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Image 1 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 2 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 3 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 4 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 5 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 6 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 7 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 8 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
Image 9 — NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White
▲ 199 r/Leftyguitarists+2 crossposts

NGD: Left-Handed Fender Toronado ‘Ultra’ Build-Aged Olympic White

Hi all!

After almost a year of development, I wanted to share my Lefty Toronado ‘Ultra’ build. I’ve wanted a Fender Toronado since I was a kid and first saw them in Musician’s Friend in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. This may be one of the only Lefty Toronados. As many of you know, Fender has never offered a Lefty Toronado, and if you’ve seen a post I made last year, they wanted to charge me **“**well above $15,000” (that’s an official quote from Fender) to make a Left-handed Meteora from the custom shop because they didn’t have “the tooling” or “CNC programming.” So, I built one myself.

 In addition to Fender never offering the Toronado lefty, to my best knowledge, no 3^(rd)-party manufacturers/builders are making Toronado-style bodies for enthusiasts. Towards the end of June 2025, I began the process of making a Left-handed Toronado a reality. In doing so, it’s now possible for others to build their own Toronado, regardless of orientation.

 A lot of time was spent trying to put all the pieces together to bring this to life, since it hadn’t been done before (again, to the best of my knowledge and research). It also took a while for everything to come together, but I think you’ll agree, the results speak for themselves, and the guitar looks and plays killer (will list specs below).

 In order to actually design and build the body, I worked extensively with JBL Instruments. Interestingly, I originally discovered his company from a reddit post here on r/leftyguitarists. As he was building my Meteora, I inquired if it was possible to build a Toronado, since no one had ever done so. Working from a PDF from the Electric Herald site, he developed the files to import into Fusion360, created a 3d model such that the body could be made with his CNC. Through hundreds of emails, we collaborated on different details for the body.

 Most importantly, if you’re considering a build of your own, regardless of body style, I hope you would consider JBL Instruments. I’m not affiliated in way (nor receiving anything), however, I feel like he has gone above and beyond for the projects I’ve wanted to do, and has been willing to take on new projects, where I feel like others wouldn’t. Also, the quality of his bodies has been excellent, and he’s been more than willing to accommodate any design features I have wanted (such as bridge and pickup styles, for example). I can’t recommend him enough.  

 Lastly, I’ll post all of the specs and sources below, with some notes/thoughts. I hope that you can appreciate all of the time and effort that went into putting this project together. I’m happy to hear your thoughts and opinions, and to answer any questions if you’re curious. Cheers!

 Specs:

  • Finish: Aged Olympic White in Nitro Lacquer
    • Completed by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Notes: Nitro finish came out fantastic, and for a reasonable price. Took several months to complete due to them fully curing the Nitro. Easy to work with as well. I highly recommend Guitar Mill and will be using them again.
    • JBL Instruments, as mentioned above.
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons
    • JBL Instruments, as mentioned above.
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons
  • Body: Alder
    • JBL Instruments, as mentioned above.
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons
  •  Neck: ‘CBS-style’ Headstock by MusiKraft
    • “Pro Mod D” back profile
    • Neck Finish: Satin Nitro by Guitar Mill, TN
    • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony-black, no streaks, w/ Block Pearloid Inlays, white Binding
    • Ebony Skunk stripe
    • Fender Locking Tuners
    • Stainless steel frets
    • Luminlay side dots
    • Fender string Tree, strap buttons

Notes: MusiKraft charged a significant upcharge to make the 24.75” scale neck, unfortunately. For Fender necks, the Gibson scale has only been used seldomly and no one is offering a true replacement at that scale without a custom order, that I had found. Excellent built quality, however.

  • Bridge: Halon Toronado Bridge
    • Phosphor Bronze saddles

Notes: Halon is the only 3^(rd)-party making aftermarket Toronado bridges. One thing that held up completing the guitar was receiving the bridge. I ordered in January, but it arrived in May. Apparently they had issues with getting the phosphor bronze to make the saddles. Fender Toronado bridges are readily available, however

  • Pickguard: Dark Red Pearl from WD Music
    • Pickguard and backplate completed by Pickguardian in Ohio from files supplied by JBL Instruments.

Note: the original PG that came on the Toronado was a dark Tortoiseshell that is not available. I didn’t think the current tortoiseshell PG material looked close enough, so I went with the Dark Red Pearl from WD Music and had Pickguardian complete it. He did a great job and it fit perfectly.

  • Electronics:
    • Pickups: Lollar Imperials
    • Left-Handed Long-Shaft CTS Pots
    • Stainless Steel contour-heel neckplate custom made for me by a local fabrication shop.
    • Gotoh string ferrules
    • Build and setup completed by Chris at Black Cat guitars. He’s my go-to and does a fantastic job.
    • Case: TKL Jazzmaster/Jaguar Hardshell case
    • Stainless Steel contour-heel neckplate custom made for me by a local fabrication shop.
    • Gotoh string ferrules
    • Build and setup completed by Chris at Black Cat guitars. He’s my go-to and does a fantastic job.
    • Case: TKL Jazzmaster/Jaguar Hardshell case
  • Misc:
    • Stainless Steel contour-heel neckplate custom made for me by a local fabrication shop.
    • Gotoh string ferrules
    • Build and setup completed by Chris at Black Cat guitars. He’s my go-to and does a fantastic job.
    • Case: TKL Jazzmaster/Jaguar Hardshell case
u/Awake_for_days — 1 day ago