rasher80

I'm not sure, but GE has a notice on his website saying "Unfortunately the Guitar Emporium is not trading at this time" and mustangguitars has a message saying "UNFORTUNATELY DUE TO TRADE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY FENDER USA ON FENDER JAPAN WE REGRET THAT MUSTANG GUITARS WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO TRADE. WE WISH TO THANK ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AND FELLOW LEFTIES FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND CUSTOM. WE WOULD ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE ALL LEFTIES TO EMAIL FENDER USA WITH REGARD TO THE LACK OF LEFT HANDED MODELS IN THEIR RANGE AND TO REQUEST THAT THEY PRODUCE MORE LEFT HANDED USA MODEL GUITARS AND BASSES AT LEAST ON THE SCALE OF THE FENDER JAPAN PRODUCTION NUMBERS, TO ENCOURAGE MORE LEFTIES TO TAKE UP THE GUITAR AND TO LIVE THEIR DREAMS, JUST LIKE A CERTAIN MR HENDRIX AND MR COBAIN (YOU KNOW THE LEFT HANDED GUYS WHO A CERTAIN USA MANUFACTURER USES TO ADVERTISE THEIR RIGHT HANDED GUITARS EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE)". Josh, i can't seem to see the images from that link you sent, but i'm at work so i'll take a look when i get home. Cheers for that. MIJFenders hasn't got back to me and it's a no-go from FEG. I'm in two minds what to do now - either take the plunge and buy direct from Japan and get bent over a barrel by HM Customs or decide that I can live without a bound, block inlaid neck and buy a MIM Jazz, whack some Wizard 84s and a Badass II in it and see how it goes!

Hello all, Thought i'd make a proper introduction. My name's James, i'm from Manchester and i've been a bassist for 4 years now. I started on the guitar (as you do!) and played for about 8 years - and found once i started mucking about on the bass i didn't want to go back! I've been in a couple of bands and am now a bass player in an indie-rock band called The Satellite Towns. If anyone's read my original post in Basses, they'll know i'm a left hander. You'll probably also know that there isn't a great deal of choice when it comes to left hand basses, especially with Fender which are my preferred brand! I have a Squier P bass special which i haven't got round to modding, which i'm ashamed to say is my current no 1 bass. I had a MIM Jazz which i really liked and want to go back to, but i traded it up for a Rickenbacker 4004L which i now need to sell due to needing some wheels for work. And the neck was a bit uncomfortable as i have smallish hands. I have a fairly basic set-up, the bass is run straight into an Ashdown MAG-300 C115 and occasionally use a USA Big Muff for a bit of dirt. Anyway, Hola

Sorry, i forgot to mention, it has to at least have a Jazz profile neck, as i've got fairly small hands and when i had a go of a couple of Tokais (A Precision copy and a TB copy) i found the neck really uncomfortable. Which is why i'm plumping for a Jazz. Awkward ain't i

Nice bass Andy! except i'm a lowly cack-hander so it'd be no use to me! I'll try a mail to FEG but failing that i might just have to go on an upgrading frenzy. It might not be too bad though, if all else fails eh? A MIM Jazz with a Badass II, Wizard pickups and some decent tuners might be a fairly spot on instrument!

Hello all, This is my first post - i'll try not to rant too much! I just want to say how p-d off i am with the current situation regarding Fender Japan. It seems that the majority of the UK importers like mustangguitars and guitaremporium have had the kibosh put on them, presumably by the chaps over in the good ol' US of A. I'm grumbling cos i'm a left hander who has wanted a 75 re-issue Jazz bass, and having worked my damnedest to accumulate the money, no sooner am i almost up to the total than all the importers i know of seem to be calling it a day. It's really annoying, cos if i was a right hander i'd just pick up one of the Mexican reissues and just pimp it a bit. I don't have the nous to be able to source one direct from Japan and the only other importer i know of is in the US, who wants £900 before any customs charges. so i'm going to have to forget it and try and get a MIM jazz and pimp that instead. Bad show Fender! Anyway, rant over!