rasher80

They get a thumbs up from me also

Saw a Harley Benton Jazz on this morning for 70 quid that lasted all of about 3 hours 

10 hours ago, JottoSW1 said:

£185 a total bargain for sure. Auction over for both that and Gibson. Don't think the Sire sold. May reappear I suppose.

It's back up. Same price 

1 hour ago, JottoSW1 said:

They do seem to like their mark-ups.

There seems to be one eBay bidder snapping up nice lefties at present.

A Gibson Les Paul tribute roadworn on eBay at present, bidding @ £475. Bidder appears to be same guy that picked up the Aria above.

Same vendor has a Sire version 2 V7 lefty bidding starting @ £185. Almost bid but I REALLY don't need another Jazz Bass.

If it wasn't collection only I'd have that Sire.

A bit too far from the frozen North for me!

13 hours ago, grandad said:

Just spotted: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Left-Handed-Aria-Pro-II-CSB-380-Cardinal-Bass-1981-mij/124473752141?hash=item1cfb36ba4d:g:fBcAAOSwOXBfzMrv

I have one exactly the same but RH fitted with flats, built 1981.

It has a superb neck with a 32" scale. Medium weight, not too heavy.

Looks interesting!

How does the pickup sound?

There are no words. Just.....grim

This is a massive wrench but I've taken the tough decision to put my Maruszczyk Jake 4p up for sale.

I've only had this since April 2020 direct from the factory. I've changed my mind about 100 times whether to keep it or not, but right here, right now - it's up for sale again. I'm not getting much use out of this or my back up at the moment, and it's really too nice to be kept locked away.

Potential trade: I'd be willing to trade plus cash adjustment for one of the following only: MIM/CIJ Precision 

Specs are as follows:

32" scale
9.5" radius
38mm at nut
19mm string spacing
Chambered Alder body
Flamed maple neck with some bird's eye figuring
Rosewood fingerboard with white blocks/binding
Maruszczyk P/humbucker pickups VVT config
Standard bridge
Hipshot Clover tuners
Finished in metallic valley green with mint pickguard

It comes with Maruszczyk semi-rigid case, certificate, leather strap etc.

The spec of this instrument was well over £1600 from new.

Collection only please, any trial welcome.

Eastwood do a left handed Gretsch style bass... might be worth a look?

@uk_lefty

When I thought about it, quite a few of the "Britpop" bands I grew up with had a Stingray playing bassist and then later on as I broadened my interest through the bass guitar, Bernard Edwards and Louis Johnson too.

It just looks so cool with a great sound to boot 

On 12/11/2020 at 06:58, uk_lefty said:

So looking through people's family photos there's some amazing lefty basses out there from vintage classics, great value brand new instruments under £150 and everything in between. I'm on 5 basses at the moment but there's a few more I'd love to try. I thought it could be good if we list out the basses we would love to try and if someone has one they tell us about it... Not for the purpose of buying and selling but just to know about them... So the basses I'd love to get my left hand on are:

Washburn status, I love headless basses but found the Hohner B2A string spacing too tight. I also like the idea of headless but with a bit of body rather than a cricket bat. 

Hofner violin bass. I will have one, one day but don't have use for it in my bands. 

Epiphone Jack Cassidy. Very, very tempted for one of these. 

Fender Precision Elite from the 80s. The double P pickup with white plastic covers and gold hardware. There's something about these that I love the look of having seen one in a music shop in my teens. 

Harley Benton PB50. I might get one on order before Brexit... I like the 50s P style and I don't have a P bass at the mo. 

Westone thunder iii? the double P version. 

Any kind of flying V bass because... Why not? 

Gibson SG Bass. Very very nearly bought one years back but didn't think I needed it. Sensible decision but, you know! 

Sire, loved the vintage V7 I had but felt guilty about the amount I spent on a bass so sold it. Now really want a Sire again. Any Sire. They're just such great value basses and so usable in almost any scenario. Tempted by the PJ. 

Fender Telecaster bass. Would love to get one of these, even if they brought out a new version. Whether it's a pickup config with a single giant chrome humbucker at the neck, two humbuckers or a single coil P pickup, I just want one. 

 

For me, it's not too dissimilar - in order of "want"

1. Stingray - most likely an SUB as there's no way I could spring for a US one any time soon

2. Sire V7 - I have to see what the fuss is all about!

3. An Ibanez - because I've never owned one so far

4. HB PB-50. Although the weight is a concern.

5. To echo LeftyJ, a reissued Mustang bass - Even a Squier CV or a HB job would do the trick for me... I won't hold my breath though!

