molan

[quote name='skelf' timestamp='1397636976' post='2425805'] The previous two years I built a left hander to take to the London bass show. Over the two shows only one bass was tried by one person. I had to discount both basses in order to sell them and even at that it took ages. So at the last show I did not build a left hander and have decided not to build a stock left hand bass again for the simple reason there is very little interest. [/quote] That's exactly what happened to us - we commissioned a special build lefty Carvin to take to the show last year and only one person played it (maybe the same one!). It's still hanging on our wall and I've just knocked even more off the price to try and shift it. I think it's unlikely we'll order more for stock based on this and will have to move to a 'special order' only basis

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1397636827' post='2425800'] We were in the exact same boat last year. Bought a load of lefty les Paul's, a few basses, some Gretsch and fender and out of the lot, we sold one. The main response we got from the lefty players coming in? 'Its nice that you have a few but I want a selection to choose from if I'm buying'... We sell a number of Gibson Les Paul traditionals every week but our black lefty LP traditional has been in the shop for nearly 2 years and a year of that at a seriously reduced price. They just don't shift and businesses don't want stock that hangs around and makes no money. The market will never grow with this attitude. It's a big monetary gamble for a company to buy lefty stock and it then doesn't sell because leftys get militant and 'want a better choice'. That means selling stock at little/no profit or worse, at a loss, and that then reflects to the shop itself but also the manufacturers that lefty instruments don't sell. Companies aren't going to produce 100 different styles and colours and pickup configurations of lefty instrument so you can choose one to buy out of the bunch. The leftys attitude of 'I'm entitled to a choice' is actually hindering the growth of the lefty market. If they bought a few up and got them moving through the stores, more would sell, figures at store/manufacturing levels would increase (demand) meaning that it would also increase the supply. It's pretty straight forward. [/quote] I must admit that this is exactly the same attitude we got when we had a larger stock of leftys - the general view was that however many we had it simply wasn't enough and their was an expectation that we'd need to stock maybe half as many leftys as rightys to offer a decent range. With sales accounting for about 2% this was unlikely to ever happen.

At the shop I work we went through a period of 'positive discrimination' towards left-handed instruments for a while. We over-stocked relative to regular right-handed ones vs average percentage of players and customers and commissioned a few custom builds to offer something a bit different. The shop owner was really keen to offer things people found hard to find (across the whole store) and lefties were an obvious market. Unfortunately they took an absolute age to sell. Average rate of sale was far worse than righties and cost of stock (simply the amount it cost us to buy them and keep them hanging on the wall and tying up valuable capital) made them unprofitable. Some we even had to discount below cost to sell. We now have just one in stock and it's been on the wall since March 2013 and hasn't been played by anyone this year. We also sell a range of custom build instruments from about £950 up to many thousands and I do all the spec confirmation and price quotes. We've had just one request in 3 years for a lefty and that didn't result in a sale. Our simple summary is that it's just unprofitable for a small specialist retailer to stock left-handed instruments. We'd love to offer more but selling virtually zero profit or at a loss is no way for us to stay in business

I've bought from Pefect Bass before. If you're registered on TalkBass they sometimes give additional discounts. I bought a few sets of DR from them at just £12 a set inc postage to my hotel! Bestbassgear are good for some brands too.

[quote name='6v6' timestamp='1397550167' post='2424954'] Really? I find it pretty hard to believe that the biggest manufacturer of J basses on the planet can't make two near-identical basses, so either he had some strange outlier to their normal quality control, or he wasn't important enough for them to try a couple of dozen basses to find one the same? FWIW I tried about 10 2012 P-Basses last year and they all sounded very similar, in the end the decision came down to weight, slightly better wood/resonance and colour choice. [/quote] Yes, really. A very senior guy at Fender went through a large number of UK stock instruments and couldn't replicate the tone of this one particular bass. He even went so far as to say that it was unlikely they'd ever com across another that would sound identical. The player is very well known and Fender have been 'courting' him for a while to play their instruments. They specifically chose this bass because they thought it would be perfect for him (they were right) but they didn't foresee that he'd then ask for an identical spare

I've played near identical Fender Jazzes (same year of manufacture, exact same model etc) back to back and even they sound different. I know a top pro guy who bought a brand new 2013 Fender P US Standard and asked Fender for another that sounded the same so he'd have a spare to take on tour. They couldn't find one. . .

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1397484039' post='2424339'] No one has yet proved that there isn't a 750 watt module in there...its just held back and effectively turn the amp up to full tilt and it won't break a sweat. [/quote] Why would TC limit the RH450 to just 235W if it could go to 750? I can understand holding a 750 back to something like 450-500 but going as low as 235 would seem a strang decision?

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1397311904' post='2422716'] I've owned Metro and NYC basses and aside from the beautiful figured wood on the NYC, I'm not 100% sure that I would order a 'new' one over a new Metro! I'd most certainly take a used NYC over a used Metro... probably! [size=4] [/size] [size=4]Sorry if that doesn't help. One thing is that the NYC was the lightest Jazz [/size]derivative[size=4] bass that I have ever experienced (almost to the point it was too light and the headstock 'might' just have been dipping when on certain straps) but the Metro basses weren't boat anchors by any means. [/size] [/quote] I had an NYC which was so light that the neck was really unbalanced. I spoke to Sadowsky about possible ways to cure this and they simply told me I was wrong and they never released basses with neck dive! I 'cured' it by fitting Hipshot Ultra-lights and noticed, a year or so later that these were standard fit on a lot of new Sadowskys. . . I've tried an odd one since then that wasn't perfectly balanced and each one was really, really light weight. It's generally been the chambered body ones that have had the imbalance. Obviously there's a compromise in play between weight and balance so I couldn't complain too much.

And this one keeps calling my name but I'm trying my damnedest to resist its charms. . . It's actually a slightly mintier green in the flesh and looks even more delicious

I seem to have amassed quite a few of these Here's some of them: Mike Lull P in heavy gold flake glitter - Originally made for Adam Clayton Fodera Monarch Elite - Aboyna facings Alleva Coppolo LG4 Custom in Dakota Red - 2nd one ever made my Jimmy C from the days before his headstocks grew larger Ritter Cora with solid 1 piece flame maple body in Late Lounge Ritter Cora in hand polished high gloss Cararra White Ritter Roya with flame maple top with hand polished transparent gloss in Ocean Turquoise

Say hi to Marcel Furlanetto from Barrie if you're in at F Bass any time - I've got a team in his football fantasy league I may be bottom of it though

I haven't used them but I have had a good look at their range at MusikMesse and spoke to the guys there and they seems very well made and robust. Pricey at around £90 for the Adam but looks like a very good little unit!

I love a nice sparkly bass Mind you, my gold Lull makes this one look a bit tame

It's a shame you're not nearer to us - we've got a nice NYC that you could have a good try on to see what you think of them. Personally I like them a lot, especially the narrow nut Will Lee, but the NYC's with really nice tops are getting very pricey now. Great gigging basses. Always seem to sit really nicely in a band environment. Not as much low down punchy growl as your YYS though

Classic Motown must be pretty much exclusively a P bass. Raise your budget a shade to £600 - £700 and you're into a decent used USA Precision Standard. It should sound reasonably authentic and they're really easy to sell on if you don't get in with it. Might be worth looking for one with slightly narrower nut width option as a classic P with a 1.75" nut might feel like a boat If you're moving from a 6 string then round wounds will feel more natural than flats (just wind the tone control all the way off) and maybe look at lighter gauge strings like 40 - 100's for comfort. You can play most Motown and funk with a pick and try palm-muting for a nice 'dead' tone.