LeftyBassist.com

On eBay under Thunderbird bass very nice is buy if I wasn't waiting on my gaskell

I'm getting a Gaskell as well; support a 'Left-Hand only' company!

I will have mine in november all white no pick guard $1300

I bought the bass. I've always wanted a Thunderbird and the price is just right for me to give this one a try. I'm out of town until 10/7 so it'll be a while before I report back on it. I'll let you know once I get it!

I dig mine.

Here's the listing in case you're curious... nice bass - looks new!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOKAI-TB-48-Thu ... 7675.l2557

No comment.


pete

? ? ?

I started a left-handed only bass company catering to the mid-priced bassist ($1,500 top out). Cashed out my entire retirement, set up a shop,
and was out of business less than a year later.

pete

Was it a brick & mortar shop or online only? I believe Gaskell is online only and might even be a custom builder. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another job to help finance his biz. Like it or not, lefties are a small proportion of the world, so an exclusive shop might be difficult to run solo, esp as there are a few already established like Southpaw (whether one likes them or not).

Kevin, if you are out there, can you please fill us in?

Gaskell does I believe, have a dealership in California. Unlike Southpaw, they do not sell other brands, since they're a left-hand only builder (guitars and basses).

I wdve swooped up the bird as it's my favorite bass. I am waiting on my gaskell whick cost about $1400 w shipping. The thing about the tokai, it was a bolt on.all the ones I've seen including mine are set necks. Anyone know about this??

Hi, just joined up - courtesy of Mike making me aware of the forum when he was deciding on his Thunderbass.

Sorry to hear about the demise of your lefty bass business. It's great to hear from guys like Mike who acknowledge companies who are trying to support lefties (instead of view us as a pain in the butt.

I'm involved with Gaskell in Europe and can help answer the questions about how Gaskell guitars do business. Principally Gaskell basses and guitars are sold over the web. That said there are a few "bricks and mortar" dealers around the world, in the US and Australia. Here in Europe I deal with inquiries then orders are shipped directly from Oz. Anyone with any questions feel free to mail me at GaskellGuitars-Europe@mail.com

Looking forward to having a look around

Got the bass this afternoon and brought it to my evening jam session. I've never played a Thunderbird style bass extensively. After just playing it for 3.5 hours I can say it's a bit challenging to play! I'm coming from P-basses and other styles that are more contoured, so the right-angle body took some getting used to. I play mostly with a pick so angling my hand to play dug my wrist into the body a bit more. And I wasn't quite sure where to rest my forearm when picking. I watched some Mott videos to see how Overend played it and alas it's with fingers, which raises the wrist off the body so the shape of the bass is not an issue. Anyway... the headstock is really heavy so it takes more effort to hold up the neck. Strings also seem spaced a bit further apart then even my wider-neck '68 P-bass. I'm tired from playing it all night! All that said, I'm excited to have the bass - it looks so f*cking good... maybe not for all the time, but certainly nice to have as an option! (Boy, I sound like a complainer, don't I? I don't mean to come across that way... lots of what I mention are known characteristics of the Thunderbird style... just experiencing it myself for the first time I guess...)

I had to get a shoulder pad for my guitar strap to slide through. It should make things much easier for you. They are cool basses but heavy! Musician's Friend sells them or you can just make your own

What's the weight of the bass? If you don't mind adding a touch more weight, I highly recommend the Heads Up strap. Works great with my neck heavy basses, and I find the added weight nearly indiscernible.

http://www.neckheavy.com/index.html

I've heard that moving the strap pin from the upper bout to the neck area can help a lot with this.

Wow, the Heads Up looks pretty awesome, but it's $40 so I'm not quite ready to go there yet. I'll try a $10 shoulder pad first...

Thanks for the GREAT suggestions!

I tried shoulder pads too, but I encourage you to go with PJ's recommendation of the Heads Up strap. After the initial "how cool is this Tbird" honeymoon wore off, I found myself playing mine less often as time went on due to the discomfort level vs. other basses. The Heads Up strap will give you a completely different perspective on how often you actually want to play that Bird, simply by making it much more balanced and comfortable to play. It really is well worth the investment for all Tbird owners.

I loved the idea of the Heads up strap - and I play a custom T-Bird all the time - but I couldn't be bothered with the online ordering and shipping. So I went down to the local surplus shop and picked up a handful of 8oz weights for about $10 CAD. That - and a little bit of black gaffers tape - was all I needed to turn my cool vintage strap into a heads up.

That's me in the back row.