MikeB Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 As a "leftie" (always have been, always will be) I am really p*ssed off by the rest of the world's assumption (particularly music shops) that we barely exist. In virtually every shop I go to there will be a tiny number of cheap, copy basses hidden away somewhere which represent the entire stock of L/H gear. The old lefties shop in Leytonstone used to be the exception but last time I went there the choice of L/H basses had been reduced dramatically. I'm keen to try out / buy an "old" fender model (P or J) but chances of finding anything seem to be virtually nil. Even the Basses For Sale section of Basschat only seems to have one L/H bass in it. Am I alone?? Lefties of the world unite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krysbass Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 (edited) I'm actually left-handed too, but I had to teach myself to play right-handed basses, right-handed. Why?, because back in 1982 when I first picked up a bass and wanted to play it left handed, I quickly discovered that left-handed basses were about as plentiful as rocking-horse poo! Those that did exist, tended to be expensive and for someone who didn't know if he was going to be any good at the instrument, this was way too much of a commitment. The other thing that seemed to be common practice back then (and it still happens now) was charging significantly more for a leftie guitar as opposed to the rightie equivalent, the excuse being the different economics of making left-handed instruments in smaller volumes. At least Warwick are showing the way now with no extra charge for lefties. I totally agree with your frustration at music shops not stocking left-handed instruments - how on earth are you supposed to evaluate a guitar if you can't try it out before you buy? This is text-book discrimination and it needs to stop! Edited June 15, 2007 by Krysbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxm Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 You're not alone. I personally gave up on many local/common stores stocking decent lefty gear a long time ago - but there always are exceptions to the rule. ...then I could go on about the complete lack of choice and specs offered by the big companies when they do produce left handed pieces, but I won't... What does amuse me is occasionally when 'interesting' left-handed instruments turn up, many sellers think they've got the right to place a really astronomical price on it due to rarity - yes it is rare, but you've also got a limited user/purchaser base (user as opposed to collector !). For the time being we'll just have to put up with it all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Same as Krysbass - I learned guitar left handed but learned bass right handed for the same reasons as above and retaught myself to play guitar right handed as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redroque Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 i'm another leftie who plays right handed - this is because when i started guitar lessons ( I was 10), i was *told* that this was the way to hold it! I maintain that i would be brilliant if i ever swapped over! max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krysbass Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 As you'd expect (being a "forced rightie"), I find that my left hand (ie, fretting) technique is much better than my right-hand stuff. Though I play fingerstyle I have to work quite hard at practicing to get my speed up - especially if a lick requires much string crossing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.S.T.Ring Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'm a rightie who plays leftie due to a serious muscle injury many years ago. I don't have the option of re-training myself to play rightie unfortunately.... Just thought I'd let you guys know that the lack of decent quality LH basses is not limited to the U.K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I am left handed and play left handed basses. I too used to get very frustrated with this but i have learned that finding your ideal bass is a lot more rewarding because you have to work for it. I am proud of my collection as i have battled hard to find it i feel like i have some very unique basses. what does wind me up is the upcharge that companies charge. i think spector charges like ten or fifteen per cent on lefty models which is sick if you are already paying a fortune. the result is i avoid spectors. Fender are another one and there policy on jazz basses does my head in they sell mex lh jazzes, japan lh jazzes american deluxe jazz basses but the wont make a regular american jazz left handed even tho they will do a p bass american grrr result i wont buy fender products. I check ebay every day i search the internet all the time and if i see something i want at a good price i buy it i tend to buy it second hand that way if i dont like it i can gey my money back easier. heres a tip leftybass.com dont no if you have seen it. if i saw my dream bass on there i would be willing to go try it out and get it even if it meant traveling in europe. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudewheresmybass Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 i'm a lefty as well, and play right handed. not really for any reason other than i found it more comfortable that way. I now believe though that it is an advantage to have my stronger hand on the neck! as a former music store employee, i know the difficulties of getting lefty instruments. it's not the shops that are the problem - it tends to be the manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'm also left handed, forced right handed. Quite a few of us here it seems Any more? Feel for you with the lack of choice thing - I often notice it in guitar shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 [quote name='metaltime' post='18278' date='Jun 15 2007, 02:01 PM']heres a tip leftybass.com dont no if you have seen it. if i saw my dream bass on there i would be willing to go try it out and get it even if it meant traveling in europe. Andrew[/quote] Thanks for the tip. This is a really good site and has helped restore my confidence. I will check regularly for my dream bass! Amazed at how many people have had to learn to play right handed. What a sad indictment of the bass guitar manufacturing community. I'm far too old to do that (old dog / new tricks etc) but admire your determination. I was always encouraged to write with my right hand at school but never thought that was a good idea either! Nice to know I'm not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Cougar Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Damn it! I thought this thread was going to be about communism and the failure of the solcialist experiment in Western Europe in the late 20th century! