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playing upside down.

E

eSmith

Mar 9, 2010
584
21
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
www.edmheli.ca
#1
So, I'm at a long & Mcquade in Canada last week and there is a guy looking at bass amps. We got chatting a bit and he was about to test out a MarkBass Amp so he pulls his bass out of a gig bag and straps it on and started playing.

So, I look at this bass, it's musicman sting ray or something very similar. It was left handed and he was playing lefthanded but something looked weird. Then I noticed it, he had it strung backwards.

I asked, he told me he learned to play on a right handed bass and got used to the strings being upside down so when he bought a left handed bass he restrung it inverted so it went gdae instead of eadg.

I've never seen or heard of this. I've seen right handed basses restrung to be played by lefties but this is new to me.

So, How common is this? Have any of you seen this before?

-eSmith.
 
#4
Being lefty is uncommon enough as it is, so some will learn by playing someone elses righty bass upside down. Once they learn that way, even when they get a true left handed bass they string it like a righty.

I was 'lucky' enough that in my high school there was another lefty player so I was able to learn on his bass, and he'd also restrung the school's DB lefty.

However I am sometimes envious of leftys who can proficiently play upside down as they have the ability to play anyone elses (righty) basses.
 
#9
Long time friend Leland Parks plays upside down. here's a pic of him playing a lefty P bass strung G-D-A-E.

Leland holds down the Monday night open mic blues jam at Maggie Mays. If you're in Austin, drop by and sit in.

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Guitarist Doyle Bramhall II plays lefty upside down as well.
 
#11
It is fairly common in lefties - esp among players who grew up in the era of when it was hard (or too expensive) to find lefty gear.

Remember once upon a time lefty guitars/basses sold at a premium due to the "low" demand and required change to the manufacturing process. These days with CNC, etc. it makes it easier for companies to sell lefties at the same price as righties - although, I believe that even companies like Musicman still have a lower profit on lefties than righties.
 
#12
Im one...

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#15
When I started to learn, I was going to turn it upsidedown and also tune it in fifths, (Upsidedown because I seem marginally more adept at stuff lefthanded, with the one exception of writing, and fifths because I was really into King Crimson and the idea of New Standard Tuning that they use on their guitars.) I never got round to it, and I'm happy playing as is.
 
#19
delta7fred said:
I am very interested in this, what tuning do you use and what string gauges. I like the fact that you will get about a 5 string range on 4 strings.
Click to expand...
D'Addario Chromes bought as singles. Don't remember the gauges anymore, it's been a few years since I put them on there. A fifths-tuning set of Thomastik Spirocores on the DB. Both tuned CGDA.

I used to play various mandolin-family instruments and tenor banjo which are all tuned in fifths, that made it easier.
 

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