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Lefty Bass FAQ

avid

avid

born lefty
Jun 22, 2005
621
2
74
Ashland, Oregon USA
#1
The LEFTY Bass FAQ​

You are not alone, now repeat that, I AM NOT ALONE. There are others of us amongst the TB fraternity. A poll showed that 20% of the guys at TB are lefties. Some of them have gone over to the dark side and play righty. Everyone will tell you that if you want a good selection of instruments, that's the way to go. That's fine for some of us but there are others like me, who couldn't play right handed more than they could play a ukulele.

Finding a teacher is no problem and maybe actually a blessing because you can mirror image the instructor. I find that instructors first suggest switching and then say no problem they would be happy to work with you.

Enough of the introductory stuff you are here looking for an instrument and can't find one. Where can you look?

Here are some shops that have a selection of left handed instruments. Hint: I will update this if any other shops would like enhance their lefty clientele.



Here are the Bass manufacturers that have left handed models. Read the fine print on the websites. A couple offer all models as lefties; some, a disappointing few and then sometimes only beginners models. A few manufactures have no surcharge for left handed models and some upwards of 15% surcharge.


The following custom Bass builders will make custom lefties. Some charge more for lefties and I indicate the upcharge. If you can help me with information about builders lefty surcharge please PM me with it. There are quite a few with ??? marks remaining.


Other lefty resources

Arnies lefty bass http://www.leftybass.com/e_start.htm

This is a work in progress meant to help answer the recurring question, " I am lefty where can I find and instrument?" I would like to make it a communal effort with anyone wanting to provide more details pitching in. For instance I need to fill out the information about Custom builders surcharge for lefties. It would also be great to have detailed information for each manufacturer showing exactly what models are available in left hand. Other suggestion also welcome. This is OUR lefty FAQ. Thanks for helping out. :hyper:

p.s. Mistakes, bad links or misspellings please give me a shout out.
 
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#5
Nicely done, avid! A couple more retailers you might consider listing:

* Drum City - Guitarland, they have a good selection of in-stock lefties:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

* You listed SX as a manufacturer, but you might provide a specific link to their retailer, Rondo Music:
http://www.rondomusic.net/BassLeft.html

I might also list Ishibashi in Japan (that's where I bought my last lefty from), but I don't know how to provide a direct, English-translated link to their lefty page.

Thanks!
 
#6
Vandelay said:
Nicely done, avid! A couple more retailers you might consider listing:

* Drum City - Guitarland, they have a good selection of in-stock lefties:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

+1... I've bought a bass from them in the past, and their service is excellent.

I received an e-mail from Schecter a while back highlighting their three big lefty guitar and bass retailers. Adirondack Guitar, Southpaw Guitars, and Drum City Guitarland happen to be those three! Drum City is also one of their most awarded Schecter retailers, and they tend to have a huge stock of Schecter prototypes and NAMM show instruments.
 
#7
MysticBoo said:
Excellent FAQ, avid! Where was that poll you mentioned, BTW? I'd love to add my vote in :D
Click to expand...

It was a poll from a couple of years ago. It could still be around in the archives. It was really shocking that so many TBers where left handed.

LeftyJack said:
Avid, thanks for the hard work in putting everything in one place! :D
Click to expand...

Thanks, there are always a few lefties around with the time and inclination to help newbies out; but, I thought it might be easier to stop reinventing the wheel.

lug said:
Some nice info, bump.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment and the bump it helped get things rolling.

Vandelay said:
Nicely done, avid! A couple more retailers you might consider listing:

* Drum City - Guitarland, they have a good selection of in-stock lefties:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

* You listed SX as a manufacturer, but you might provide a specific link to their retailer, Rondo Music:
http://www.rondomusic.net/BassLeft.html

I might also list Ishibashi in Japan (that's where I bought my last lefty from), but I don't know how to provide a direct, English-translated link to their lefty page.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ishibashi, I need to get that on the list. Will add the reference to Rondo music and Drum City-Guitarland. I knew I was overlooking things; but I thought rather than keep it on my desk to put it out and ask for many other eyes to look it over.

I would like to list under each manufacturer exactly what models are available in lefty. This would save any lefty an incredible amount of time reading the fine print. Maybe I will get after that this weekend. For instance under Fender: American Jazz Deluxe, American Precision, Standard Jazz.

It would be really cool if we could do this like Wikipedia and let everyone help edit the FAQ. Is it possible to give unlimited editing control? In Unix you could just set the permissions allowing anyone to edit. I wonder if it's possible with this software?
 
#9
Nice, I had no idea that ricks came in lefty 0_0!

Word of advice, Fender Japan has a ton of lefty basses, and when I compaired mine to an American Made yesterday mine sounded just as good, and was lighter (and 500$ cheaper).

Also, can anyone tell me what years lety Gibson thunderbirds were made, I love the sound of those basses so much! :cool:
 
#10
Disc said:
Nice, I had no idea that ricks came in lefty 0_0!
Click to expand...

You're kidding, right?
paulric1.jpg
 
#14
avid said:
It was a poll from a couple of years ago. It could still be around in the archives. It was really shocking that so many TBers where left handed.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I may have to start another poll, then.

avid said:
It would be really cool if we could do this like Wikipedia and let everyone help edit the FAQ. Is it possible to give unlimited editing control? In Unix you could just set the permissions allowing anyone to edit. I wonder if it's possible with this software?
Click to expand...

What about the TB Wiki here? I haven't explored it much yet, so I'm not sure what it's capable of.
 
#16
avid said:
I have been to Ishibashi and found a left handed menu before but I sure don't see one today. Anyone feel like looking?
Click to expand...
Fender Japan (i.e. manufacturer) lefty page:
Link Removed

Ishibashi (i.e. retailer) page for lefty Fenders:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

You can plug either of these URLs into an auto-translator such as http://www.babelfish.altavista.com. Or you can go to http://www.ishibashi-music.com, click the "Translated Pages" link, then scroll down halfway and click "Guitar & base", then click "Fender Japan" in the left-hand column, then click the lefty Strat.
 
#17
Here are some recent additions and updates to the Lefty Bass Faq.

Dealers added:

http://www.ishibashi-music.com/ A Japanese web dealer that many bassist of either persuasion use to purchase CIJ basses.

Link Removed German dealer for Italia basses quite a few models available.

New Manufacturers:

Eastwood http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/
Italia http://www.italiaguitars.com/


Custom Builders:

I had forgotten to include

Alleva Coppolo 10% http://www.allevacoppolo.com/
Johnson's Extremely Strange Musical Instruments no upcharge http://www.xstrange.com/ custom copies of Ampeg AEB-2/AUB-2

I updated Lakland's listing to reflect no upcharge for Lefty USA models.
 

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