LeftyJ

Came here to say this. Rotary speaker indeed: It's the middle amp that gets my GAS going though Appears to be a Magnatone 260.

Following Quite curious about this myself, mostly for being unable to put it to the test as a lefty. When I walk into a store I should be happy if they even have a Squier I can play. It's been 15 years since I last played a Mexican Standard Jazz Bass and I've NEVER played a recent US-made Fender Bass in my life. I have owned several MIJ and CIJ Fenders and Squiers, but buying two very recent US-made Fender g**t*rs recently has changed my perception on the brand somewhat - I still think they're overpriced but they're really, really good. FSR can be anything with Fender, be it Mex, Jap or US. I recall a cool MIM Jazz Bass in natural ash which were well-received, and several US models in limited edition finishes (like Sea Foam Green). What do you have?

I do bring my best (a Status Graphite S2 Classic - which is no longer in production and difficult to replace, especially as it is a rare lefty). It is a solid and dependable workhorse and out of all my basses it does best what I need it to do in the band I'm currently with (doom metal in the very low tuning of A). I didn't purchase it new and didn't pay a huge sum for it (traded a Stingray 5 + 100 GBP). I might have been more hesitant if I had paid the 4000GBP+ new price for it. It's still not nearly Fodera or Alembic money, but I couldn't see myself A: spend that much on a bass and B: feel comfortable taking it out of the house.

Just don't let it get wet or it'll rust

OK, I'll be the partypooper then. I liked the red, and it looks like a very high quality refin job! Probably wasn't cheap. That said, it also made it look like one of the earliest Rockbass series Corvettes, which came in several solid colours including bright red. So you did well transforming it back into a real Warwick again

Wow, it wasn't until scrolling halfway through your post until I noticed the finish is transparent! That's a gorgeous colour, looks fantastic. I love the mix of old and modern features and looks. The aged white pickup covers are distinctly 1980s, the stacked knobs are 1960, but the contoured heel and flatter fingerboard radius are very modern. Very cool!

I have a Pau Ferro fingerboard on my Sandberg Lionel and I love it! I've seen examples that look pretty pale and bland, but the one on mine is grainy and colourful and looks fantastic IMO. It's also not nearly as porous as rosewood, but much more dense like ebony.

May have something to do with the Hughes & Kettner brand being acquired by Thomann recently. I wonder if they're going to be a Thomann-exclusive brand from now on.

I'm inclined to agree with this. I bought two Nordymutes last year (because I needed 17mm spacing for one of my shortscales, and 20mm for my other 4-strings) and I feel the string slots are cut too tightly. It would probably benefit from having a slight V-taper to the slots, so the tension can be adjusted more gradually. On one of my basses it's also difficult to put it in the optimal position (as close to the saddles as possible) because the intonation screws are quite long and protrude a good 1-2 cm through the saddles (2 at the E, 1 at the G).

I guess in a way they're a gateway drug to the actual Custom Shop, where the options are less limiting. They're basically selling stock American Professional models (oddly they're still closer in spec to the previous range, they didn't update them to Am Pro II spec yet. For example, most Mod Shop models don't have the contoured heel of the Am Pro II) with a much wider palette of finish options and neck shapes / woods. They used to have some more exotic options in the first year the Mod Shop was offered (like a channelbound fingerboard, which looked really luxurious and beautiful) but they stopped offering those fairly quickly. But yes, some more vintage options would be cool!

Never seen one in a left handed version. Would be genuinely surprised if there are any.

The Mod Shop experience isn't offered here in the Netherlands, and the way Fender designed their site the configurator can't even be accessed from here, as much as I'd love to have some fun with it I do own a Mod Shop Jaguar (g**t*r, sorry) but I bought it used so I can't comment on the experience of ordering one. Mine came with a spec sheet that doesn't fully match the actual build. For one, the sheet mentions a bound fingerboard but it doesn't have one - and it probably never was an actual option for lefties. It should also have V-mod pickups but the ones actually in it appear to be some kind of 1962 reissue pickup with bevelled polepieces and cloth wire. I'm pretty sure the neck is the actual one it came with, because there is no other way of acquiring a 24" scale lefty 60s spec C-shape Fender USA neck with a 9.5" radius outside the actual Custom Shop or the Mod Shop. It's a fantastic guitar by all means, with impeccable build, fit and finish.

I use this one too, and love it. I went with the "GuitarTech Service Station" which also includes a neoprene tabletop mat to place your guitar / bass on (sorry, couldn't be arsed to change Thomann's settings to English / GBP ).

I have no experience playing any Moon basses, but to me you just summed up the neck of my 2003-ish Fender MIJ JB75-US! Narrow nut width, but a fairly deep almost U-shaped neck profile. Mine is heavy too, with a very substantial ash body. I love it, and have owned it since about 2008.