Gaskell Guitars is an Australian-based company that specializes in left handed Gibson copies,
but they also have distributors all over the world. They are best known for their better than average copies of Explorer and Firebird guitars, as they try to design them as close as possible to the originals, using same design elements, woods, etc. I had never heard of the company before, but anyone making left handed guitars exclusively is all right in my book and they do get generally excellent reviews on Harmony-Central.
Anyway, I contacted them about a month ago to inquire about making lefty basses, and Peter Scott, their US sales distributor, got back to me and told me that they plan on offering a left hand Explorer bass in 2009 and possibly a Firebird/Thunderbird style bass as well. Under the News section of their web page, they also drop a quick mention of the Explorer coming. No word on what they'll cost yet, but most of their guitars run under $1000.
http://www.gaskellguitars.comThe list of distributors can be found under the "Contact us" section of their website.
to be continued...