6. If such a thing existed, a Precision Lyte a la Duff. White with black headstock!

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

I'm really gassing for one at the moment, but lack of funds currently stops me from getting one. It's called the Baby Z-4 PJ. There's a JJ too. 

Or... you know.... Fender could stop messing about and make us a FSR or something 🙄

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

I don't have a lot of wishes at the moment. I'm really happy with my Status S2 Classics, followed closely by my MIJ '75 Jazz Bass RI and my Ellio Martina Forza 5. The only thing I would really love to get my hands on are a cool shortscale (come on Fender, give us back a lefty Mustang already!) and a bass with fanned frets. I would love to try a Dingwall NG3 5-string or something along those lines, I've been intrigued by them ever since I first heard of Dingwall. 

And if Fender won't deliver, I'd be happy to settle on one of these by Atelier Z. Cool Competition Mustang looks, but with a very solid Hipshot B-style bridge and active 2-band electronics. 

I would love one of these!!

If I knew they existed before I sprung for my Jake I'd have had one of these hands down

8 hours ago, Rich said:

I bought my Sire V7 completely sight-unseen, on the strength of word-of-mouth alone, and its quality astonished me. Still does. It's not in the same league as my beautiful Shuker, obvs, but it is far better than it has any right be be.

You know what, I can't ignore these any more. 

Even though I'm concerned about the weight, I have to get involved.

Wow!! Looks sweet 👌

Is anyone else curious as to how @pepsi-abi's bass journey is getting along now she's a few months in?

Hope you're still loving it!

2 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

Did they do lefty versions of the USA SUB bass? They are still incredible value for money. 

Not to the best of my knowledge - which is a shame!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I've always wanted a MM type bass but I thought the double pickup configuration of the Ibanez would provide more tonal options.

The only drawback I thought of was the tight string spacing might make things difficult for a slap novice.

7 minutes ago, BassApprentice said:

Indeed, all at the price range are very good value and will give you a wide variety of tones. 

I am very close to buying a Sire V5 (passive) as they get such great reviews from lots of players. Wouldn't necessarily say just because they are jazz they sound thin, apparently the Active Preamp is very powerful. 

At the end of the day, nothing will be beat trying them out before buying. Appreciate that might not be easy but maybe buy and return if you can't get to a shop that stocks them 

 

I've not heard anything bad about them at all but the weight would be a problem I reckon 

So I’ve got a dose of GAS at the moment, and I’m ready to take the plunge. I’d like an active 4 string (LEFTY!) with the intention of using it to learn to slap. Think 70s/80s soul/funk stuff like The Brothers Johnson, Jocelyn Brown, Luther Vandross etc etc.

I’ve narrowed it down in my head to a Sterling SUB Ray4 and an Ibanez SR300. I also ummed and ahhed over the Cort B4, which has the advantage of active/passive switching.

I know a Jazz is utilised a lot for this type of music but I’m not keen on the thin sound (much preferring a humbucker) and large, often heavy body. For this reason Sires are out of the question.

 I don’t want to throw tons of money at it so I’ve set a budget of ~£400. These are the two I’ve identified – any thoughts or suggestions welcome thanks!

(Obviously being lefty there's not that many out there either used or in local shops, so I'll probably have to take the plunge from an online retailer and hope it's ok!)

2 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

I think that was for a new colour, which is why there's the original Sunburst, and subsequent Fiesta Red.

Thanks for clearing that up. I must have misremembered it!!

A vote could be a good way to get new lefty models into production but by-and-large HB look after us quite well!

I know they ran a thing where you could vote for a model to go into production, which is how the left handed 51 P clone came into being (IIRC) but I haven't seen this happen again since.

55 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

News just in... Thomann have this bass as "on request" because its a new model and they don't yet have an expected delivery date. They told me they'll update their page when they have a delivery date. 

So it's not so much "on request" as "coming soon". Lost in translation I think. 

What is it, if you don't mind me asking? Intrigued!

16 hours ago, petebassist said:

 

Interested though, what was the preamp problem with the earlier ones? How d'ya know if you've got the problem?

i think the preamp was a little hard to tame, what's informally known as being "hot", although this might be subjective. The ones with the large "SUB" logo are the ones in question.

The newer models with the Sterling and Stingray decals have an 'improved" preamp

@uk_lefty

If you are after a Jaco style thing, I know Vintage do one that's highly thought of, although I expect you're probably already aware of it

6 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

I'm interested in a bass that Harley Benton do on request only

 

I never knew this was a thing? Do they do this with other basses do you know?