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Double Bass lefties?

G

greg p

May 6, 2007
3
0
Vancouver B.C.
#1
Hey just dropping in for the first time.I have an itching to learn. b ut i am a leftie and i have never seen a southpaw player in my life.I have e-mailed a few suppliers but NOBODY will repiy to the question"do you sell lefthand basses".Whats the skinny?
Hope i dont have to give up on this itch.L rocker got me interested sometime ago but when i saw Mark Winchester soloing on 'mystery train"on the setzer japan dvd,I thought......"I gotsta try dat!"
Advice for a 40sumthing noob on his first purchase would be cool.
Not a big bucker.....econo for sure.
 
#7
Thanks brothers!What kind of dough we talkin bout to convert?Besides bridge and nut,i noticed the finger board crests to one side so that has to changed aswell....which sounds expensive,I will start looking at these links.Anybody got opinions on the ebay dealers with the cheapies?
 
#10
Bob Knebel said:
Howdy Avid ..... I live here and have seen that sign a few places .... but my favorite is a bar in Missoula that says on the street-front sign "Likker in the Front and Poker in the Rear" :D :p :D
Click to expand...

I lived in Montana for ten years in the early 70s and went to MSU for a year while studying Range Management. I worked in Dillon and Miles City and traveled and stayed in small towns all along the Eastern Front and in SE Montana, and the ajoining three states. I visited many small bars in towns where the atmosphere was not far from the 1800s. In fact, I saw a scene in Monida, tiny town on the pass into SE Idaho, that really seemed like a time warp. Painted ladies in floor length frilly skirts sitting in the laps of cowboys dressed in their finest. I really had to pinch myself to remind myself it was real. I have seen card games at bars with horses tied up out front. Some of those places are so remote it might not be much different even today. Even when I lived in Dillon there where bars that I wouldn't go into except with my friend who was prominent rancher in town and whose father was supposedly the last "real cowboy" in Beaverhead county.

Since you are a bluegrass guy you probably know a friend of mine, Don Mazzola. He was an outstanding mandolin player.
 
#11
Since I completely high-jacked this poor new guy's thread, let me attempt to answer his original question. This also makes me think I need to add double bass to my lefty FAQ.

First there are lefty Englehardts, Christophers and Strunals.

This the only good link I can find for Christopher that shows their entire line. AFAIK
Link Removed

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Can't really find a page for Strunal. IIRC they are made in Eastern Europe.

Many double bass shops could order one of these afforementioned brands in lefty for you.

I would be negligent not to mention Bob Gollihur's line of Eastern European affordable double basses. Besides his bass line he has many pages dedicated to keeping the Double Bass community informed and is also a contributor to TB.

http://www.gollihur.com/

Uptown bass will make a lefty for you in anyone of their lines.
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Bob Beerman's shop always seems to have a couple of lefties in stock.
http://www.bassviolinshop.com/basses.html

New Standard has two lines and both available as lefty.
http://www.newstandardbass.com/

In the past I have not thought much of converting a righty to lefty but after seeing several reputable places that do such conversions I have changed my mind. Important parts inside the bass are left on the wrong side with a inexpensive conversion. If you are interested in paying for the full monty conversion, an experienced luthier can handle that.

I haven't even touched the Laminated, Carved or Hybrid question and have given you a list of options from the lowly to sublime. That all from a guy who is only interested in DB doesn't even own one. :D

I had better skedaddle before the experts catch an EB guy posting on this side and holler for my scalp. Yikes!
 
#12
greg p said:
Thanks brothers!What kind of dough we talkin bout to convert?Besides bridge and nut,i noticed the finger board crests to one side so that has to changed aswell....which sounds expensive,I will start looking at these links.Anybody got opinions on the ebay dealers with the cheapies?
Click to expand...

Converting a DB is not as easy as an electric slab. And, there would be no guarantee that it would sound the same if you paid a good luthier the money to pop the top and reverse the position of the bassbar and soundpost.

If you do a search, you will find a lot of discussions about the cheap basses all over eBay. The most important thing to remember is to run away from anything that you think is a bargain when it comes to DBs. You will end up paying a lot more to get them to be playable, if at all.

Unfortunately, your options for a used lefty DB are very limited. But, as mentioned in other responses, you will find a selection of new ones that can be ordered from some dealers that are good basses.

It is frustrating walking into a DB shop and seeing rows of basses that you can't play because none are lefty. But, it is a righty world (for DBs) and we have to accept that.
 
#13
greg p said:
...Anybody got opinions on the ebay dealers with the cheapies?
Click to expand...

A friend of mine is left handed, and she plays this bass (Prima):

Link Removed

Although I don't see it advertised, they will supply a left handed bass. I'm not recommending the above, just providing you with an alternative to ebay. My friend doesn't like her bass at all, she thinks it sounds like crap and it's begun to split (between the side and the top I think).

This fellow has a used Englehart lefty for sale at a fair price:

http://rockabillybass.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4961
 
#15
what exactly is your budget. I'd imagine a conversion to lefty is around the $1000 plus mark. I think that anyone who sells a factory made bass should be able to order one in a lefty version. There's plenty of links there but there's plenty of guys that base their business on word of mouth that your not going to hear about on the net.

Im after landing a nice fully carved eastman style lefty bass. It is possible to get a decent lefty bass just takes time to find the places that will sell them
 

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