LeftyJ

[quote name='Starless' post='563592' date='Aug 8 2009, 06:39 PM'][/quote]

Pretty! What exactly is it?

I was drawn to Fender Japan because they simply offer a much wider range of instruments, finish options and the choice of a maple or rosewood fingerboard for lefty instruments whereas Fender USA only offers the New American Standard P and J in black with a white pickguard or sunburst with a tortoise pickguard, with a rosewood board only. I have played a few MIJ P's and J's and they're at least on par with their US-made counterparts. When buying a new one they are indeed very close in pricing, for the price of a new MIJ '75 Jazz reissue you get an American Standard Jazz. But then you don't get blocks and bindings, US-made '70's reissue pickups and a high gloss neck, you'd have to buy the American Vintage '75 Jazz which is well above the MIJ in pricing.

The fretless does look like it's had its fingerboard replaced at some point. The fretless MC940 had small position markers on the treble side of the fretboard, and the fretted MC924 had dot position markers in their regular positions. I don't see either on yours. Or ar the tiny markers hidden underneath the G-string?

*bump*

[quote name='LeftyJ' post='544820' date='Jul 19 2009, 06:55 PM']I thought I'd post this here too: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54966"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54966[/url]
Looking to sell my G&L SB-2. Which I bought because after selling the custom P in the post above this, I had no bass left that did a decent Precision-type tone
But I rarely use it anymore, I play my other basses a lot more (especially my ATK's, my Fender JB75-US and my Rickenbacker).[/quote]

*bump*

No longer a feeler, it is now really for sale as I need the money for an amp with more clean headroom for my new band. So much for my plan of getting an L-2500, I guess...

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='548546' date='Jul 23 2009, 07:50 AM']but it a very subjective thing.[/quote]

Absolutely. I also know a lot of people who'll tell me 'Did this really cost as much as 1500 pounds?' in utter disappointment after playing my Rickenbacker . But I love that bass! It's just one of those instruments you either love or hate.

And I must admit I haven't played the Elwood J through my own Ashdown rig but only through that Maruszczyk amp you can see in the picture. I wonder how I would have liked the tone through my own amp. Still though, I wasn't quite as impressed with that bass as I am with my MIJ '75 Jazz reissue.

[quote name='lee650' post='548454' date='Jul 23 2009, 01:08 AM']fiesta red[/quote]

That's candy apple red
On Japanese Fenders it's usually even called 'Old Candy apple Red (OCR)'.

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='547881' date='Jul 22 2009, 06:38 PM']I'm surprised that you had the impression that the overall feel of the bass was rather 'cheap'. What does that mean exactly I wonder? Could the painted blocks have 'coloured' your impression?

Mine is well put together and well finished and uses top quality hardware. The wood is worked cleanly and there's no rough edges or areas of finishing that disappoint. The fretwork and neck are pretty perfect to my eye and feel.

I'd be surprised if the guy brought a dodgy one to a bass gathering.[/quote]

It was the overall feel of the bass and especially the neck that gave me that impression. The finish of the neck mostly. I generally like high gloss finished necks and have quite a couple, but this Maruszczyk really felt like plastic to my hands, I didn't like the feel one bit. The fretwork was impeccable, the woodwork was nice and the finish had been applied very tightly and neat, but it was the feel of the neck that disappointed me. The look of the black blocks has in no way influenced my opinion for that matter.

I've played one of his lefty Elwood J's Adrian Maruszczyk had brought with him to a Dutch bass players meeting where some luthiers and Dutch amp builders were also invited to show off their goods. It was this one:



It is the very bass pictured on Arni's website in his giveaway to celebrate 10 years of leftybass.com:



And to be honest, I didn't like it. It looks great, but the black blocks on the fingerboard were painted on and will wear over time, and the overall feel of the bass was rather... wel, cheap, actually. It was set up very low and played very easily, but it sounded overly bright to my ears and required me to turn the tone knob way back. Don't know the specs, but it looked like an ash body with a maple neck and fingerboard,

I prefer my JB75-US over it, it looks and feels much more authentic and sounds bigger and fatter.

