Bass Position

Technique
21

This is exactly like Jimmy Haslip plays (with respect to string order) - and he is doing very well for himself :slight_smile:

That said, it will be harder for you (if you stick to this), mostly because none of the teaching material (videos, tab, …) out there is immediately usable for you.

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22

Ahh. Makes sense :slight_smile:

23

Jamerson played a famously unplayable instrument with terrible strings - that does not mean that should be emulated :rofl:

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24

Yes, I did that cause the picture went the other way, and I wasn’t holding the Bass that way, the neck is in my right hand, as how I been playing her. I wanted to make sure the picture reflected that =3

25

My head is spinning

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26

This is going to be a very difficult path to take.

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27

I am challenged too now… :flushed:

Are the strings bad too?? I didn’t read the whole thing, I thought it was about playing lefty right-handed or the other way round…

28

How ya think I feel @.@. I’m not sure how to explain it besides a picture =/

29

No I was talking about Jamerson’s ancient funky strings that he repaired when they broke.

Just because an artist that is loved does weird things, it does not make it a good plan to emulate them, or even think they were anything but just that - weird :slight_smile:

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30

True that!

I was just trying to point out that it can be done and has been done, but it is certainly not the advised way forward… especially if it is still at a stage where things can be “rectified” :smile:

31

I can guarantee this wasn’t on purpose XD;. I just picked up a Bass and fretting with my right felt the best, as was the way she sits in my lap, the strap etc…so that’s what I went with!. Sorry for all the confusing. I’m not trying to be! ^^;

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32

How can I tell for sure? =/

33

Just found this video on YouTube. I think I’m going to go take a nap now.

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34

It was because you mirrored the photo.

35

My son is left handed but he learned to play a right handed basses just fine. Is this something very difficult to learn? Same goes for dinner and computer.

36

There was no need to mirror the picture, because it has now added to the confusion. But anyway: you’re playing a right-handed bass left-handed. Therefore, you’re holding it upside down. This is a Bad Thing™. Either hold it the right way up or switch to a left-handed bass.

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37

Agree. This is going to be a frustrating journey otherwise. Others have done it but that does not mean it is a good plan.

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38

Okay, I thought I had to make the ‘position’ the way I meant, my bad! O.o

39

That is definitely a right handed bass. You are definitely holding it left handed.
I know the problem well :grin:
I am predominantly right handed, but some things I do left handed. I shoot pistols right handed but shoot rifles & shotguns left handed. I brush my teeth left handed. I type left handed. I play guitar, bass and mandolin left handed
When my parents got my first guitar 40+ years ago, the first thing I did was turn it upside down.
A very patient teacher tried to get me to play right handed, which probably would have been the better option. I couldn’t do it.
He then had the shop set up my right handed guitar to play left handed — they changed the nut, reset the saddles, and restrung it lefty. I’ve played that way ever since.
Lessons learned:

  1. If you can learn right handed, do it. 90% of instruments and 100% of instructional materials are designed for right handed players.
  2. When you are first starting, everything feels awful and awkward. If both feel equally awkward, play right handed
  3. Left handed instruments are more available now than ever before, but you will be limited to a very few model and color options. It’s a pain in the ass
  4. BUT, there are very good left handed instruments out there
  5. There are some famous guitar players who play(ed) righty-strung instruments — Elizabeth Cotten, Albert King, Doyle Bramhall, for example. I don’t know of any bass players who play that way
  6. And finally, if you MUST play left handed — and I do, so I know how it feels — start looking for a left handed bass. Yours is a beauty, but probably won’t work out in the long run.
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40

For some it is, for others it isn’t. Check out this thread:

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