Looking for a light lefty P Bass body : what vendor ?

[cangaroo]

Hi, i'm looking for a lefty P Bass Body for a project i'm doing with old parts sitting here in my home.

I prefer the body to be alder, and it must be very light, because of my back.

Wich vendor should i choose ? I know only Warmoth, but i don't know if the body they are selling are light, and i don't know if they take the weight as an order option.

Would you suggest me other brands / vendors ?

Thank you

[Lefty007]

I asked Warmoth about this recently and they said it was no problem getting me a light piece of wood, but there was a small added fee - don't remember exactly how much...

[cangaroo]

cool to hear this, 007. thanks for sharing the info.

did you ask them directly through the contact email ?

[screambasses]

My preferred vendors are USACG and Guitar Mill. Guitar Mill has a paulownia option, which
is super light and sustainable. I built a super light Sting Ray with it.

pete

[Lefty007]

cool to hear this, 007. thanks for sharing the info.
did you ask them directly through the contact email ?

E-mail. This is the reply I got:

"I would recommend swamp ash if you’re looking at trying to keep the weight down. You can also request in the customer notes that you want extra light wood to be used and that would be notated for the shop. That option would be at an additional cost of $40. and we’d take care of that for you without a problem! I hope that helps and have a great day! Ronnie @ Warmoth"

Also, as Pete pointed out, USA Custom Guitars has great reputation. I'm sure they can accommodate, too.

[cangaroo]

pete, how the paulownia wood is supposed to be tonally ? more on the alder or ash side ?

[bigevilrobot]

I went with B Hefner for my light-weight jazz build, and I love the quality I got from them.

http://www.bhefner.com/

[cangaroo]

robot, last month i saw a lefty p bass body from B Hefner on the bay, too bad i didn't bid on it cause i was waiting for the price to lower.

[screambasses]

pete, how the paulownia wood is supposed to be tonally ? more on the alder or ash side ?

I built a MM SR from it. Tonality, it was very bright and growled beautifully. It was my favorite bass that I made. It was
super light and had excellent balance. You have to be careful because it tends to dent fairly easily.

And I had super bad experiences with Bernie Hefner, like, really bad. His finishes were flawed and his delivery time was
weeks beyond what I had requested. And he was a dick.



pete

[bigevilrobot]

pete, how the paulownia wood is supposed to be tonally ? more on the alder or ash side ?

I built a MM SR from it. Tonality, it was very bright and growled beautifully. It was my favorite bass that I made. It was
super light and had excellent balance. You have to be careful because it tends to dent fairly easily.

And I had super bad experiences with Bernie Hefner, like, really bad. His finishes were flawed and his delivery time was
weeks beyond what I had requested. And he was a dick.



pete

I'd heard some horror stories about his finish work and turn around times on them, so fortunately, I prefer to do my own finish work.
As I didn't have a negative experience myself, I can't really concur with the stories, I'd rather just avoid those kinds of situations.