LeftyBassist.com

I've had my old Fender Jazz for almost ten years now, and I'm ready to retire the old girl. I've fallen head over heels for the red Fender Jaguar bass, but of course they don't produce lefty versions in the US. Does anybody know where I could possibly find one?

I got mine through Ken at GuitarShogun.com. Good guy, honest, and I had the guitar arrive at my door from Japan within 4 days. The US dollar is very weak right now, however, so it will probably run you over $1100US. The lefty red that's available from Japan is Candy Apple Red, however, and not the Hot Rod Red that the righties come in. It's a beautiful finish with a matching headstock. Makes it even cooler and rarer, IMO.

pjmuck wrote:I got mine through Ken at GuitarShogun.com. Good guy, honest, and I had the guitar arrive at my door from Japan within 4 days. The US dollar is very weak right now, however, so it will probably run you over $1100US. The lefty red that's available from Japan is Candy Apple Red, however, and not the Hot Rod Red that the righties come in. It's a beautiful finish with a matching headstock. Makes it even cooler and rarer, IMO.

Yeah it was your post on the red jag that led me to this forum. It's a beautiful bass! The jag is not listed on the site any more, so I emailed Ken. He told me that he can still provide them, but as you said the dollar is very weak so it would be pretty expensive. But as we all know, big markups are just an accepted part of the game, when it comes to trying to buy anything outside of a standard jazz bass.

I also found a dealer on ebay selling them, for $1,400 plus $100 shipping. Here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Japan-Reissu ... 2803wt_941

Does anybody know of any other dealers?

I got my white one from Jo's Music Shop. It was a tad expensive, but I've really toured the heck out of it and it is a great, versatile workhorse. But I was also willing to pay the extra $$ since I am a Jaguar/Jazzmaster nut. But Jo's is a top notch dealer. I got the thing three days after paying in tip top shape. I'm playing it in my avatar pic.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Japan-Reissu ... 3ca7571134

I reviewed it thoroughly on another thread:
http://leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=312

Agent00Soul wrote:I got my white one from Jo's Music Shop. It was a tad expensive, but I've really toured the heck out of it and it is a great, versatile workhorse. But I was also willing to pay the extra $$ since I am a Jaguar/Jazzmaster nut. But Jo's is a top notch dealer. I got the thing three days after paying in tip top shape. I'm playing it in my avatar pic.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Japan-Reissu ... 3ca7571134

I reviewed it thoroughly on another thread:
http://leftybassist.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=312

Thanks for the info! I haven't heard back from Dan from guitarshogun, so if I can't get him to sell one to me I will probably go through Jo. Yeah I saw the profile pic and your review on the jag thread, that's quite a nice bass!

reynoldbot wrote:Thanks for the info! I haven't heard back from Dan from guitarshogun, so if I can't get him to sell one to me I will probably go through Jo. Yeah I saw the profile pic and your review on the jag thread, that's quite a nice bass!

You might have better luck calling him by his real name, Ken.

pjmuck wrote:

reynoldbot wrote:Thanks for the info! I haven't heard back from Dan from guitarshogun, so if I can't get him to sell one to me I will probably go through Jo. Yeah I saw the profile pic and your review on the jag thread, that's quite a nice bass!

You might have better luck calling him by his real name, Ken.

Whoops! My bad. I'm pretty sure I didn't call him Dan in the email. Like 90% sure. I think.

pjmuck:

I saw from your thread about the jag you bought that you were able to get it for about $1,000 US. Ken from guitar shogun just told me that he can sell me one for the list price on fender japan's site, which converts to $1,540 US (he is offering free shipping too). I see that you bought your bass over a year ago. Has the dollar really weakened that much in a year, or were you able to find a way to save a bit of money thru the conversion?

Jo's music shop is offering the same bass for $1,377 US plus $120 shipping, which comes to $1,497. Hmm. The price matches pretty closely. So, how many people on this board have dealt with either guitar shogun or jo's music shop? I've heard good things about both. I want to act sort of quickly, since the US dollar seems to be tanking by the day.

