ChWillie

You’ve got it looking cool af.  Fantastic. 
 

I’m 6’1”.  Maybe I can rock it like you!

Mistakenly posted in this folder. Please move admins. Sorry.  

It plays so well.  Been quietly noodling.  Later I’ll run it through the amps.  
 

2 hours ago, bpc said:

The main problem I have with symmetrical basses is neck dive. I have one that is a righty flipped. I replaced the pots with flush push buttons that let me switch the pickups on and off separately. It works well but I play it rarely because it neck dives badly. This has put me off trying any others.

 

The one style that I think would actually work better flipped is that utterly stupid design by Gibson, the thunderbird. It would be improved by flipping it. Probably still an ergonomic disaster but less so than a flying V or an SG.

 

I have used a few righty necks and agree adding dots to the other side is easy and the reverse headstock thing doesn't affect the ergonomics.

 

Could you show us a better pick of that kelly bird you are holding? Nice colour.

Fortunately, I have no neck diving problems with either one of them. I had a righty long scale SG type  bass, and the dive made it undesirable.  

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

I've only ever had lefty instruments... If I got into buying right handers I'd be bankrupt. I recently bought an Epiphone Casino six string though and I sweat sometimes when I look at it it must be a righty body, the lower horn seems ever so slightly bigger than the top horn. I should measure it one day so it's not taunting me from across my office.

 

One bass I'd like to try flipping though is a Gibson/ Epiphone EB-3. If I was playing heavy rock/ classic metal I'd want one done up like Iommi's SG.

Thanks. Here we go. 

On 12/07/2022 at 14:06, Reggaebass said:

Puppets are a must 😁

Verrrrry cool!

10 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

 

Epiphone was able to do this because they used multi-piece bodies with a korina veneer on the top and back. So while the bodies may look like a single piece from the front and back, they can be made up of up to 10 narrower pieces glued together which will be visible from the sides. Gibson would not get away with that on a USA-made guitar, but Epiphone can. There's been a lot of speculation on the web whether the Epiphones are actually made of genuine korina (African limba), and several people who sanded their bodies down to refinish them claim they look more like basswood or poplar underneath the finish. But Gibson has made it very clear in response to these discussions they should indeed be genuine korina. There are some rare exceptions: there was once a Czech-made series of Epiphones (mostly Flying V's) with 2-piece korina bodies! 

Thanks for the information.   It might even be made of toothpicks. Haha it sounds great.  I’d gig it.  Cheers

Friday, I will receive my lefty Gibson Explorer guitar. Always wanted one but only pulled the trigger after I bought a righty Epiphone Explorer bass.  
 

I had major surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago but felt great the last two days, strung it up, raised the action to get rid of buzz, and the Rex Plorer (righty Explorer) is now playable.  
 

I’ll post pics of them together. 
 

ironically the $500 Epi is made of Korina, while the Gibby is mahogany.   

I’m starting to think that more headstocks rock than not.  So many ⭐️ 🌟 💫 ✨ 

I love it because I love somewhat symmetrical horns.  And that’s just a fantastic slab of bass.  Get it!!!!

Man I dig seeing all these headstocks, especially the ones I haven't seen before.  The Godin and Shuker!!!!

But I

6 hours ago, Rich said:

 

 

That would be my interpretation too. 😁

I like it’s unique thing.  Then a again I love Parker Fly headstocks

50 minutes ago, Rich said:

I see that and raise you...

 

Very very cool

13 hours ago, 40hz said:

I don't think this can be beaten. I absolutely *LOVE* the Wal paddle headstock.

It is a good looking headstock. Maybe if I ever saw a Wal close-up, It'd look different to me.  Love Wal basses. Wish I could find one to try out.

1 hour ago, BillyBass said:

Hold on a minute, OP.  You are complaining about Fender headstocks but you own a G&L?

 

One of these, er, beauties?

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I own a G&L, great bass with an eyesore at the end of the neck.  I personally believe the Fender Telecaster has the most beautiful headstock ever created.  But I'm a bassist so I don't have one.

I'm the OP who loves Fender and G&L headstocks.  But I can understand why he likes the G&L over the Fender.  It looks more modern, and not everyone is hooked on tradition.  Perfectly cool..

Wow, great to read all the replies.

I especially enjoyed reading the ones by folks who don't care for Fender headstocks since I've never talked to anyone who felt that way.  I seriously have never thought the Fender headstock too big, proportional to the rest.  Interesting.