[quote name='whynot' post='546546' date='Jul 21 2009, 03:53 PM']Yes thats the one. Knew what is was as soon as I saw it. Seller assures me the neck structure is fine and close up photos suggest ok although cosmetically needs a little work. Got it for a very good price so will see how it goes.[/quote]

So what's up with the preamp? I tried to contact the seller too when I saw the ad, but never got a reply. I was wondering why he states it needs replacement.

*bump*

DR strings reportedly fit basses with scale lengths up to 37", as long as they're not strung through body.
I'm curious too, I've seen that same bass on leftybass.com you're probably speaking of. I'm not actually interested in buying it, just curious.

I thought I'd post this here too: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54966"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=54966[/url]
Looking to sell my G&L SB-2. Which I bought because after selling the custom P in the post above this, I had no bass left that did a decent Precision-type tone
But I rarely use it anymore, I play my other basses a lot more (especially my ATK's, my Fender JB75-US and my Rickenbacker).

I'm selling my [b]USA-made G&L SB-2[/b], I need the money for a more powerful and cleaner amp than my Ashdown rig.
2-piece alder body, bolt-on maple neck (originally one piece, but this still has G&L's old trussrod system with the 'Bi-Cut neck', which involves cutting the neck in half down the length and installing the trussrod from the side), rosewood fingerboard. 3-tone sunburst, black 3-ply pickguard, G&L Saddle Lock bridge and all the original electronics (G&L Magnetic Field Design pickups and dual volume controls only, no tone control). All stock except for the addition of a Hipshot BT-1 X-tender (or D-tuner).

Some slight scratching on the back of the body and the headstock, otherwise in very good condition.

Has had a thorough fret redressing and levelling in February 2009, which cost me €160. Receipt can be included on request.
Currently strung with brand new Rotosound Nexus .045-.100's.

There's no case included, but I will include the Tobias gigbag I got it in.

[b]Looking for 750 euros, but I'm open to offers.
Shipping to the UK is approximately 25-30 euros.[/b]

A photo gallery can be found here: [url="http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/GL%20SB-2/"]http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f74/de_slager/GL%20SB-2/[/url]

[quote name='The Kerb's' post='536490' date='Jul 9 2009, 03:46 PM']Hi Guys!

I sell my copy of a Precision '77, handmade by a dutch luthier.

The body is made of one piece of alder, which is lightly flamed around the edges, with a recessed neckplate. The neck is made of a very nice piece of flamed maple, with a brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The tuners are from Schaller and it also has a Hipshot D-tuner :-)

The pickup is an Seymour Duncan SPB-1 Vintage.

Price: 500€! or trade with an Orange bass cab :-)

More pictures on request!

[url="http://img31.imageshack.us/i/p1010793m.jpg/"][/url][/quote]

Hey, I totally missed this post. Hi Geoffrey, nice to see my old bass again. I have had a lot of fun with that instrument and have always enjoyed it. My bandmates in The Bullfight couldn't believe I sold it, it turned out they liked the Precision-sound more than any of my other basses. That's changed now that I have a Rickenbacker and a nice Italia hollowbody though

Some more pics (from before I added the D-tuner) and a free bump:

[quote name='deezbar' post='538877' date='Jul 12 2009, 11:07 PM']i'd buy it tomorrow but i'd need to sell a bass or two first.only just noticed your bass for sale.
Got a natural maple neck 1977 jazz all original, Zon sonus 4 spalted maple top, a 79 ibanez musician and a few more (all lefties of course).none of these would take long to shift especially the jazz.obviously this would be no good if you need the money straight away but if you had a couple of weeks i could even put a deposit down.let me know mate as i already know a couple of guys that would snap up the Jazz.cheers..Dave[/quote]

Tell me about your Musician! What model is it, and for what price would you be willing to let it go? Pics would be appreciated too

I wasn't even aware they have been sold outside the US, I always thought it was a US-only model!

Or do you mean the old twin-pickup ATK700 of the late '90's, that had a mahogany body with an ash top and the triplecoil moved slightly closer towards the bridge?

