Grand Wazoo Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Here is a variety of left handed basses by a dutch luthier with an interesting fanned fret one too at the end of this page: [url="http://home.online.nl/blablas/bass/index.htm"]http://home.online.nl/blablas/bass/index.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Love the body/hole design on the first one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='Roland Rock' timestamp='1346144605' post='1785660'] Love the body/hole design on the first one [/quote] Short scale by the looks of things. I'm also liking the Tune-influenced 8-string although the bridge doesn't look as though it has separate saddles for each string in the course which will make it impossible to intonate properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Liking some of those quirkier designs very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Lovely basses. Does he build exclusively left-handed models or is this his dedicated lefty website? Either case, kudos to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1346149340' post='1785747'] Lovely basses. Does he build exclusively left-handed models or is this his dedicated lefty website? Either case, kudos to him. [/quote] Here's your answer honey... [url="http://home.online.nl/blablas/bass/history.html"]http://home.online.nl/blablas/bass/history.html[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) So he started by building for himself only, then progressed from there. Double kudos. One of the reasons why I didn't take up bass guitar when I was in my teens (late 70s) was that there were no lefty instruments that my family and I knew of for buying, in Florence at the time. Edited August 28, 2012 by bluejay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Those 'crazy' Dutch, not so crazy after all . Although I'm left handed, I 'forced' myself to play right handed when I started playing bass, for the same reason that I though it would be difficult to find a good selection of left handed instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='zero9' timestamp='1346155253' post='1785845'] Although I'm left handed, I 'forced' myself to play right handed when I started playing bass, for the same reason that I though it would be difficult to find a good selection of left handed instruments. [/quote] Although that may have been inevitable at the time, I really hope that, now and in the future, an ever-increasing number of lefties will choose to play the correct type of guitar/bass, as that will allow the market to grow and lower prices and increase the availability of models. Having been taught to write with the "wrong" hand (my right) by mistake, and having hated the results for the whole of my life, I simply could not have forced myself to do the same on bass, and would not wish that on any other lefty, TBH... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 [quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1346156035' post='1785859'] Although that may have been inevitable at the time, I really hope that, now and in the future, an ever-increasing number of lefties will choose to play the correct type of guitar/bass, as that will allow the market to grow and lower prices and increase the availability of models. Having been taught to write with the "wrong" hand (my right) by mistake, and having hated the results for the whole of my life, I simply could not have forced myself to do the same on bass, and would not wish that on any other lefty, TBH... [/quote] Bluejay, that is nothing compared to what happened to me when I was a kiddy, I am a left handed who writes with his left, and does pretty much anything else left handed except playing bass and guitar. As back then in those days, no music teacher would want to deal with me unless I played right handed, hence why that is the only thing I have had to adjust to, i.e. playing right... But that's nothing, I was born 1961, when mother took me to my first day of primary school in Italy around 1966, the primary school was run by nuns. Soon as they realized I was a lefty, they said oh no no, we can't let you write with the hand of the devil, you need to start properly with your right hand and they tied my left arm behind my back with a small rope, at the age 5 you can imagine the shock when my mom found out, she complained to the school headmaster but they wouldn't give a crap, so she took me out of the catholic primery and into a private non religious one. I was then allowed to write with my left and do pretty much everything else. My first sport was fencing, it turned out that being left handed was an advantage for fencing, because of all the defense tactics were designed for right hand and so when I used to compete, my opponent would not be prepared to fend the sword when the attack was coming from his / hers left hand. To this day I regret that I did not persevered to learn bass and guitar left handed because I definately have more picking rhythm in my left than in my right, if I am strumming with the left I have much better tempo than I have with my right but I have been playing since I was 11 so that's 40 years now, my timing it's better but not perfect or indeed natural. There are black holes in my execution which I manage to overcome by not playing intrinsecately fast stuff as otherwise I am off beat. Dang, what can I do, now it's too late to switch over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) Very interesting. At least two left-handed friends of mine, from catholic families, were forced [b]by their parents[/b] to learn to write with their right hands (that was in the early 70s). Sigh. I suppose you can say that, in your case your fretting hand is your stronger one, so you [i]may[/i] have the edge in certain cases... I know that, when I first picked up the bass guitar, I could hardly hold a righty one, while instinctively I felt more at ease with a lefty - so lefty it was. Then again, it was 2006. Edited August 29, 2012 by bluejay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1346147159' post='1785707'] Short scale by the looks of things. I'm also liking the Tune-influenced 8-string although the bridge doesn't look as though it has separate saddles for each string in the course which will make it impossible to intonate properly. [/quote] Actually, long scale, 35 inch. How do I know you might ask... well, I've build and designed these basses. The 8 string doesn't have separate saddles for two reasons, number is one that the intonation is not that critical, I did some quick and dirty experiments with separate intonation to discover this, and number two is I haven't come up with a design yet that I like that is easy to fabricate and also easy to adjust. Edited September 20, 2012 by blablas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 [quote name='blablas' timestamp='1348139188' post='1809783'] How do I know you might ask... well, I've build and designed these basses. [/quote] Welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) Thanks, I've been lurking around here on Basschat for quiet a while, today I found this topic and since my basses are the subject it needed an answer from me. Edited September 20, 2012 by blablas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 It's good to have you here, Blablas. Welcome - please do keep posting also on other threads. There is a lot we can learn from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glefty Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Thanks for your innovations blablas, your basses are all mega eye candy for us starving lefties. Keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 (edited) I'm busy with the next one. Fanned, single cut five string. The idea: Where I am at the moment (roughly). Edited September 30, 2012 by blablas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) Starting to look like a bass. Edited November 2, 2012 by blablas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerstodge Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Why are all the frets wonky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 [quote name='rogerstodge' timestamp='1351881199' post='1856616'] Why are all the frets wonky? [/quote] Take no notice mate, that bloke was probably drunk when he designed his basses... tsk tsk You know it's a shame what luthiers get up to these days in their dark workshop, drinking and building basses looking like a dog's dinner. I fell victim of them too, I ended up with 3 of those dodgy fretted ones. The funny thing is, if you ask them they've got a reason for their sloppy work as can be found on this link: [url="http://novaxguitars.com/info/fannedfret.html"]http://novaxguitars.com/info/fannedfret.html[/url] [IMG]http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/xt660/reducedsize_zps789448a4.jpg[/IMG] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted November 3, 2012 Share Posted November 3, 2012 Genuine question, possibly slightly off-topic: are basses with fanned frets easier or harder to play, or does the design make no difference at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 I think easier in the long run. When I first tried one, the only issue I had was to get used to the slightly larger reach on the very first frets of the bottom strings where the fretboard stretches upwards, other than that, midship (nautical term that signifies the rudder positioned in the middle) the bass feels more natural because the fret inclination is more suitable to the angle in which the hands approaches the neck. But so far I have had many friends bass players visiting me just to try the "new" thing with the fanned fret and each one was impress as to how easy is to just play them without thinking they are any different from other basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvia Bluejay Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Thanks Fran - that sounds interesting. The reason why I asked is that I got close to one of those basses at the Bass Show last year, but it obviously was a righty model. All I could do was look at it and touch it with reverence. Many thanks to one of the guys at Bass Direct who decided I should have a pic taken with it! (The bass looks much more photogenic than me on this one...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) And it is finished. Edited November 17, 2012 by blablas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blablas Posted November 17, 2012 Share Posted November 17, 2012 Some detail pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.