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Saw something weird at a gig tonight...

Discussion in 'Bass Humor & Gig Stories [BG]' started by Ívar Þórólfsson, Jul 24, 2002.


  1. Jul 24, 2002 #1
    Ívar Þórólfsson

    Ívar Þórólfsson Mmmmmm... Supporting Member

    Apr 9, 2001
    Kopavogur, Iceland
    I went to a gig with a band called Thirteen Http://www.thirteen.is . It´s actually a one mans band, but he has session players at gigs.

    Anyways... I see the bass player coming up on the stage with a lefty Fender Jazz, Sunburst with red-tortoise pickguard. Obviously the bassplayer is lefthanded, nothing wrong here....

    Then I take a closer look at the bass and I think to myself.. "damn that G string sure is big....."

    Upon closer inspection I realize that he has his bass strung upside down.....

    E for G
    A for D
    D for A
    G for E


    I know that Jimi Hendrix did it, but I´ve never seen a lefty bass player, with a lefty bass, playing it strunged upside down........


    Life never ceases to amaze me :)



    P.s. Great show, but I´m kinda deaf right now.....
     
  5. Jul 24, 2002 #2
    Freakapotamus9

    Freakapotamus9

    Jun 20, 2001
    Nebraska
    sounds cool

    i once ran into a kid at Mars that played left-handed.. he used righty guitars upsidedown.. pretty good too!

    that post might be a little confusing.. oh well..
     
  10. Jul 24, 2002 #3
    PollyBass

    PollyBass ******

    Jun 25, 2001
    Shreveport, LA
    Greta Brinkman from moby plays her's like that to. I hate her bassplaying, but thats just me. Paul (The beatle) Played a bass upside down, read his interview in bass players book.
     
  14. Jul 24, 2002 #4
    FalsehoodBass

    FalsehoodBass

    Jul 22, 2001
    Denver, CO
    my guess is that he learned to play on a normal bass, just played left handed. Then when he could finally afford his own bass, or got serious enough about it, he bought a left handed bass, but found that he was so used to playing it the other way, that he changed the strings around to the way that he had origionally learned.

    But that's just my guess.
     
  18. Jul 24, 2002 #5
    eli

    eli Mad showoff 7-stringer and Wish lover Supporting Member

    Dec 12, 1999
    NW suburban Chicago
    Jimmy Haslip does indeed string his 4, 5, 6, and 7-string basses like that.

    Perhaps it makes it easier for his right-handed friends to sit in...
     
  22. Jul 25, 2002 #6
    LiquidMidnight

    LiquidMidnight

    Dec 25, 2000
    There's a local guitar player here who is left handed but plays an upside down right handed guitar, still strung the way it should be. I guess he does like a bunch of these wierd upstrokes and such. I heard he's a good guitarist.

    If Jeff Healey can play in standard tuning, Blind, and with the guitar on his lap, like a steel, I guess anything's possible.
     
  26. Jul 25, 2002 #7
    The Mock Turtle Regulator

    The Mock Turtle Regulator

    Oct 22, 2000
    London, UK
    the bass player/singer of UK band The Doves (also Sub Sub in the 90's) Jimi Goodwin plays a right-handed P bass upside down.

    on Sub Sub's single "ain't no love" there's a bit of slap and pop, which intrigued me with the strings being strung the other way.....
     
  31. Jul 25, 2002 #8
    Brad Barker

    Brad Barker

    Apr 13, 2001
    berkeley, ca
    slap with fingers, pop with thumb...

    my friend's dad told me about a bass player of his who did that.
     
  35. Jul 26, 2002 #9
    sobie18

    sobie18

    May 5, 2002
    Shaw AFB, SC
    Keith Horne.....Jimmy Haslip....
     
  39. Jul 26, 2002 #10
    sweetpea

    sweetpea Guest

    Jun 6, 2002
    S'port, LoUiSiAna
    hmmm, I wonder if it's easier to play that way. You know... for lefties... hmmm.....kinda interesting
     
  43. Jul 26, 2002 #11
    Ívar Þórólfsson

    Ívar Þórólfsson Mmmmmm... Supporting Member

    Apr 9, 2001
    Kopavogur, Iceland
    Might be, he is primarily a pick player so his hand was in a very comfortable position down there...He used mainly the E and A strings.

    But I guess slap&pop is a hard thing to do with the bass strung like this.
     
  47. Jul 29, 2002 #12
    Fetch Da bass

    Fetch Da bass

    Apr 26, 2002
    Vista, California
    I think some people call it upside down and backwards!!!!!!! I am a lefty but play righty...I wish I had played lefty from the beginning.

    I saw a guy in Portland OR that played the bass like this...He could pop and slap it like a mutherfunker!!!!!
     
  51. Jul 29, 2002 #13
    Ryan Berry

    Ryan Berry

    Dec 1, 2001
    Merrimack, NH
    I could be wrong, but i think Jimi Hendrix restrungs the strings to be the normal way.