LeftyBassist.com

I feel that CAR or fiesta red would be the best sellers. I agree with PJ on the Jaguar/Tele market.

I chatted with two dealers, and neither were interested in working on a limited edition run of lefty Jags.

Anybody on group here at LB run a music business (or have a friend who does), and who would be open to working a group buy limited edition 4-string lefty run? PM or email me with your business contact info if so.

I can re-use the vacuum hold-down tooling for my VRB 4.2 model for this body, so I won't need to spread out $750 in custom tooling across a limited run of 10ish basses.

To keep costs down, options would probably be limited to choice of solid body color, pickguard color, and Rosewood or dark Pau Ferro fretboard. My version is not an identical clone, and did not include the controls on the upper horn.

if everybody was game, it's possible to do a batch of Mahogany bodies with a 'Gibby Red' stain similar to our Shelby model (attached image). I'd suggest a black pickguard be standard in that case


I haven't finished crunching numbers, so no ballpark figures yet. And this could all go down in flames if I can't find a dealer interested in working the deal

R

Have you approached lefty-specific dealers or those who have substantial lefty selections?

Rod, Basshappi has a good point. I recall talking to Jim at Southpaw Guitars about your line and he seemed interested in talking. I know Jim has asked the Custom Shop to do a run for him of guitars. I asked him about basses and he said that it was not feasible for him to do a run of Fender Custom Shop basses, but that he would always move his guitar stock pretty quickly. I imagine he would have the best sense of anyone out there.

When I asked him about basses, he said that he sells a ton of Musicman basses, and that the Stingray 5 was by far his best selling 5 stringer. Hope this helps

I've reached out a couple times via email over the last few years, but never heard a reply back. Could be they have a filter on their email, and my notes were tossed into the spam heap. Had been hoping to meet up at NAMM and discuss all things lefty, but rumor is they didn't have anybody at the show this year.

If one of you who knows Jim could give us a virtual introduction, I'd be happy to work details with him once we're connected.

as I noted earlier, my version does not include the upper horn controls. this means that the bass does not have a preamp and would be passive. This is in part because most modern preamps do not utilize the pot values that the original Jag used, and I could find no reasonable alternative that fit into the original control plate.

I still planned to utilize switching on the lower horn, but had not concluded whether to make it a trio of mini toggle switches or the more clumsy slider switches like on the original. I like the dependability and ergonomics of the mini toggles, and that they can be mounted direct to the pickguard without need for a control plate

Controls:
- Volume (250K pot on control plate below bridge pickup)
- Passive tone (250K pot on control plate below bridge pickup)
- Toggle on/off neck pickup
- Toggle on/off bridge pickup
- Toggle pickups in/out of series

Pickups would be custom wind RGW's, or could be any of the J offerings from Nordstrand (like a NJ4SE set). I'd be open to using a P/J set like the Troy Sanders signature model has.

Neck would be standard J width 34" scale 21-frets with dot position markers on the front and side. Optional would be no front dots at the same price, or block inlays for an added $200.

so something similar too this?

i would be interested, but not 34" neck.
Its got to be 30' for me

Wow this is awesome glad to see your success Rodent! They are all good..

I found the parts to assemble a complete wiring harness with upper pots/switch, lower switches, and master pots ... it's not cheap, but it's now doable. I need to check a couple other things dimensionally, but it may just be possible that I could get this to work with a Nordy 2-band preamp if I make a couple changes to the original electronics parts list.

given the time needed to wire up and QA check a significantly more complex electrical assembly, adding a preamp with all the switches would be a significant cost increase. my cost for electrical parts, control plates, and preamp module is hovering around $350, and that doesn't include any compensation for the added shop time. I'm guessing the full blown preamp + switching option like a deluxe model would add around $500 to the final cost. I'm not sure that anybody's pocketbook is thick enough to cover that


Bugsy - that's close to the P/J version I've got going. to do a 30" or 32" scale neck would require a level of R&D + tooling + prototyping + field testing that I can't support at this time, and I'd have to build a chunk of the costs for that into the price tag on the bass since I'd be taking time away from building dealer orders to do that work. it'd also set this back by 9-18 months given my current workload.

thats ok, i understand . I was just explaining why i wont be ordering one

I'll bet dollars to donuts that if we get the requisite number of orders together Jerry of JerrysLeftyGuitars, or Vic of LeftyGuitarsOnly would be more than willing to work with us.

Jim is a member here Rod. I've only had limited exchanges with him but he seems like a nice guy. I know with Southpaw Guitars though, the phone is faster. You'll have better luck calling him than emailing.

I'd reach out to Dennis at Adirondack Guitars as well.

Another update - there are no lefty control plates to be found, so I'll have to have these custom laser cut, plated, and polished.

Cost per bass for a custom plate set will depend on final quantities ordered, but I'm guessing in the ballpark of $100 per 3-piece set based on a quantity of 10-15 basses. I'd probably have a couple extra sets made for warranty or damage during construction purposes.


So what's the overall consensus - nickel or chrome plating? (I'm leaning chrome for a more sophisticated look)

Just my 2 cents but offering maple boards on you P and J style models would be huge as Fenders refuses to do so for us leftys.

Dude... You missed the big news.

http://www.fender.com/american-design/