Stringing a Right Handed bass to make it LH

[Jezz8me]

My freind's mum got her a RH bass but she is left handed. Is it possible to change the strings the oposite way so it is effectively a LH bass with an upside down body and headstock??

I will probably be the one re-stringing it

 

[Pennydreadful]

Yep. You may have to put on a new nut, or maybe just file the slots on the existing one.

 

[Niff]

and it'll be awkwardly contoured. and her arm will hit the controls constantly.. might be better to get her to just like, learn righty.

 

[Jezz8me]

yea i was thinking it might be a bit impractical, i'll just point her towards getting a cheap SX LH bass to learn on then i guess.

 

[blizzard]

If she's never played bass or guitar before, theres no reason for her to not learn a RH bass. In fact it will give her more opportunities when it comes to bass buying later.

 

[avid]

If she's never played bass or guitar before, theres no reason for her to not learn a RH bass. In fact it will give her more opportunities when it comes to bass buying later.

That will work for some, but not all left handers.

 

[hoosierdad]

You can do it. You will need to replace the nut with one that is slotted 'backwards' to accept the strings and you will have to re-intonate the bridge. That should be all there is to make it play as a lefty.

 

[Gopher Bob]

I know a left hand guy that started with right hand guitar and now can't play left handed ones

 

[ducatiman]

I know a left hand guy that started with right hand guitar and now can't play left handed ones

and there are lefties that started lefty BECAUSE they *can't* play righty.

you think we all belong in a leper colony?

sheesh, were's all the love for lefties here???......


-----------------duc


to the OP, yes, a conversion CAN be done. different guitars or basses present their own unique problems in doing so. however, as mentioned earlier, the knobs will dig into your arm. strap balance will be whacked out.
Best to get a beginners LEFTY, make sure the person is going to persue the cause before making a larger investment in a quality lefty. good leftys are available on the market now, more than ever. Fender, Schecter, Ibanez, Carvin all make quality lefties. your boutique guys will MAKE you anything you can concieve as well.

 

[Nappa]

Just a get a white P-bass and switch it backwards and play with a Jimi Hendrix fan.

 

[mikeswals]

You know, growing up in all those music classes, ensembles, orchestras, the LH players all learned to play like us RH'ers.
And later in one of my bands, a drummer of mine was a LH guy, but his pro-musician dad only had RH instruments, and he learned to play drums, piano, clarinet and guitar all RH. He said that really made life easier for him as a musician.

So if you're friend has never played guitar or bass before, she should consider learning it righty.

 

[Keef]

And later in one of my bands, a drummer of mine was a LH guy, but his pro-musician dad only had RH instruments, and he learned to play drums, piano, clarinet and guitar all RH.

Gotta find me one of those left-handed pianos.

 

[superblues]

it can be done and the nut doesn't always need to be replaced. I swapped a RH squier Pbass to LH without replacing the nut. i did file 2 of the slots in the nut for the larger strings. played just fine in my opinion.

 

[nickbear]

if the person is a complete beginner then try and encourage them to play right handed, it worked for me and i know it has worked for others

as you have to use both hands while playing bass and as a beginner you hands arent used to either fretting or picking/fingering so learning right handed is a good option!

 

[Disc]

You know, growing up in all those music classes, ensembles, orchestras, the LH players all learned to play like us RH'ers.
And later in one of my bands, a drummer of mine was a LH guy, but his pro-musician dad only had RH instruments, and he learned to play drums, piano, clarinet and guitar all RH. He said that really made life easier for him as a musician.

So if you're friend has never played guitar or bass before, she should consider learning it righty.

As said a few times before, this does not work with everyone. I could not stand playing a righty guitar, it just didnt work right in my head. Once I got a lefty everything just clicked. With all the lefty basses out right now their is no real reason to force yourself to play it righty,

 

[mikeswals]

encourage them to play right handed, it worked for me and i know it has worked for others

Hey, I'm just trying to be helpful here, and as Nick and other members on TB have mentioned before, it worked for them.
I know it doesn't work for everyone...it was just a suggestion, that's all.

 

[CBRStingray]

If she's never played bass or guitar before, theres no reason for her to not learn a RH bass. In fact it will give her more opportunities when it comes to bass buying later.

+1

I'm left handed and I learned to play RH instruments. One of the best decisions I made.

There might be about 1 in 10 Lefties who would have trouble learning on a RH instrument. It's worth encouraging her to try it out.

 

[Warpticon]

Yeah, it's definitely better for her to at least see if she's one of those who can't wrap her head around playing righty. If she can play righty, then great for her--let her lead the easier life.

 

[bazmeister]

last night when i re-strung my righty i relised the holes that you thread the strings thru on the bridge where not big enough for a E string to fit thru the G string hole?

 

[JJBACOOMBA]

I play lefty strung righty. Thats the way I learned and have been doin it successfully for about 22 years. There have been many times that I wished I would have played righty but oh well. I say get her a lefty bass, string for a lefty and dont look back, She'll be better off that way. Or just have her play righty. Lots of players I know are left handed but play righty. I am right handed and play lefty.LOL!!