Left handed forum?

[EdwardMarlowe]

Lefty insturments at an all-time high? Well, maybe..... YMMV, but to me that's like saying being kicked in the teeth is better than between the legs.

It's not as if I'm into anything [i]especially[/i] outlandish. I'm a retro kinda guy (most days I dress as if it's anywhere between 1930 and 1959). I like P Basses. My ideal bass is a maple boarded P-Bass, the closer to a 57 model, the better. Do Fender make this easy? Do they fornication. Let's start with Squier, what do they offer? A P Bass Special, P-J setup, rosewood board (I can live with a J neck otherwise). Close, but no cigar. so I look to MIM Fender - seems they believe we lefties are only interested in a J bass. (This is reflected in guitarworld too - both MIM Fender and Squier are piss-poor when it comes to availability of left handed models - to the extent wher they have, quite literally, lost out on at least six instruments they would have otherwise sold me in the past two years). Anyhow. On we go to US Fenders. American Standard P Bass? Certainly Sir.... oh, you want a maple board? Sorry, no can do. So in order to get something as simple as a maple boarded P Bass, I would either have to spend a considerable chunk of cash on a US 57RI model - which frankly ain't gonna be realistic any time soon - or go elsewhere than Fender. Hang on, Fender Japan are pretty good at offering just what I want.... but oh yeah, Fender are determined to stop them from being available in the UK, cause they want to sell us the Mexi range. Which is crap for left handers. Hey ho, and away we go....

And that's for something very basic. Every month, I buy two guitar mags ([i]Guitar Buyer[/i] and [i]Guitar and Bass UK[/i]). More often than not when one looks at the specs given for the guitars and basses on review, if it's less than £2,000, you can forget about it being available left handed.

Traditionally, the big companies have said that lefties cost more to produce, or even 'too much'. Many of them will never get my money, as - like Gretsch, for instance - they're happy to cater for lefties who can afford to spend in excess of two grand, but can't be bothered to offer even a single lefty option in their budget range. Economies of scale, blah blah blah, they bleat. Then I look at Tokai, who will produce, to order and at no extra charge, any model in their entire range left handed, in any colour in their range. I look at the guitars I like that I can realistically hope to afford, and it seems that few of them are from the 'original' companies. Let them bleat about intellectual property and copyists - if they aren't prepared to offer a lefty option with the spec I want, I'll go elsewhere and they can lose my busiess. Simples.

Grrr.

Lefty threads with information about alternative options, and particularly the aforementioned maple necked, lefty P type bass, are always welcome in my book!

[Dread Bass]

I didn't even realise this thread existed. Interesting reading.

[jim_bass]

As a lefty (who plays right handed bass) do any other leftys find that things made for left handed people are the wrong way around. Especially left handed scissors, when I try to use them they make a mess of the paper. I'll stick with using right handed scissors in my left hand.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='jim_bass' post='707504' date='Jan 10 2010, 11:29 AM']As a lefty (who plays right handed bass) do any other leftys find that things made for left handed people are the wrong way around. Especially left handed scissors, when I try to use them they make a mess of the paper. I'll stick with using right handed scissors in my left hand.[/quote]

I wonder if there's a curious little irony here. After a lifetime getting used to using right handed scissors, do you think it's possible that you're having to get used to using ones that are actually designed for your needs?