I have also bought from Ken. Great to deal with. If you want to spend the $$$$$$$, I wouldn't hesitate to buy from him. Greta communication too. Haven't dealt with Jo, but have heard good things as well and I wouldn't feel bad buying from him either. Good luck either way

Reynoldbot, how much is he asking in yen? I bought mine from Ken back in July of '08 for 119,000 yen including shipping, which equaled a rate of conversion at about $1100 US at the time. So yes, I'd say the problem right now is a very weak dollar and rate of exchange, but also consider that retail prices have gone up across the board on all Fender instruments. I'm not sure what the rate of increase was in Japan, but the US Fender list prices went up at least 25%.

Bad time to be buying right now, unfortunately. I also just read that Fender is discontinuing the Jaguar bass!

pjmuck wrote:Reynoldbot, how much is he asking in yen? I bought mine from Ken back in July of '08 for 119,000 yen including shipping, which equaled a rate of conversion at about $1100 US at the time. So yes, I'd say the problem right now is a very weak dollar and rate of exchange, but also consider that retail prices have gone up across the board on all Fender instruments. I'm not sure what the rate of increase was in Japan, but the US Fender list prices went up at least 25%.

Bad time to be buying right now, unfortunately. I also just read that Fender is discontinuing the Jaguar bass!

Okay that explains it a bit. The yen price was 136,500. I thought it would be a little strange for the dollar to decrease in value by %50 in a little over a year.

The jag is being discontinued? Oh crap, I had better get mine soon then. It certainly is a crappy time to buying, for many many reasons. But I guess it's now or never. Imagine how hard it's gonna be finding a lefty jag bass once it's discontinued. Not to mention the price ~shudder~. Thanks for the help pjmuck! One last question: was the purchasing process difficult?

pjmuck wrote:Bad time to be buying right now, unfortunately. I also just read that Fender is discontinuing the Jaguar bass!

I saw that thread on the other forum, but it seems to be a lot of unsubstantiated rumor at this point. I hope that's all it is!! I checked the websites of both Fender US and Fender Japan and they are still there. The other rumor is that they are being redesigned with P/J pickups (a great idea) or are still going to be manufactured but no longer exported (not much of an issue in this age of international purchase power) or that Fender is moving production to Mexico (no opinion).

Either way, if I was on the fence about buying one of these, this would push me right off into the here's-my-money-I'll-take-it camp! Just to be safe

Well, I'm taking the plunge! I'm buying it through guitar shogun. I'll know on Monday if they have it in stock, and I'll make the payment then. I'm getting it in the Old Candy Apple Red. With any luck, I'll be posting my review of the bass on this forum in a couple weeks! Thanks for all the help guys, and I'll keep you posted on any developments.

Purchasing process was incredibly easy. As I mentioned I paid for it and got it 4 days later.

You're gonna like the Candy Apple Red. It's absolutely beautiful. Almost too beautiful to play out, IMO. I'm always paranoid about chipping mine whenever I pull it out to play.

pjmuck wrote:Purchasing process was incredibly easy. As I mentioned I paid for it and got it 4 days later.

You're gonna like the Candy Apple Red. It's absolutely beautiful. Almost too beautiful to play out, IMO. I'm always paranoid about chipping mine whenever I pull it out to play.

Yeah I saw those pictures, what a stunner. Those pictures are what convinced me to finally buy it. Seeing as you own a veritable gaggle of basses and I only own two, I don't think I'll have much of a problem playing it. Especially after paying 1,500 wing-wangs for it. I can't wait!

Play it man! It's a Fender - it LIKES being used and abused!!

Agent00Soul wrote:Play it man! It's a Fender - it LIKES being used and abused!!

Agreed! My fender is covered in battle scars, and I feel like every one of them adds to its appeal. Hell, the bass at the top of this forum is beautiful, much more so because of how battle-worn it is.

The order is in, the payment has been made, and within a couple weeks I will have my first new bass in 8 years!

Congrats, post pix of course.

reynoldbot wrote: Hell, the bass at the top of this forum is beautiful, much more so because of how battle-worn it is.

And it's even more battle worn than in that pic now.