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Upside down bass stringing


Black Coffee
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The reason Andy McCluskey plays "upside down" is because the only bass he could afford when learning, was a left hander which he played like a right hander. After he could afford a right handed bass, he was so used to playing the left hander that he strung it upside down.

I think I remember him saying that he felt that having the E string on the bottom (or top?) made it better to play.

Ooops! Beaten to it by ET. That will teach me to read all the posts... :rolleyes:[size=4] [/size]

Edited by jezzaboy
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Lefties are rare by comparison, generally more expensive and the available variety of guitars is greatly reduced.

Part of hendrix's tone was down to the orientation of the pick-ups relative to the string, particularly the slanted bridge pick up on a stratocaster. The closer a pole piece is to the bridge, generally the brighter the sound will be so stringing upside down on a strat will pick up close to the bridge on the bass side and further from the bridge on the treble side.

As for reasons of technique, I can't think of anything right now.

Edited by Bradwell
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1412015428' post='2564918']
Ah you have solved my quest,I knew one must exist! Are there any more? I can only see that they must have picked up a lefty bass or guitar when starting.
[/quote]

Not exactly the same, but I know a right-handed drummer who plays a left handed kit.

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  • 2 months later...

[quote]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I've started looking out for the "other" definition of upside down, where you put the bridge on the headstock and the tuners by the control knobs ... [/font][/color]
[/quote]

This was close as i could find....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-eY92vw9qI

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My daughter is right-handed but plays guitars as a leftie. No idea why! As I'm right-handed the strings are the usual way around. But - she likes the E at the bottom as she says this is logical - the lowest string at the bottom and the highest string at the top. Can't really argue with that logic! I tried...

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