LeftyBassist.com

The time has come...

Do tell...

Tardy again!

Where to begin? It's all so overwhelming...

I was gonna write a lengthy spiel as a sort of preamble to this endeavor but have abandoned that idea in favor of the stream-of-consciousness approach. That's for mixed reasons. One, laziness. Two, I don't really know how to proceed and in what order or how long it's going to take or cost; unknowns galore. And three: frustration. It never should have come to this.

Let's now jump into my consciousness.............................. ............................... I NEED A JAZZ BASS with a F'N awesome neck like really bad.

Here is a picture of a bass that has a neck with the EXACT feel I need/want. This is not an old bass. Who do I need to deal with? What is this called? How do I make this happen?

Steel wool and dirty hands

What is the bass in the picture? KoA, you say it's not old, yet it looks to be a '60's Jazz in Burgundy Mist. The black mark on the headstock indicates it might be a Fender Custom Shop bass; if it has the feel you're looking for, order yourself a lefty.

That would be fantastic -- if it worked. I wish it did but I have determined there's a lot of misinfo/misunderstanding about this trick.

For the most part it can work (with varying degrees of success) on necks that have not been finished with poly. Therein lies the rub ( ). Poly finished necks essentially are impervious to steel wool of any grade. I mean you could rub steel wool on it for years and see no difference. IMO, it's analogous to removing an automobile's clearcoat with a kleenex.

Poly is a beyotch and I do not want it in my life. Of course this is a subjective type of thing.

That looks like a typical neck on a Nash bass...

Good eye! I'm not an expert on the colors but that is in fact a CS Jazz which is why I knew it wasn't "old".

I've owned (original owner/ordered by me) two CS basses. Both around '97/'98. A team-built Jazz and a MB Precision. Was very happy with both and very much enjoyed them but over time as my preferences changed they moved on to new homes. For example, I discovered I am more of a "worn glove" type rather than new. The very pricey vintage lefty reality becomes a distraction to my playing as I was too worried with being a good steward of an old bass.

I simply like Fenders but I'm no longer hung up on the genuineness aspect of it or it being super/nice/custom/special anymore. So now I want a Jazz (or good copy) with a slick neck and no vintage value and that is reasonably replaceable without much heartache. Something I can re-wire all the time and swap in/out p/u's, etc.

It sounds like you really want a Nash bass, no?

You basically just described them.

I know... is my post invisible or something?

Hey Addison I didn't overlook your reply. I've just been in & out and darting around. I have more to say on this (along with some pics Nash sent) and didn't have time to get it out.

See below on my next post in this thread and thanks for chiming in.

Based on the few I've seen/touched (all righties of course) I probably would.

Here's the thing though: If I wake up tomorrow and say, "I'm getting a Nash!" here's what'll happen. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'll phone my area dealers who are known stockers of Nash instruments. I'll ask if they have any lefty basses and they'll say of course not! They will then ask me how long I've been playing and before I even can respond will suggest that I should just start with a righty blah blah blah............you know the rest of the story and I only mention this here now b/c honestly that just happened a few days ago and I just was biting my lip, stunned.

Anyway, the dealer will be uninterested from the get-go b/c a) they only have Nash guitars and no basses and b) think I'm a fool for disregarding their attempt to save me from a left-handed hell.

They'll call Nash and he'll say none are in stock.

Basically, the usual drill.

So why not just order one? Because a part of me now has some reservation and I'm pissed off.

Reservation? Even though the three times I've "commissioned" instruments (once for an upright outta Germany) worked out favorably and to my satisfaction there's a lot of anxiety involved in the process leading up to and including finally playing it to find out if it satisfies. And it pisses me off that righties have THE WHOLE WORLD of INstruments AT THEIR DOORSTEP.

I'm tired of the waiting, the anxiety, the custom ordering, the "just be righty like the rest of us in the right on the right side thinking rightly" admonishment...

So I'm self-imposing a minimum standard that all righties enjoy as matter of course. I want to try before I buy!

Even if it's a Nash. Especially since a large part of his thing is the relic and that requires so much labor. I know the neck feel thing I'm hung up on is considered part of that but for me it's not a look issue but rather one of feel. I don't really care for all the labor ($) put into making the bass look "old".

Here's some pics of some factory stocked Nash's. These are long gone and my understanding is these were the most recently made?

I'll be back later with some more specific questions and requests for advice

Thank You everyone for the replies

If you want to try before you buy are you going to wait out a bass showing up somewhere that you can go to to try out?

ie. If a lefty Nash shows up in Florida are you going to fly there to try it?

I don't quite understand what your plan is, given then limitations you've set.

If my wife was to say exactly the same thing (let's say she would be a bass player), I'd answer: "Honey why do have to make everything so damn complicated?"...But she did not say that and you are not my wife

If what you are looking for is a nice Fender or Fender-like that you can play around with (sand the neck, swap electronics and pick-ups, etc), why not get a MIJ or MIM and play with them? That's what I did with my MIJ and it turned out to be a good and gratifying experience, with a hell of a bass as an end product...

Not sure how Nash and "I want to play Lefty and be treated as Righty" come into the mix of your decision-making process

No, I'm not going to wait out a bass. I am going to move forward with "making" one. If I can just get the basic building blocks I think I'll be 80% there. To me that's the body & neck (and mainly the neck). I foresee this happening in one of several ways.

For instance:

I locate an existing Jazz that's not a boat anchor and that has a neck I'm happy with. Uninstall everything. Take neck to luthier to be tweaked. Then send neck and body to be un-poly'd then nitro'd at a place like MJT or Southbound. (MJT appears to be in the business of and having some experience in making the necks the way I'm looking for). Procure my preferred hardware, p/g, tuners, pots, pickups, etc. Take everything back to luthier for assembly. So this scenario would yield an instrument with a body & neck that have successfully lived together a while and allowed me to get a feel beforehand for the basics like weight, balance, profile. I would call this a fully renovated genuine Fender and it would be EXACTLY the way I want. Pros: There is a selection of basses with which to work. Cons: Sucks to have to jump through the hoops of unfinishing the body & neck.

Any thoughts on this? Flaws I'm overlooking?

A little later I'll detail another scenario.

Hilarious!

Yes, this is something I'm actively exploring.

Well I am a sh*tty writer.

Have you looked to see if there's any luthiers local to you that can do the work so you can be more involved in the process? It's possible too to find a bass you really like the feel of, be it righty or lefty, and take accurate measurements and have a clone of it made.

"A day late and a dollar short..."

But! There has been movement.

Stay tuned.

(It could go either way)

And....it could turn out bad. What can you do?

More soon...

maybe....

I'm close...(I hope)

sorry so cryptic but as us lefties know: Sometimes it's a real MF'er!