LeftyBassist.com

Personally, I think these topics are started by someone trolling. The op got threads on two forums started. We all got sucked in & will again. Good points have been made here for starting righty, but I’m ok with playing lefty.

Carmine wrote:So I guess my question is: how adverse are you guys to playing a (reasonably balanced)righty upside down, if it's something you really wanted to play and it's not available as a lefty?

I don't like it - and I've tried. The guitar cable is the biggest hindrance but the knobs and usual asymmetry are also huge pains. So is scratching the top of the body up because the pickguard is on the other side.

Jim_k wrote:Personally, I think these topics are started by someone trolling. The op got threads on two forums started. We all got sucked in & will again. Good points have been made here for starting righty, but I’m ok with playing lefty.

Maybe a troll started it, but nothing but lively discussion here anyway. So if he wanted to people to constructively talk, he succeeded but if he wanted to cause people to lose it, then nothing happened on this peace-loving forum.

I've never understood what goes on in the mind of a troll. Wha, you have nothing better to do with your time than post nonsense to get people riled up? Are you really that hard up for attention?

My first bass was a symmetrically flipped Westbury Track II. Body-wise, similar to a smaller Ripper in shape (though the horns on a Ripper are slightly different in size). I was always bumping into the knobs with my forearm when I played and accidentally turning the volume down. I'm a much better player now and am more cognizant of my arm/hand positioning such that the knobs don't get in the way anymore when I flip a righty, but generally I don't like it unless the bass at least visually looks symmetrical and/or there's no chance I can find a true lefty. (i.e. my Ashbory).

It really pisses me off, though, when a company will make a flipped instrument for a righty so they can think they look cool emulating the Hendrix look, (so technically it's a lefty instrument) but they won't make a true lefty!

Agent00Soul, you are right. That's why I like it here, though I mostly lurk.

pjmuck, I'll never get it either and I see it offline all the time too.

I'm fine with playing basses upside down. But I rarely find such a position to be comfortable enough to play long-term. I don't mind the looks at all.

Anyway, my views on this topic were stated pretty clearly in that TB thread, so I won't bore you with them again.

Righties don't get it/ Here's a little story that happen to me a couple of months ago. Went to my local blues jam decided that I didn't want to play so no bass. The guys kept asking me to have a jam, finally I said yes and got a righties eb3 and played three songs. Blew them away all the bass players ask how did do that. Just not in their mind set.