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Post subject: discrimination?
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 7:29 am
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Hi,

I am a singer/songwriter/performer whos main instument is guitar. I own an anniversary edition Strat.

I searched the stores on the web for a left handed precision bass and the cheapest one I could find was about 1,000 dollars.

There are multiple variations of the 'P-bass' for under, even less than half of that price, but none I could find are made available to left handed people. I don't think I should be forced to pay that much money in any case especially if bass is not my main instrument! I believe that it is outright discrimination.

Fender...what do you have planned to deal with that. You have quality products, but why are they out of reach of a significant market? The p-bass is a classic instrument with a distinct classic sound used in MANY styles of music.
My email is iansklarmusic@gmail.com
I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

Again, I enjoy using your products. This issue runs counter to the way you present your company.

Please respond

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

-Ian Sklar


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Post subject: Re: discrimination?
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 1:41 am
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Roadie
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Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:31 pm
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What should Fender do for military combat veterans who have lost one of both arms to enemy action and want to play a Strat, a Tele, a P or J Bass, or an Acoustic guitar? What about amputees from disease or accidents?


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Post subject: Re: discrimination?
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:02 pm
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 5:51 pm
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Location: Boston
iansklar wrote:
Hi,

I am a singer/songwriter/performer whos main instument is guitar. I own an anniversary edition Strat.

I searched the stores on the web for a left handed precision bass and the cheapest one I could find was about 1,000 dollars.

There are multiple variations of the 'P-bass' for under, even less than half of that price, but none I could find are made available to left handed people. I don't think I should be forced to pay that much money in any case especially if bass is not my main instrument! I believe that it is outright discrimination.

Fender...what do you have planned to deal with that. You have quality products, but why are they out of reach of a significant market?

-Ian Sklar


Right handed American P Basses are also in the $1,000 range. If you are looking for used, you can usually get something for around $800 depending on the year. MIM and Squiers are even less expensive. The real reason you are having trouble finding a left handed bass is that there is much less of them available due to the fact that the vast majority of players are right handed. There are several left handed basses on ebay.


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Post subject: Re: discrimination?
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:26 am
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Location: Albemarle, NC
seismic wrote:
What should Fender do for military combat veterans who have lost one of both arms to enemy action and want to play a Strat, a Tele, a P or J Bass, or an Acoustic guitar? What about amputees from disease or accidents?


That Seismic is definitely a topic for another thread. Those of us with two good arms and enough fingers to play don't really have any idea what it must feel like to want to play but can't and probably never will. I'd go even crazier than I already am.

As to the original post, it is not discrimination at all. It is marketing and production decisions based upon demand and maximized profitability.

The left-handed market isn't exactly significant compared to the right-handed market. While 10% of the population writes left-handed, many of those do some or most other things right-handed. The percentage of people opting to play guitar/bass left-handed is actually smaller than the percentage of left-handed writers.

Currently the Fender Standard JAZZ is available left-handed and is a fine instrument for the money.

The reason there is no Standard P-Bass offered in a leftie version is purely economic. With the price rollbacks of last model year changes had to be made to streamline production, increase productivity and cut overhead. Every left-handed model you eliminate increases productivity because switching over machinery to left-handed production and between models eats up time that could be spent making the 9 to 10 times better selling right-handed instruments. Fender brass obviously had access to historical sales data back to 1985 and selected between continuing either the Jazz or the P-Bass in southpaw versions based on historical demand. Fender's data dictated that the Jazz was the right choice to offer to placate lefties wanting an entry level full blown Fender.

Historically, left-handed professional caliber instruments in general are so scarce that many left-handed writing players of both guitar and bass just learned to play their instruments right-handed. Some of them reversed the strings. Jimi Hendrix and Dick Dale for example did the string reversal. Meanwhile other lefties like B.B. King play straight right-handed.

As for playing the discrimination card, I assure you that the only thing FMIC discriminates against is losing money. In their defense, it should be pointed out that FMIC continues to offer the entire line of Gretsch drums and Sabian cymbals in left-handed versions.


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Post subject: Re: discrimination?
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 6:54 pm
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Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:32 pm
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It also seems the inverse works; someone buys a lefty, gives up and has a hard time unloading it due to lack of demand (which is why they make so few in the first place). Keep your eyes out on Craigslist and the bay. Good luck; don't give up.

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Daphne Blue Squier SCPB, ?? Squier Jazz Bass, 98 MIM P-Bass, TV12 Bass Amp (Poor Man's Bassman 50), Fender Rumble 25 Bass Amp, "71 Kustom Blue Tuck 'n' Roll Head and Cabinet


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Post subject: Re: discrimination?
Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 9:16 am
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Location: malaga Spain
Sorry Seismic, but i think you missed Ian Sklars point, There is a lot of manufacturing
companies across the globe whether they be musical instrument or making a pair of scissors, Left handers do not appesr on their radar, any left hookers out there will agree with me especially about the scissors !!, I started playing Guitar / Bass back in`66 and did the usual things like hanging out at the local music store in the London suburb of Lewisham and every single guitar and bass were right handers so i had no choice but to play right handed but i found out very quickly that this gave me a headstart as far as a strong left hand was concerned ! Not wishing to upset existing members but there are a lot of reasonable and good quality manufacturers out there offering L/H Basses, Have you ever tried a CORT or IBANEZor indeed YAMAHA ?, You can get close to a P Bass sound by choosing the right PuP configuration and doing some EQ tweaks on the amp....Or does it really need to have FENDER on the headstock ? Peter

Fender P Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
Ibanez TR 500
Ibanez SR300
Ibanez 5 String
Cort 5 String


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