Should I buy a left handed bass?

[Ducky]

I'm a beginning bass player who injured his left arm (tendonitis - non playing related) over a year ago and I can't play bass right handed anymore. I also have issues with my left hand fingers one of which is also injured.

Should I trade in my Fender Deluxe American Jazz on a left handed bass or can I play it (upside down) left handed (moving strings?)

Ducky

[beelzelboss]

This is a tricky answer because you can get as much possible info on it, and it could all say to do this, but you still think do that.
In my opinion, go down to GC or your local bass/guitar store, pick up a left handed bass, and yes, its going to be different, you probably won't like it, but you have to weight the difference. not playing bass to totally relearning it.
Oh and a good point to mention, always can just go on ebay and buy a "clunker" if your not sure. Thats almost what I would do, go online and find a super cheap one (like nearly a starter kit) because you are learning, and if it turns out you don't like it, you'll be out under $100.
Thats my suggestion. Decide if you really want it, and then buy a super cheap one.
~craig

[XylemBassGuitar]

You can definitely just re-string your bass left-handed and play it upside-down. Keep in mind that you won't be able to reach the high registers as easily and you will need to have the nut removed and reversed so that the string slots are the right sizes for the flipped strings.

Nothing wrong with buying a new lefty either, but getting a luthier to reverse your nut will be much less expensive than buying a new bass.

[applejack]

I`m in the same boat. I`m lefty but wanted to play righty so I could choose a bass easier. Got a bad finger on the left hand and can`t press the string- thank you dirt bike. So I gotta do it lefty. I found a lefty really easy. There are lots of em online, bummer is you can`t try them, bought mine sight unseen and hoped it wasn`t a pos. My first bass was a violin shaped bass with the strings reversed. Worked just fine. The cool thing about the Beatle basses is that the shape doesn`t get in your way regardless of which way you flip it.

Jack

[DesertCreature]

Since a physical problem is the reason you're going lefty, I recommend you verify that going lefty adequately circumvents the problem. You might want to see if you can play a LH bass for about an hour to see if your physical problems manifest in some other way while playing lefty.

I have a vaguely similar problem with my right hand that does not effect bass playing but limits my sax playing to about an hour before two fingers on my right hand splay and I cannot bend them.

[leftybassman392]

Might also be an issue playing lefty depending on your playing style. Slap (for example) is gonna be tricky whichever way you go. It may come to adapting your playing style as well as playing lefty.

Plenty of good lefty instruments around at reasonable prices, or is there one you can borrow? You would probably need to spend some time with it to be sure.

Like others have said, there's probably no short cut to this, but I guess you knew that already. Suggestion: try out all possible options before deciding (and give each choice a fair chance to work too). Could take a while but if it means salvaging your playing then it's surely worth it.

[Jalen]

Well, if your right playing hurts you, get the lefty bass. It's never reccomendable have a pain while playing, so yes, you'll have to do all over again. The advantage is that you'll have a great speed in your fretboard, and it also will hugely help your coordination.