LeftyBassist.com

I know most everyone has mixed feelings about GC, but they are a force that doesn't seem to be going away. Anyway, I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you, but usually when I visit a GC, including when I'm traveling to other cities, I usually spot the token 1 or 2 lefty basses high on the wall well out of reach. Yesterday, I went into my local GC for some accessories and noticed they didn't have even one lefty bass in stock.

Intrigued, I spoke with the store manager and he said he's been lobbying to regularly stock lefties, but stated that HQ denied his request, claiming of course that lefties don't sell. Sounds like that proverbial catch 22 we know all too well -- they don't sell because they don't stock them and they don't stock them because they don't sell. The manager went on to say that the only time he ever gets in lefties is once in a blue moon when they arrive by mistake (i.e., a lefty in a righty-marked box).

I remember going to the GC in Vegas...about January, 2004. They have a 'bass room.' There was ONE lefty bass in it, among possibly 40+ instruments. You guessed right if you said it had to be a black Mexican Jazz Bass.
GUESS WHO'S giant picture was above the entrance to that room?
Paul McCartney.

It's the sad truth but if they are not satisfied with the turn around of lefty products, what can you do? They are in business to make money. Thankfully some smaller or independant stores see the opportunity and can carry more of them but truthfully I think the lefty instrument thing is mostly an Internet niche. Adirondacks and Southpaw are probably doing fine especially if they carry what the big online guys - such as Musiciansfriends - don't already offer.

It's something of a 'chicken or egg' problem - the right-handed guitar companies (I say that because they don't make squat for left handers) won't make enough product to satisfy demand. The stores then have nothing worthwhile to stock other than the same black Mexican Jazz basses, which then don't sell. Then they in turn, tell the right-handed guitar companies that they can't sell left-handed instruments. So the companies don't bother making more options available.

It is certainly the case that small builders and the Internet have been a great help to us and our ilk, but it doesn't excuse the big companies from keeping their collective heads up their backsides. It may take an almighty effort to break the cycle and change things for the better. It's a rotten scenario that forces musicians to play righty basses and guitars, still strung righty. How many righty guitarists can do that with a left-handed guitar, I wonder?

I still say write and make your voice heard. What would happen if 50 guys a week went into GC and wanted to know why they don't have more options available for us? Or stop by with your LH Regenerate bass and try out a few amps, making sure everyone knows you didn't buy the bass *there*.

The best way to determine this is to somehow find a stat on the average number of lefty players compared to righties. For this particular purpose, you would have to count lefties that play right handed as righties. Then somehow figure out how many new instruments they buy a year.

My guess is that for a big chain, it doesn't add up for them to press the issue as it's a financial loss. The only reason I'm not really bothered is that I've noticed more lefties than ever in indie shops, although there are less of those these days, and really the internet is a game changer. The last few instruments I've bought have been online and not had a problem.

Although nothing beats being able to try stuff out in person, I would argue that the internet has brought forth more lefty instruments than I possilbly could have known about. My recent Bachbird purchase being a classic example (they even make lefty Fenderbirds for Pete's sake) as well as the Japan only Jaguar Bass I bought direct a few years back. If not for the net, I wouldn't even have imagined those models even existed.

If memory serves me "right"
The GC in Seattle has a lefty section - it's a column near the center of the store with the token lefty guitars and basses hung around the column and down on the floor in front. I haven't been in there for a few weeks so I don't recall how many, but it was nice to see the lefty section - seemed relatively new.

A lefty section, even if just wrapped around a column, sounds cool. I suppose it could be somewhat prohibitive for a location with a smaller store footprint. Regardless, a lefty section could help with cross-selling (e.g., a lefty guitarist considering a bass for compositional purposes and vice versa).

By the way, welcome, rdavidson.

Thanks for the welcome! Next time I'm in the store, I'll snap a photo to post.

I've seen a few lefties at Guitar Centers here and there across the country, but they're always the same two or three I see over and over...

Ibanez SR300 (there's almost always one of these)
Fender P in black or sunburst... rosewood...
Fender J in black or sunburst... rosewood...

They're also usually hanging about 25 feet up in the air on the very top row so you absolutely HAVE to ask for assistance to even look at it.

One time I saw a Schecter Stiletto Studio 5, and I about shit my pants... the sales guy told me it was a return from an internet order.

A long time ago, I used to work at GC when there was a store in Berkeley, CA... there were two or three cool lefties that passed through there. One I distinctly remember was a new 5-string Alembic Epic with a flame maple top. I also remember a black Ibanez SR800. Then there was a late 60's or early 70's (I think?) single-coil blonde P-bass that came in used, and it was transferred to another store within a few days.

Then some guy brought in a pre-CBS Jazz Bass to try out amps and he let me play it... I have no idea who he was, but it was cool. He told me that my blood runs black... it was one of the coolest compliments anyone ever gave me after listening to me play.

Man what a great comment/compliment! I'll have to remember that one....

I travel A LOT for work related matters all over the country, and occasionally internationally as well. Every Guitar Center I have ever called only had the Ibanez SR 300, if that. I would have been really happy if they had an American Made Fender P or J. I usually don't even bother anymore with calling GC while I am on the road, since I usually here "We have this sweet Iron Pewter Ibanez..." I tend to end the conversation right there and wish them a good day.

At Sam Ash stores I usually see an MIM J, the Squier 70's J (which I really dig), a Hofner Icon or Contemporary, and the Ibanez. At least there I can find something to play and plug in. The Sam Ash in NYC and LA Sunset Blvd location will usually have a German Hofner, and American Standard P+J's.

Obviously Houston will have the best selection b/c of Southpaw, and Adirondack (though I have never made it there, just far enough from NYC to get up there). There are some local stores that will have great selection, Chicago Music Exchange in Chicago, Motor City Guitars just outside of Detroit (my favorite), Drum City Guitarland outside of Denver, Matt Umanov in NYC, Milano's Music in the Phoenix area, and True Tone Music in Santa Monica. Hope this helps.