LeftyBassist.com

Hello, fellow southpaws-
I stumbled across this sight while looking for a new bass. I play an Ibanez GSR200 but I replaced the passive stock pickups with EMG active pickups for added punch. I'm in the market for an upgrade, so any suggestions would be welcome. I play a lot of contemporary Christian, progressive rock and blues. I grew up listening to Yes, Rush, and early Chicago and those driving basslines have influenced me a lot.

Anyway, thanks for having me and I look forward to hanging out with all you leftys.

Welcome to the forums kennyd...

Welcome, and keep your eye on the For Sale and Southpaw Spotted forums for that new bass!

Welcome to the site, KennyD. We're a friendly bunch here, except when those super rare lefties pop up on the 'bay and we jocky for position.

Looking for an upgrade. Hmm. Where to begin? There are literally hundreds of lefty options out there, despite the difficulty in simply walking into a music store and trying out dozens of instruments, so you'd have to give us more insight to what you're looking for. (tonally, playability, budget, etc).

My budget is around $1000. I prefer somewhat brighter tones with some growl. I've always liked how the Fender Jazz sounds (live and in recording), so I'm leaning that way. I did go to a place in Houston (on a trip) called Southpaw Guitars which is simply heaven on earth for a lefty guitarist - hundreds of basses and guitars and they're all lefty. Anyway, the Musicman Stingray I played there sounded pretty good in my opinion. Right now my first choice would be a used Fender MIA Jazz. I prefer used because of budget.

Here is the website for Southpaw.....

http://www.southpawguitars.com/

Very familiar with Soutpaw. I bought a few things from them over the years.

Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong with a good Jazz bass. Bright, punchy, extremely versatile (much more so than a Stingray, IMO), and appropriate for 99% of most music. I say go for it.

Thanks, PJ. What are the differences (or similarities) between the MIM and MIA jazz?

Hi there and welcome from across the sea! If you can up your budget a little you may care to look at something from Regenerate Guitar Works, whose owner coincidentally is a senior member of this very forum. Known to all who, er, know him as Rodent, he produces instruments of rare quality that stand comparison with much more expensive offerings from elsewhere. I'm biased of course (I have 2 of them), but feel free to canvas opinion around the board.

Welcome!
Yes fan ehh? Well you might dig this!

PS: I have 4 lefty MIM Jazzes, they're great IMO.

Welcome aboard.

A used MIM Jazz is a great place to start. With the leftover money, you could experiment quite a bit with pickups and preamps.

There's two more great lefty dominant guitar brick-and-mortar stores you should check into. They are more guitar oriented than bass tho, but they are great people to deal with.

In Florida: http://www.jerrysleftyguitars.com/

In Ohio: http://www.dhrmusic.com/

Love the picture of the Rickenbacker.....Squires makes that thing sing. What do you all think of the G&L Tribute vs. a MIM Fender Jazz?

Thanks for all the good suggestions.

The G&L Tribute is, IMO, the best bass money can buy for under $550. (Well it was, but I think they raised the price to over $600 now). still, I bought mine from a fellow member here for $350, and I'm blown away by mine. American PUPs, bridge, and preamp. Completely different sound than a MIM Jazz though. Much more ballsier with more powerful PUPs and an active/passive switch with a treble boost. As long as you're considering the MIM J + upgrade option, however, you could easily buy an SX Jazz for a little over $100 and upgrade it to a killer bass for under $500 too.

a lot of good advice in this post (and thread). As much as everyone must get sick of hearing about SX basses, there's a reason that they always get brought up. My SX P+J is simply my favorite piece of gear I've owned in my 15 years of playing multiple instruments. Not even just because of the extremely high quality/cost ratio, but simply because it sounds fantastic (I get more compliments on it's sound than anything else I've ever owned), it's extremely versatile, and built like a tank. In regards to the last point; since the thing was so cheap I really beat the crap out of it, and it takes the punishment and keeps right on going. Last summer at the end of a particularly rowdy set I tackled our rhythm guitarist, threw the sx into the air, KICKED it as hard as I could as it came straight down at me, and watched it careen off the 3 foot tall stage onto the CEMENT floor. Picked it up, tossed it back in the gig bag, and practiced with it the next day.

just sayin'

As an update, I've made an online purchase from Adirondack Guitars of the G&L Tribute L-2000. The price there was $559 - by far the cheapest I could find. I checked out a righty at a local music shop and liked the weight, feel, neck and look. I then went to a Sam Ash to buy new strings (the smaller shops never seem to have jazz flats in stock) and saw a lefty Squire Jazz and 3 lefty MIM Jazzes. I fiddled with them a bit and I'm thinking I've got a good backup plan in case I totally hate the Tribute when it arrives.

Thanks for all your input.

That's a good deal on the Tribute bass. Congrats! Give us a review of it once you get it.