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Rightys playing lefty basses

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Cerb, Nov 26, 2005.

  1. Nov 26, 2005 #1
    Cerb

    Cerb

    Sep 27, 2004
    Indiana
    I had the chance to go to the guitar shop down the road from me today. On the wall was the same 4 string, lefty Warwick Corvette that's been there for about a year. I believe it was an FNA Jazzman (it was identical to this, except lefty). I figured Eh, what the heck and pulled it off the wall, plugged into a GBE head and amp... and was BLOWN AWAY.

    Being as the waist of the Corvette is so symmetrical on both sides, it sat on my lap perfect. One would think that the knobs would get in the way, but they weren't a problem. It did take a while to get used to the stringing. After about 10 minutes, though, I felt right at home. I actually enjoyed it so much that if it's still there next time I have enough cash, I'll be buying that beauty.

    Anyways, I just wanted to know if anyone else here played a left handed instrument though you're right handed. Obviously it's common for leftys to play rightys, but the other way around...?
     
  2. Nov 26, 2005 #2
    Frank Martin

    Frank Martin Bitten by the luthiery bug...

    Oct 8, 2001
    Budapest, Hungary, EU
    There are some lefty-playing-righties on this forum, but I haven't seen many play flipped-over lefties.... Lefties play flipped-over righties because they can't find lefties, but for a right-handed? :confused:
    It's easier to find righty basses, and much cheaper. You just flip the strings and there you are.
     
  3. Nov 26, 2005 #3
    mgood

    mgood

    Sep 29, 2001
    Levelland, Texas
    There's left-handed bassist in my office who started out playing right-handed basses. So he got used to having the lower strings on the bottom and higher strings on top. When he started buying lefty basses, he had them set up with the lows on bottom.
    I've played his Conklin 7-string and his Carvin fretless 6-string. Pretty cool. The strings are in the right place for me when I flip it over, but the body is upside down.
    The fretless six has no lines, and when I play it right-handed, the side position markers are on bottom. :eek: Whoa! There are no landmarks at all! I'm playing along thinking I'm doing pretty well, then I hit an open note and realize just how far off I've wandered. :meh:
     
  4. Nov 26, 2005 #4
    Folmeister

    Folmeister Knowledge is Good - Emile Faber Supporting Member

    May 7, 2003
    Tomball, Texas
    For a lark, I took a lefty MIM, ash-bodied, Fender jazz bass and strung it right-handed. It was great to play at a goofy "Mad Hatter" party we played last week. People loved it, I think the E string definitely benefitted from the longer scale, and it played very well. The only drawbacks were:

    1. For some reason, I ended up a fret short on some runs without the side markers - no big deal, I have a gut so I stuck it out and angled the fretboard up a little

    2. When I did a slide up to the high frets the now-bottom horn stopped me very abruptly at about the 10th fret - no big deal, I did the overhand Rudy Sarzo thing

    The biggest chore on the restring was finding a replacement nut. Contrary to a lot of peoples' beliefs (including Fender), standard replacement nuts are not interchangeable on American and Mexican jazz basses!