I have a 1981 MC924 myself and it's a terrific bass. I got mine for 400 euros in beautiful condition and with the original case, which I believe is a steal as there have only been around 350 lefthanded Musicians produced (of which most are of the later model with the PJ configuration and different control layout). I'm not quite sure about prices for righthanded instruments, but a lefty easily fetches 800 euros.

If the neck has been repaired well and the bass looks and plays good aside of the repaired neck, I'd say 275 pounds ain't half bad.

Ah, now I remember, you're the guy who sent me that PM about my MIJ 75RI when I had just joined here
Yes, too bad the exchange rate went all crazy. Not just pound to yen, euro to yen is off too.

Guitar Emporium currently charges 999 pounds for a lefty MIJ 75RI, at the current euro to pound exchange rate that's about 1100 euros I believe, which doesn't seem half bad.

Really? I've contacted several of the MIJ Fender importers (and traders from Japan, like Guitarshogun.com), who would gladly sell me a lefty PB70/LH or JB75-US/LH. In the end I didn't need to buy a new one because my JB75-US/LH popped up on eBay in Germany, but I gladly would have!

I agree Japanese Fenders are of very consistent quality and would do great replacing the Mexican models. Unfortunately though, I fear they would be a bit more expensive so they wouldn't really be entry-level instruments...

I too with MIJ Fenders were more easily available here. They offer much more lefty variations than Fender USA ever has, in much more color options, and there's even a lefty 5-string Jazz, whereas with Fender USA you'd have to turn towards the Custom Shop and pay Custom Shop money for one. There are only a few exceptions that are being sold outside Japan, unfortunately (for example, the '51 Precision, Mustang Bass, Jaguar Bass, Aerodyne Jazz Bass and the Geddy Lee and Marcus Miller signature Jazz Basses).

[quote name='Mr Fudge' post='533550' date='Jul 6 2009, 10:36 AM']Im also thinking of updating the bridge. I might go for the Gotoh one that is about £30. I was also wondering how much of an improvement this is on the Fender 75 bridge and how far away it is from the Badass.[/quote]

I had a BadAss II placed on my MIJ '75 Jazz a few weeks ago and it is a definite improvement. I had to get used to the tone a bit though, as the BadAss II not only improves sustain but also enhances the lows and highs a bit. My bass now sounds very agressive and a bit brighter than it used to. Now that I'm used to that, I love it though. It's an incredible funk monster now.

I did consider the Gotoh 201 bridge. A guy I know who has 3 MIJ '75 RI's has the 201 on all three of them. He actually replaced his BadAss II's with the Gotoh because he thought it improved the sustain without adding colour to the tone and is a very happy man now. I have not tried the Gotoh myself though.

Nope, there is no Tribute version (yet), only a USA version.
There is a Tribute version of the other JB-model though, the JB-2 (with the bodyshape of the L2000):
[url="http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/TributeSeries/basses/JB-2/index.asp"]http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/Tribu.../JB-2/index.asp[/url]

[quote name='owen' post='532403' date='Jul 4 2009, 01:54 PM']Chambering - then I would lose the run of solid wood.
Sandwhich - then I would lose the run of solid wood.[/quote]

Not necessarily, when both layers of cocobolo are of the same piece of wood or, in the case of the chambering, if the piece of cocobolo was cut in half, then hollowed out, and joined together again

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='529829' date='Jul 1 2009, 07:16 PM']Still like ASATs best...[/quote]

If only they weren't so neck-heavy.
I prefer the L2000 and L2500.

This JB looks terrific too though, and they offer it lefthanded too I believe, with a lot more options on it than Fender offers on lefthanded models (which are only available with a rosewood board in either black with a white pickguard or 3-tone sunburst with a tortoise pickguard nowadays). And the G&L is in the same financial ballpark as a Fender American Standard Jazz. As a lefty, I'd choose the G&L over an American Standard Jazz anytime!

Shoreline gold hasn't been available on regular American Standard instruments for quite some time. Sage Green was mostly a MiM colour and I don't recall it being available on MIA instruments at the time this Precision was built, but it does appear to be Sage Green indeed.