[4] Zon Guitars is associated with endorser and player Michael Manring, who collaborated with the company in the mid-1990s to design the innovative Zon Hyperbass instrument, a bass guitar that enables the player to retune the instrument during play.

Phenowood is wood, often birch, that has been impregnated with a phenolic resin, layered and compressed under heat.

[4] The necks of Zon guitars that use these rigid materials usually do not have truss rods, since they are not subject to bowing.

The tone generated by these materials is clear and bell-like, and players such as Manring use these qualities to incorporate harmonics prominently in their playing.

The biggest departure from traditional construction is the use of four detuning heads (usually basses have at most one) and a unique bridge design, which allows selective tuning changes of one or more strings.