LeftyBassist.com

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum.

I was wondering if you could help me out
in finding which short-scale basses are available for leftys.
I've been playing a cheap Eastwood Mosrite copy for the last couple of years
and just got into studio for the month of june with my band;
one of the sound engineer brought his mustang bass(righty)
and I'm in love with the short-scale feel.
I've recorded half of the album with it.
And just can't see going on with my Eastwood.

I'd love to get a mustang.
But, yeah....

What do you guys think?

Shawn

I only play short scales now

what I've got is..
Hofner Ignition
2 Danelectros
a cheap samick hotrodded for my (what could be classed as danger drunken punters) gigs
new Gibson SG bass
Hagstrom B4

Lefty Mustangs have been available, but are very rare. I think there are three on this forum.
You may have more luck finding a lefty Fender Musicmaster from the same era. They have a very similar feel, identical bodyshape, but they were a starter bass, the most affordable in the Fender range back then. They're really cool, and I love their feel and tone. The pickup is just a Strat pickup in a closed cover, but in a bass it sounds much better than you'd expect!

Warwick also has a shortscale, in their Rockbass Range. It's a 30" version of their Corvette Standard. However, this is a much more modern sounding instrument and if you're playing an Eastwood now and looking for a Mustang, it's possibly not really your cup of tea.

If you're not necessarily set on a Mustang bass, there is Landing L30P, 30" short scale P bass that I have been eyeballing at New Jersey Guitar and Bass Center. I just can't move on it myself, having just gotten an SG bass. However, I have found that short scale basses are for me, also.

http://www.newjerseyguitarandbasscenter ... anded.html

I wondered about the Landing name. It turns out he specializes in short scale 30" and 32" basses. Interesting site.

http://www.landingbass.com/

Nice looking basses, and he makes a 5-string 32".... hmmmm.....

the headstock on that Landing bass just looks too wierd

New Jersey Guitar and Bass Center also has a Birdsong Corto bass which is also a short scale

Looks cool! Looks like he used a regular Strat body. Clever
I agree about the headstock shape though, looks too weird

Rob Allen also makes a short scale bass, the Mouse 30 in both fretted and fretless models.

http://www.roballenguitars.com/mouse30.html

Easy and economic option: get one built by Warmoth

Rondomusic.com has a lefthanded section, and usually has a short scale bass or two up for sale. They have one at the moment for $145...

http://www.rondomusic.com/ursa4jrrn3tslh.html

Here's a 32" also.... http://www.rondomusic.com/ursa2ltmncarleft.html

I second the warmoth.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, both the Landing and Birdsong basses at NJG&B used to be mine. I ordered both new. The Landing scale is 30.5" and has a single EMG active P pick up and sounds like a Precision, nice and punchy. Alder body,lake placid blue with white pearl pg. Basic tone/volume controls. The body is a strat body and the reason the headstock looks a little hinky is 'cause it's a righty neck. The Birdsong Corto scale is 31" with 2 Lace pickups and a varitone control and is more tonally versatile. The body is mahogany and the bass weighs in at about 6 1/2-7 lbs. The tort pg is a nice touch. Both are great basses and play really well. I bought them at a time when I was struggling with a neck injury and the shorter scale and reduced weight made playing gigs a little less painful.

I third the warmoth

Those shortie landing basses look nice , even though a bit pricey

Warmoth doesn't actually build completed basses, they manufacture bodies and necks. By the time you buy the body,neck ,pickups , hardware, paint finishes, etc you'd probably be in for close to $800 to $1000 depending on your options and specs. Then, unless you do it yourself, complete assembly could be another $200. Don't get me wrong, they build high quality components and I've owned a couple basses assembled from Warmoth parts, I just don't know how "economical and easy" it would be compared to buying a bass already made from any other parts or "kit" builder.

You are correct, Warmoth is neither simple not cheap (I'd say they fall squarely in midrange) but they do make very high quality stuff that's worth every penny.

I know this is an older thread, but I thought I should add my $0.02. I bought one of the Brice short-scale lefty 5-string basses from Rondo earlier this year(it's still the only readily available SS lefty 5-string I've been able to find).

I'd researched and read reviews online before ordering, so I had an idea of what to expect. Overall they were correct. First of all, for $315($401 shipped with a hardshell case) you can't really beat it on bang-for-the-buck. That said, I'll outline the problems below.

1.) It was nearly unplayable out of the box. The frets had been pressed in, but nothing more. They needed leveled & dressed, and the neck needed shimmed to be able to set the action low enough for my tastes(lower the strings till they start to buzz...then lower about another 1/2-turn ).

2.) The stock string gauges are pretty bizarre. They go from .030-.130 and are definitely cheap strings.

3.) Since I play strung right-handed, I needed a new nut anyway, but I'd suggest replacing it regardless. The stock nut is hollow molded plastic, and the slots aren't deep enough. I'm not sure you could file them much deeper without going all the way through, and there's no mass to it, so anything you replace it with will likely make a noticeable difference.

4.) I'd read the stock electronics/pickups were pretty poor. I'm no fan of active electronics(I have nothing against the sound, I just despise batteries), and although the bass does have a passive setting, there's no tone control whatsoever when switched to passive. I played like that for a few weeks before giving in and switching back to active. Which brings me to my next point - the stock 9v battery looked like the absolute cheapest POS I've seen, but I've now been playing this bass ~2-hours/day for 6-months and have never touched the battery. So either it's better that I gave it credit for, or it's been dead a long time and I never noticed the difference!

5.) Regarding the actual tone/sound, I'm probably the worst judge of that. My bass tone tends to be pretty obnoxious(I use 3 different distortions, with 1 on all the time, and occasionally all-3 in series), as well as a pedalboard of other effects, so I rarely get the true tone from my bass. I am considering upgrading the pickups to a set of Lace Alumatones, and wiring it up passive at some point(I'm going for the ball-peen hammer on a steel rail sound. ).

If anyone has questions or would like to hear it I'd be glad to help out. It really is a hell of a deal for the price.