Switching to left hand bass after injury

[KateWantsToPlayBass 8]

I'm wondering whether anyone has any thoughts/experience of this...

I've been playing bass for a couple of years. I'm not great but I love it! I've got one of the Scott Whitley short scale basses which I bought through this forum from a very nice chap. I love my bass! It feels like it's 'mine'.

In January I fractured my left elbow and did a pretty thorough job of it and had to have surgery with metalwork fitted. Recovery is incredibly slow and not looking promising for getting the flexion/rotation back that I need to get my fingers onto the strings. 

I'm wondering whether to cut my losses and see if I can learn left handed bass. 

Two questions really:

1) has anyone managed to switch happily from RH to LH bass playing?

2) any ideas on where I can find a LH short scale bass on a very tight budget? My income as a musician has been affected by Covid and is now looking set to be decimated by my injury so as long as I'm doing left hand playing on a trial basis, I need to spend as little as possible. Eventually, I would hope to get a left handed Scott Whitley bass but I'm miles off being able to do that.

[Jus Lukin 3,089]

Sorry to hear that- nothing quite so bad but I've had a dodgy left elbow for a while now, can't quite find where the injury is in there!

Regarding re-learning, I know a teacher who teaches everyone to play right handed. His thinking is that we use both hands and are starting from nothing, so might as well learn the way with the widest choice of guitars! As you've only been playing a short while I'm sure that could work the other way round and you can retrain, as it were.

Gear4music are probably a good bet for well priced short-scale lefties at the moment- they have their own brand stuff very cheap, and there are quite a few other models out there under £200.

[pineweasel 225]

2 hours ago, KateWantsToPlayBass said:

any ideas on where I can find a LH short scale bass on a very tight budget? My income as a musician has been affected by Covid and is now looking set to be decimated by my injury so as long as I'm doing left hand playing on a trial basis, I need to spend as little as possible. Eventually, I would hope to get a left handed Scott Whitley bass but I'm miles off being able to do that.

This is still available 

 

[KateWantsToPlayBass 8]

Thank you both for replying.

Pineweasel, I think you've made a sale! Is the Harley Benton in playing condition as it is or would I need to get the little flaws sorted first?

 

 

[pineweasel 225]

27 minutes ago, KateWantsToPlayBass said:

Thank you both for replying.

Pineweasel, I think you've made a sale! Is the Harley Benton in playing condition as it is or would I need to get the little flaws sorted first?

PM'd

[PaulWarning 1,502]

Steve White out of the Bootleg Beatles, originally played right handed but learnt to play left handed to be more like Macca, https://www.chichester.co.uk/arts-and-culture/bootleg-beatles-head-portsmouth-and-guildford-834558