spec thickness, however, I soon noticed that something crazy happened. The body warped all to hell. It cupped and it also warped in a figure 8 pattern. It looked to be a lost cause. Being a practical person, there is no way I would give up on it and have it go to waste. It actually cupped the wrong way with the top being concave and the back was convex, plus the twist along its length. This was due to the instability of the Birdseye Maple and its phenomenal power as a harder wood to twist the perfectly stable, yet less dense, lighter and softer Mahogany under it. The Mahogany had no chance against the twisting strength of the Birdseye Maple. The Birdseye goes where it wants to, there is no stopping it.

I then thickness sanded the body again and removed the warping from both sides of the body and stored the body again for a year. To my surprise when I looked at it again, it warped once again. I said WTF ??? I then thickness sanded it again and this time I meant it, and dished out the punishment. As a side effect, this Z2 body because considerably thinner than the customary thickness of the Z2. I also decided to give it a unique contouring to remove any warping or any chance of further warping. If you look at the pictures below closely, you will notice the unique 3D contouring along both top and back sides of the body; mostly the top. To see it, just look at the top and bottom horns how they are carved to curve downward. Also look at the area where the controls are and how that is curved as well; almost as an archtop. Of course it has the customary forearm and belly contours also as usual. So, by chance and necessity, this became a thinner bodied Z2 and also uniquely contoured, which is quite pleasing to the eye and also ergonomic.

If you have a good eye you will have also noticed the pickups are a bit different. What are they? They are prototype ZachAttack pickups from many years ago, which I found I had left over from before my final ZachAttack design was finalized. You will find the same pickups on the very first Z2 using ZachAttack, which is a guitar purchased by the amazing and also one-of-a-kind Bobby Simcox. I liked the sound of that guitar so much and was happy to find these same prototypes to use. Of course I had improved the design of the ZachAttacks in various ways, one of which was to go with the larger pole piece screws, which are smoother with no fear that the strings will get caught in the threads from spirited playing. As a side note, a bit of duct tape over the high E screws will take care of this problem and if you were given a talent for detail perception, you would have already noticed that Steve Vai's D'Marzio pickups have tape over them at the bottom edge. Now you know why.

Something else you would NOT have noticed, unless you are uniquely gifted with detail perception, is another curious feature of this guitar. Its the 17 frets clear of the body, as compared to the customary 16 frets clear on all previous Z2s. This is a first on this Z2 guitar and it gives the guitar a slightly different balance.

This Zachary guitar again pays homage to the vintage Gibson tradition by featuring that wonderful simplicity I cannot get enough of and adore so much. I really get off on simplicity and hold those oriented in the opposite direction in contempt. ZOG 11 RW strings completes the Z experience.

By the way, do me a favor. Find all the idiots in your area - including that local luthier and guitar shop owner "you respect so much" - who are not using ZOG strings and kick them in the head for me, That's the only chance they have to get a brain readjustment and become educated. Don't ever forget who defined and revolutionized guitar string-set design for posterity. Of course you are not supposed to know about that, since I don't pay any of the guitar industry media and endorsers advertisement and endorsement money. I refuse to play the game and pay extortion money to the mob. You can guess how the system works and you thought people were well-meaning, good and innocent.   Wake up!

Well, that got me pissed off enough to be ready for the next Z. I will try to make something better than the crap you have been seeing from me lately. Time to put it up a notch.     FUCK YOU!

 

Alex, When I opened the page to this guitar I was astonished, breathless. I can't ever remember being so affected by a guitar before (the Tuz and Bentley came close though). It's gorgeous. It's perfect. Thank you for sharing it with us,    Jeff (Calgary)

Alex, Just wanted to say that the new Z2 you posted up yesterday or today is AWESOME. Of course, all your instruments are phenomenal, but right now my favorites are the Z2-Jr with one pickup and this latest instrument….all substance and no frills….Good to see you cranking out the instruments again, my friend. Take care,   Jay

What a gorgeous Z2 that is..... I didn't go back and check all the previous guitars but is that the first one with a veneer headstock? Fantastic - especially since the birdseye maple looks fabulous. Maple and mahogany bodies are great tonally and that is one amazing piece of mahogany for the neck, and the glued neck joint is nice and clean. It's got to be a great sounding guitar and the figured fretboard and black hardware are a perfect touch to make it look as good as it sounds.   Mark

Wow Alex, just saw 010111. Another beautiful piece. Are those new type “ZackAttack” pickups? The poles are different and your logo is not on them. The top is beautiful, but the back of this guitar is way sexy, fantastic shape, and of course the joinery of the neck to body is amazing (as usual). I can imagine the 11’s on a 26 fret board must produce nice and meaty deep tones. Action of course looks great even on a longer neck. Thanks again for another beautiful creation and congratulations.   Yordys

 

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