I like 4 in a line, 3 3, or in the case of my G&L 4 1.  It's just that as a boy, that Fender headstock lit up my mind and heart.  I have a similar, even deeper thing with my Ric 4001, it's body and headstock.  

5 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

On the subject of odd headstocks, I also have this:

 

 

I like this one a lot!

As a kid in 1975 at the rock show at Opryland amusement park, I saw a tall and gangly skinny dude with a big white-dude fro. They opened with The Doobie Brother's "Listen to the Music."  Guy was playing a Fender P, and I'd never heard anyone play one before, and it set me on fire.  In his thin hands, that bass looked huge, and the headstock was massive looking to me. I'd only ever been able to see a few basses close up (different times).  

That headstock did me in.  The scroll and those tuners stuck out.  That bass rumbled.  

I am verrrry choosy about headstocks.  I'd might have bought several basses but for their headstocks.  Washburns are likely excellent guitars, but the headstocks on their electric guitars and basses---I just can't, and it's only my tastes, not anything wrong with those guitars.  

I am fond of the headstocks on Fender, G&L, Gibson, Rickenbacker, and Alembic. I like the pointy headstocks of Ibanez, or the paddles of Gretsch.  But why do I balk at the headstocks on Wals, which are better built than most of mine?  BITE basses might be good, but great gus, I can't stand a paddle on a Fender type bass.

I'm also an older guy whose tastes were molded in the 60s and 70s.  

I've actually found a few that I'm going to try. I have several projects and will need them in any case.  I'm really looking forward to getting this bass swapped over. 

I have a modest collection of basses and came into possession of a right handed Jackson pointy Kelly Bird bass.  It doesn't really matter what's up and down.

Then I started thinking, bet there are some other righties that'd make cool lefties.  Of course, most importantly, its bridge is straight, so intonation isn't a problem.

So I got an Epiphone Explorer bass and gave it the flip. As a buddy suggested, crank up the knobs, push them through, and fill in the holes.  

So on these and on guitars that are or nearly symmetrical, it doesn't matter lefty or righty.

I had also discovered that when I want a neck for a Fender type, a righty neck will do.  Really easy to put side dots on a neck.

13 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

Aye, you can be a different Beatle every day! 

Guilty guilty

Half of my guitars pretty much cover most The Beatles's tones.

Ric 4001

Epi Casino

Höfner 500/1 

Tele

Two Strats

Les Paul

Martin D28

Ric 330 (George's was a 12 str, of course)

Fender Jazz B

Amps: Fender Deluxe (twin sounding) and Vox AC30.  (Bass amps aren't Beatley--Ampeg V4-B and two Fender Rumbles)

9 hours ago, FinnDave said:

If you botch it, you haven't just lost a blank piece of plastic, you will also have learnt a lot about how to do it better the next time. Plan to make several, each better than the last until you have one that satisfies you. It'll still probably work out cheaper than paying someone else to do it.

 

I used to have a work colleague in Finland who was from rural Tennessee, really good guy. I couldn't say where exactly he was from, but he used to say he was from a long line of radical rednecks. He was responsible for getting me back to listening to the Grateful Dead, for which I shall be forever thankful.

Ironically, when I lived in Germany for ten years,  My best German friend (a former, brilliant student of mine) turned me onto Zappa's gems.  I already loved Zappa, but it was a bit like taking a music appreciation class.  We were Dylan enthusiasts too, and he knew more of the catalog than I did.  He also got me into the Butthole Surfers, Dead Kennedys, Nick Drake, and Camper Van Beethoven.  I'm grateful to him, especially for the Zappa lesson. Interestingly, I've spent most of my life listening to British bands--similar way of looking at the world.  My own guitar collection is mostly Brit-influenced.  

Yep, this one might be beyond my ken, but 've got that plastic blank, and I've just seen a Dan Erlewine that makes me think I should give it a go.  If I botch it, I've only lost a piece of plastic.  I live in rural Tennessee and the incompetent techs in the closest guitar shops have screwed up nearly every job they've done for me. 

I've been trying to find pre-slotted left handed non-Fender type bass nuts. I've got a righty Epiphone Explorer bass that I'd like to swap out the nut on. The best I've found is a plastic blank thing which I'd have to cut and slot, something I've never done.

I live in the US, but do you guys know of a good source for lefty nuts that I'm not finding on my searches?   (I know, a walnut tree). 

Hey, Jeroen.  Yeah, I thought I'd mosey over here and see what's up. Cheers!