rdavidson wrote:
As the guy that was willing to pay $2600 for the most recent lefty Mustang, I feel inclined to share my thoughts. First, I say "willing to pay $2600" because as most of you know, I got a $1000 refund because the bass was not all original. $2600 is a lot of money and I'm glad I only had to part with $1600, but yes, I was willing to pay $2600, as hard as that is to swallow (I was shaking when I won the auction, it was so much money).
Lefty Mustangs are rare. I don't know the numbers, but they're much, much more rare than lefty P or Jazz. Others on this forum know more about this.
I know of two "too good to be true" stories related to lefty Mustangs. Without getting into all the details, one involved a woman who recently started playing bass, wanted a short-scale model, and found someone with an "under the bed, not touched for decades" lefty Mustang less than one mile from her house. The guy sold it to her for what I believe was a very reasonable price (<$2k I think but I don't remember how long ago this happened). The other "too good to be true" story was more recent. Someone in San Diego found one locally. It sounded like the seller didn't quite know the value of the instrument. If I recall, he was asking $995 and the buyer gave him $1000 and left all smiles, knowing he got a killer deal. I don't think the first sale was even listed online (if it was "officially" on sale--it might have been a "I know someone who has one" type thing...), and the second one wasn't listed on eBay, so not as discoverable outside the local area.
The last Mustang bass sold via eBay went for $2200.
With rarity you get crazy prices, but also unpredictability based on demand.
Bottom line remains lefty Mustangs are rare.
Wise words my friend.
These prices may be crazy but some people are ready to spend a lot of money on something they've been looking for a long time (rdavidson and I included). I spent a lot of money too for this bass. It was a dream to me to have and play a mustang bass but now it's time for another dream. That's how it goes when you collect and play vintage instruments. You gotta sell your previous dreams to buy new ones.
