LeftyBassist.com

After a lifetime of general abuse, specific injuries, and three major surgeries on my right shoulder, I’m reaching the point where long scale basses are becoming an issue for me to play.

Anyone have any suggestions for a decent short scale lefty? I’m looking to keep things below $2000. Less works too.

I want something that can work as my one, multipurpose bass, as I’ll be selling what I already have to fund this purchase.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

I own three Sire long scale lefty basses. They can't be beat for the money.
They have new models, here's a U5 short scale model, available lefty.
You won't be sorry.


https://sire-usa.com/collections/left-h ... h-4-string

The Spector Bantam is awesome. It's my main shorty.

pete

I love my Atelier Z Baby Z-4J and the Sandberg Lionel that I just bought last week. My Sandberg is quite heavy though, I don’t know if that's specific to my bass or if more of them are like that. The seller of the Sandberg also has a Sire U5 that I got to try and loved, and a Gibson LP Jr DC Tribute bass that I got to borrow and still have at home. All of these are great little basses!

I also have a Atelier Baby Z J that's awesome. I've owned a lot of short scales including Birdsong, Landing, 69 Gibson EB-1 75 Fender Mustang,
Spector Bantam, G&L Fallout Tribute, 2014 Gibson SG (EB-3), Sire U5 modded with EMG Geezer P/J's**(this bass is available at NJ Guitar&Bass Center for $499. disclaimer I no longer own it) a couple Dano Longhorns and a bunch of German Hofners. There may have been a
few others I don't recall. They were all good basses and offered a variety of sounds and usefulness. The only one i kept is the Baby Z.
It's not ultra lite weighing in at 8.6 pounds mainly due to it's northern heavy ash body and lack of body contours (it's a slab body but beveled around the edges
to provide comfort for your left forearm. It's also perfectly balanced with zero neck dive.
The heavy ash body combined with the maple neck give it a fairly bright seventies funk tone. It's a great bass and I use it on many gigs.

It all depends what works best for you. If weight is also a consideration I always liked the sound of the Dano Longhorns, They're inexpensive well made and
weigh on average 5.5 lbs.

There a a lot of options out in today's market for quality short scale basses but being lefty makes it extremely difficult to try
before you by. That's why forums like these can be helpful sources of information.

This is a good option too:
https://reverb.com/item/80276379-nash-g ... eft-handed

Nice and a sweet color. Pretty good price for a new Nash.

You could buy three Sires for the coast of a Fender Custom Shop, or a Nash.
OR two Sires, and a Squier..... also much better basses than you might be aware of- I work on them, a good gigging bass! - or a G&L Fallout.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... mpic-white

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... surf-green

Is that the one that was for sale at New Jersey Guitar and Bass Center?
Mine is very light, and does have a tendency to neckdive. It's not too bad though, mild enough that a rough strap can counter it. I love mine!

I originally bought the Baby Z from this dealer on Reverb in 2019. https://reverb.com/item/24391351-atelie ... ural-gloss
Traded it to NJG&B and bought it back a few months later.

I play it in passive mode 98% of the time and it's plenty loud and deep.
It's one of the few short scales I've played that if you only heard it you wouldn't know it was a 30" scale bass.

The other ss tone that I really liked was the Spector Bantam. I just couldn't get comfy with the body style or ergonomics while playing standing.
The Bantam doesn't have a passive option either which was a feature I needed. The tone of the EMG soapbars on the Bantam was massive and really cut through
If you prefer active bass tones the Bantam comes highly recommended

Agreed! I got mine from Paulo, and he strung it with DR Sunbeams 045-105 round core medium scale strings (for through-body stringing) and when it arrived I was surprised by the tension. You're quite right in saying it doesn't necessarily sound and feel like a 30" scale! I play mine active most of the time, with the bass slightly boosted. I feel the neutral tone lacks some bottom end (unless I roll back the bridge pickup) and I like it slightly thicker. It's an amazing bass, one of my favourites in my collection.

Thanks for the responses all.

The mustang-esque basses seem to me like the body style would kind of defeat the short scale due the short upper horn. That’s one of the issues with my Vader bass. I was going to possibly build a short scale Vader, but they shift the bridge further toward the neck on the short scales, so it kind of kills the benefit of the shorty as far as reach is concerned.

Love the color of the Nash, but I can’t spend $2000 on a bass that already looks beat to hell. Nothing against relics, but I think the wear should to be earned.

I looked into the Lionel, which I loved the sound of, but it appears that Jereon is right about the weight. I contacted Thomann (they’re the only ones w/a lefty in stock, and the shipping to the US isn’t too bad) and they said it’s about 5 kilograms, which is over 11 lbs. I don’t want to trade one issue for another.

I like the Baby Z, but I think it’s going to be a nightmare to find.

Going to look into the Bantam and the U5 a little further. Anyone who owns either care to share the weight?

I may consider doing something totally nuts like ordering a short scale from Maruszczyk. (Either a Frog headless or a Cazpar headless.)

My Sire U5 weighed 8 lbs even and was well balanced.
I upgraded the pickups to an EMG Geezer P/J set. They gave the bass a little more heft over the stock pickups.
The only issue I had with it was the bound body edges were pretty sharp and
tended to dig into your forearm after playing for a while. I resolved this by wearing a padded sports hi top wrist band
on my left forearm.

The Bantam weighed 7.8 lbs. I didn't like how the bottom strap button was offset but that's an easy fix.
If you like the ergonomics of the Spector NS design, you'll love the Bantam.
Prices have increased dramatically. I paid $1600. new in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
I see they are now over $2500. new. That's quite a bang in about 3 years.

I've heard that Atelier is no longer building lefty Baby Z's so you'll have to scour the used market.
You'll probably have better luck searching the Japanese dealers.

Another short scale you might consider is the Schecter Banshee. They offer a lefty model, white/rosewood only.
https://www.schecterguitars.com/Banshee-Bass-LH

Good call, I completely forgot about that one! They look great and the specs are good too. I really don't like the (overly large) headstock on them though, but I would love to give one a try!

Wow some really cool basses in these suggestions !

I recently have switched over to 32" medium scale using Warmoth parts. If you are up for some simple assembly and setup, they are a great option. The most recent one I've pieced together is weighing in at about 6 lbs 12oz. Not bad for solid alder and a roasted maple neck. It's turned out to be a wonderful bass and very easy on the limbs ! Warmoth also offers the necks in 30" short scale but the 32" medium really seems to be a great fit being both comfortable and familiar and still holding a great E, especially going up the fretboard.