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 [quote name='Mr Cougar' post='18324' date='Jun 15 2007, 03:22 PM']Damn it! I thought this thread was going to be about communism and the failure of the solcialist experiment in Western Europe in the late 20th century![/quote] Feel free to take it wherever you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Bass Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 It says it all that there are more people on here that r left handed but have learned to play right handed because of the difficulty of getting basses. its a shame and i often wish i had learned right handed but at least it looks different im glad i learned lh because if i was right handed i would be broke all the time and up to my eyes in basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 [quote name='MikeB' post='18323' date='Jun 15 2007, 03:21 PM']Amazed at how many people have had to learn to play right handed. What a sad indictment of the bass guitar manufacturing community. I'm far too old to do that (old dog / new tricks etc) but admire your determination. I was always encouraged to write with my right hand at school but never thought that was a good idea either![/quote] Don't get me wrong - I'm proud to be a leftie. Just back in 1984, I made a decision based on what I could see in the guitar shop! It now feels weird to hold a guitar the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmonster Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 another lefty here, when i started to play, i tried to learn to play right handed as i was aware of the problems when it came to getting gear, it just didn't take so i started to learn left handed not looked back since. it is frustrating about the lack of gear out there but i think it has got better in recent years guitar guitar for example actually do a pretty good selection of lefty guitars and basses, The extra 15-20% some manufacturers take is annoying to say the least, however they choose to justify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 [quote name='Bassmonster' post='18463' date='Jun 15 2007, 06:00 PM']another lefty here, when i started to play, i tried to learn to play right handed as i was aware of the problems when it came to getting gear, it just didn't take so i started to learn left handed not looked back since. it is frustrating about the lack of gear out there but i think it has got better in recent years guitar guitar for example actually do a pretty good selection of lefty guitars and basses, The extra 15-20% some manufacturers take is annoying to say the least, however they choose to justify it.[/quote] Guitar Guitar??? Who are they. Do they have a web site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmonster Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 (edited) [quote name='MikeB' post='18486' date='Jun 15 2007, 06:43 PM']Guitar Guitar??? Who are they. Do they have a web site?[/quote] [url="http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk"]GuitarGuitar[/url] Edited June 15, 2007 by Bassmonster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EntropicLqd Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Another lefty here. There's more on here than I thought there would be tbh. I didn't know you could get left-handed basses and guitars when I started playing so I simply learnt to play a right handed bass upside down. I just flipped the thing over. It's worked out great for the last 17/18 years so I'm not changing it now. It makes getting past the 15th fret a real pig (because of the strap) but I'd have never been able to play a right handed bass in a "righty" way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassmonster Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 [quote name='EntropicLqd' post='18642' date='Jun 15 2007, 11:43 PM']Another lefty here. There's more on here than I thought there would be tbh. I didn't know you could get left-handed basses and guitars when I started playing so I simply learnt to play a right handed bass upside down. I just flipped the thing over. It's worked out great for the last 17/18 years so I'm not changing it now. It makes getting past the 15th fret a real pig (because of the strap) but I'd have never been able to play a right handed bass in a "righty" way.[/quote] its an interesting style confuses the hell out of me though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I'm also a leftie who plays right handed. I learned drums right handed at primary school as my then teacher said 'all good drummers have to play either left of right handed so you might as well start right handed and you'll already be at an advantage.' However, I got stuck when it came to doing fills around the toms because it meant my right hand had to lead. In anycase, I ended up with micro-fractures in the ends of my arm bones form playing too much volleyball at highschool and switched to bass because it was more interesting. Ended up more comfortable playing right handed even though my (left) plucking hand always needs a lot of maintenance to keep it working smoothly. I haven't really regretted it apart from it did make learning to slap hard because my arm muscles weren't as developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I'm another leftie who plays rightie... seems there's quite a few of us out there. So, this one is directed at you lot... have you had any problems playing and singing at the same time? I find my left (fretting) hand works fine when trying to sing, but not my plucking hand (the right, in my case). Basically, I can fret the notes fine, but actually doing the rhythm with my plucking hand is challenging while trying to concentrate on singing. I've come to the conclusion that this is probably because it's not my dominant hand... do the righties out there have the reverse problem (being able to keep the rhythm fine with the plucking hand, but having a little trouble with the fretting hand)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I'm a lefty in the sense that I write with my left hand. Apart from that, right handed bass playing, right handed mouse use, right footed for football, right joystick, scissors in either....blah blah blah. When I started bass, playing right handed just felt right to me, trying to play left just felt odd. It's probably down to the fact that I'm quite well co-ordinated with both hands now seeing as I do most stuff with the right, yet the left sees use for writing/drawing/painting eg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-77 Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 yeh, anther Lefty that goes to the Right, as mentioned before, i started in the early 80, i didnt recall the option of playing left-handed at all, possibly the shop i got my first bass from didn't have any left handed basses or what, i cant remember. I don't regret palying to the right as im sure i would have missed out on some of the fine basses i have owned over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 im a lefty but it seems natural to me to play bass right handed, dont know why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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