Visiting Southpaw Guitars

[velalv]

Hi Folks:

I am headed to Houston for a wedding (instead of work for a change), and taking a detour to Southpaw Guitars for part of the day

Southpaw Guitars, as many of you folks know, is not very good with posting their inventory online on a timely basis. I was planning to just post a few notable finds there on this page for the members of this forum, but also thought that I would make myself available for some recon.

Is there anything that anybody wants me to keep an eye out for while I am there? I am planning to keep a notebook with me so I can write down prices and specs, and most importantly, I will take my cell phone to take pictures and post.

I hope this does not come off as being too weird, just trying to help out.

[Jeroen]

Be sure to take some photos when you're there!

[velalv]

I agree. I will take pictures, but just wanted to see what should I take pictures of. I don't want to spend three hours taking pictures when I can spend that time checking out sweet gear!

[Agent00Soul]

Some people don't like SG. I've never had any kind of problems with them, but I never went to the actual store either so maybe it's different. Have fun!

[tomdbass]

If you could, see if they have any vintage basses. 70's Fender J or P basses. They were great for that in the past. I actually bought a few from them. Not sure they deal with vintage stuff anymore. At least they don't post any on their site.
Thanks man. Enjoy your trip!

[AzWhoFan]

They are a predominantly guitar oriented store. You won't find too much in the way of basses there, but they usually have a few nice vintage Fender bass's lying around.

the nice thing about their store is you can walk in and play anything in there for as long as you want and will absolutly not get harrased by the staff. Jimmy's crew are very accomodating. Jimmy - if he's there - will be on the phone most of the time listening to complaints about their internet presence

[Stingray5]

[quote="velalv"]I agree. I will take pictures, but just wanted to see what should I take pictures of. /quote]


All the basses..

[velalv]

Touche!

I'll get some good ones.

[Matt R.]

Ask them why they are so damn overpriced.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Ask them why they are so damn overpriced.

And why they seem to not give a blip when you call them about a product (in my case it was for a Dobro) whereas the same day you could call Dennis at Adirondack who is super helpful and friendly.
Of course I bought mine from Dennis (who took awhile to realize I was not calling from France but from California...I wonder why )

[velalv]

Ok, we can start with this slightly older picture of the basses to get you started that I saw on Google as I was getting directions for this place today. The picture is one of those 360 degree pictures, the basses are on the right. Lots of Musicman basses especially. Just check out this link.

http://www.google.com/maps?layer=c&z=17 ... QQ2hQoADAF

I agree. I will take pictures, but just wanted to see what should I take pictures of. /quote]


All the basses..

[velalv]

I am all for bringing this up while I am there. Collective action...I like it.

Ask them why they are so damn overpriced.

And why they seem to not give a blip when you call them about a product (in my case it was for a Dobro) whereas the same day you could call Dennis at Adirondack who is super helpful and friendly.
Of course I bought mine from Dennis (who took awhile to realize I was not calling from France but from California...I wonder why )

[AzWhoFan]

I am all for bringing this up while I am there. Collective action...I like it.

Ask them why they are so damn overpriced.

And why they seem to not give a blip when you call them about a product (in my case it was for a Dobro) whereas the same day you could call Dennis at Adirondack who is super helpful and friendly.
Of course I bought mine from Dennis (who took awhile to realize I was not calling from France but from California...I wonder why )

you're more than welcome to try of course. But don't expect anything more than a blank stare and a shrug from Jimmy.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I think you should go dressed as a jester, unroll a long parchment and start with the list of grievances...

[velalv]

Some people would say I already do that for a living in a monkey suit instead of a jester's outfit, so it would not be that out of the ordinary.

I think you should go dressed as a jester, unroll a long parchment and start with the list of grievances...

[pjmuck]

It's been a while, but I've also purchased a few instruments from Jimmy over the years and never had a problem. (Got my EB Sterling, '71 Tele bass, and Epiphone T-Bird from him). I've found you can negotiate prices with him.

He also has another website that seems to be more up to date:

http://www.left-handedguitar.com/

[fivebass52]

Ok, we can start with this slightly older picture of the basses to get you started that I saw on Google as I was getting directions for this place today. The picture is one of those 360 degree pictures, the basses are on the right. Lots of Musicman basses especially. Just check out this link.

http://www.google.com/maps?layer=c&z=17 ... QQ2hQoADAF

I agree. I will take pictures, but just wanted to see what should I take pictures of. /quote]


All the basses..

OK, I can see all the basses are in the room under the Big Clock.... make sure you go in there!

[velalv]

Ok, I had a chance to visit for a couple of hours today. If there is anything anyone wants a closer look at, I am happy to send along more pictures. Jim is selling a vintage mid 70's P bass with flats (I think they are Chromes, they are definitely not TI's) from his personal collection. It is in super sweet condition. I actually thought it was new. Nice sunburst with maple neck, finished in heavy laquer. Sounded great through the Bassman they had in the store. Condition looked very, very good to me. It is as heavy as a boat anchor, but the tone was just great. Reverse taper pots. He is asking $3000.

Tried adding photos, the iphone photos are too big. Any ideas on how to shrink them down or other ideas on how to get them on the site? I will gladly email pics from my phone if you PM your email address.

He had a number of lefty Musicman basses, including a used Bongo in Red with a white Pearl Guard for $1299. He also had some Dillon Thunderbirds that I did not play much, as they were definitely not my style, and the next dive was crazy on it. Also played a 30th Anniversary G&L ASAT in white with a matching headstock, very, very nice. The ergonomics on it were not great, and I had a lot of neckdive with the bass.

There were a great selection of Schecters, mainly Raiden and Stilletto. One of the Raidens had a burled maple top.
There were three Martin acoustic basses that I got to try. One THinline, one aluminum topped thinline which was nice, and a BC00-16GTE that I really liked.

[Agent00Soul]

He also had some Dillon Thunderbirds that I did not play much, as they were definitely not my style, and the next dive was crazy on it.

Can you remember if these were reverse or non-reverse style Thunderbirds?

[AustinLeftyBass]

I can tell you that my (reverse)Dillion "T-Bird" has NO neck-dive, with a halfway decent leather strap, of course. Heavy tho'.