Which companies are good for lefties and which are not

[leftybassman392]

I think it's a given in these parts that Regenerate are the most lefty friendly company ever. Period.

+1 (or in my case, +2! )

[AllroyPA]

Allparts have nice bodies. So I'll add them to the list.

[Agent00Soul]

Warmoth is good too.

[Basshappi]

What bothers me the most is colors and fretboard woods.

I don't expect a company to offer every model and variation they make in a left handed version but come on, no matter how a shop is configured, there is NO reason why the same colors of finish and the same fretboard wood selections cannot be offered on a lefthanded instrument. Carvin has been doing that (and much more) for decades!

Take Fender for example, There is no reason why a Jazz and a Precision (or Strat / Tele), configured like whatever their main model is, couldn't be made available with the general color palette and a choice of rosewood or maple fretboard. That shouldn't be difficult (or more expensive) to provide. Percentage of the market not withstanding.

Of course now it is completely pointless to buy an American Fender anyway. You can build a Warmoth to any spec offered in a US Fender and even with Warmoth doing the body and neck finish, it will be less expensive and IME better quality.

Dont even get me started on Rickenbacker!

[frankenjazz]

theres this polish company called mayone (i belive theres someone here trying to sell a 6 string) and on most models they offer 4,5,and 6 string configurations in righty and lefty....so yea add them to the good ones

[danomite64]

I bought a 4 string bridge off this local guy today. He hands me his card, and it turns out he's a lefty bass builder! Anyway, here's his link. http://screambasses.com/index.html

I'm going to stop by his shop/home/wherever he makes his basses and try out that Jazz (it appears it's the only one he's photographed for the site so far)......he 's working on two Precisions, maybe I'll get to try those too.

[Stingray5]

MTD, with the Kingston line, is good to us. Even the new Saratoga :drool: and the CRB will be available in Left handed. No ZX though..

Still you get the finish problem - I only see the KZ in amber! Boy would I love a LH natural gloss..

Obviously He makes handmade leftys, but that's a little out of my price range to care!



I see Sandberg lefties out there, but I couldn't see any info on their website about them, if there are any limitations/upharges etc..

[kosmicwizard]

From the Sandberg price list "All models are available as lefthand - version without an extra charge. The only exceptions are the panther special and panther highgloss models." Cheers.

[penguin]

Status Graphite. A majority of their catalog is available left handed with all the options. There are a few models available righty only, but there is no charge for the lefty option where available. They are a very high quality operation based in England and their instruments are on the expensive side but very much worth it in my opinion.

I bought a 4 string bridge off this local guy today. He hands me his card, and it turns out he's a lefty bass builder! Anyway, here's his link. http://screambasses.com/index.html

Unfortunately, it seems Scream Basses is no longer in business. I bought a bass from them of eBay and although there were some issues with it, it was very nice. A shame to see them go.

[glefty5]

Fender Japan seem to at least give a damn about us, both in bass & guitars, plus Hohner & a lot of British & European companies so there must be something in the "more lefties in UK/EU" theory. I would kill for a Fender Jazz 5 Deluxe with a maple board, in Antigua, black moto pickguard but that's harder to imagine than peace in the middle east. I'd settle for a 4 deluxe but why no maple board option on lefties? Why the color restrictions? Ironic considering that bassists are generally the most open-minded & progressive of musicians! I understand supply & demand, economic feasibility & market share but c'mon, spray paint color isn't orientation specific, nor are fretboard woods that I know of. Can someone with an inside running find out why Fender, et al find these simple options impossible? I'd love to know. My 2 shekels.

[glefty5]

Further to the anti-lefty gripes, here are a couple of stories which wont shed light.
1) In Singapore 10 yrs ago, I found n played a TRB5L but didn't buy it as I thought to order one in a more desired color, which was available, once I moved back to Sydney in Oz. Yamaha didn't import that model in lefty to Australia but acknowledged it's existence. I asked my friend, the chief bass sales rep for Yamaha on the east coast, a very good bassist himself who had the same righty TRB5, to get one "specially" imported from their readily available lefties in Japan, bound for EU/UK, & Yamaha said no! "Why" I asked? No real reason was given to my friend but a lame excuse about licensing exclusivity, blah,blah.... was mumbled. My Yamaha rep friend also couldn't understand it.

2) Kawai Japan accepted a custom order to build a lefty 5 of a model they had at the time in righty. All went well but before they had the neck done, I decided to ask for the bass to be made as an unlined fretless. Well, this caused all kinds of wailing & gnashing of teeth on their side as the righty 5 was only available as fretted. After a lot of tooing & froing they came up with this solution: "We can't make it fretless but after we finish the bass we can pull the frets out!". After picking up my jaw I said," I've got a better idea. You know that part where you put the frets in the neck? "yeah, yeah!" "Well, why don't you just cut that part out????" Needless to say, I got my Kawai 5 lefty FRETTED bass about a month later!

[AustinLeftyBass]

Rickenbacker!!

Rickenbacker is bad for lefties? I bought both a lefty bass and a 12-string guitar from them new at various points in the past with no problems other than the usual backlogged delay. Be a shame if they stopped making lefties!

Operative words: "in the past".

[RobC]

Umm...

I wouldn't agree that Ibanez is good for lefties- in Australia all you can get is a black SR300, and that is all there is anywhere it seems in "ordinary" basses.

I just got an SR500BM lefty from Bill's Music but I'm pretty sure this is a superseded model (although lovely!)

Rob.

[bugsy]

im sick of seeing only fender jazzes as lefties
Oh and Ibanez used to be good for lefties

[Agent00Soul]

Fender Japan seem to at least give a damn about us

Fender Japan makes the coolest bunch of lefty guitars & basses that I've ever seen at any one time from a single company! Just my opinion of course....

[glefty5]

Hey Rob C,
it's not so much the companies as the importers. They just won't bring in any lefties that aren't the same usual 4 string suspects. I know, all of my lefty 5's & 6's were bought overseas or via internet. I couldn't be assed dealing with stores in Sydney anymore, only for used stuff. Even my amps n fx I bought in Japan or via ebay, same with strings. We get reamed big time with import duties, gst, etc so I basically boycotted them all.

[glefty5]

Forgot to add, you'll do better buying a bass from these forum members, get a better deal with knowledgeable insights so this site is my main 'Sears Catalogue' now!!

[leftieray]

Mine was a great leap of faith when I ordered a 55 Tribute from Rodent (Regenerate Guitar Works). Oh what a joy, the best bass for the price. Also agree with glefty5 it's been to hard to deal with local bass stores in Oz. I've imported five basses from North America with only one I wasn't happy with. Damn you Canada.. It never arrived.