new to this forum and seeking advice

[canofbeans]

hi there,

am looking for advice, am a left handed player of a very basic guitar and was wondering which bass guitars would suit me. i like funk music, electronica and actually pretty much most music.

was wondering about safe bets in terms of getting a fairly basic bass guitar for a left hander and any books or cd's that would teach me how to play.

also would i be best playing 4 string to start with or 5 or even 6?

any help woupd be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[tempo]

Welcome to the forum. First things first, what's your budget, and do you have an amplifier? I myself "switched" from playing guitar for 15 years just over a year ago. There are some great basses in the budget range now (Ibanez, Yamaha etc.) Most of them do at least one model in lefty. [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/ibanez-gsr-200l/581"]http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/ibanez-gsr-200l/581[/url] This is the model I started with.
As far as books and CD's/DVD's go there are thousands. You may find if you've already got some chord and scale knowledge from guitar, it will be pretty straight forward, but as far as bass specific techniques, a good teacher goes a long way.


Pete.

[DirkThrust]

Welcome to the lowend. You've made the right decision


I don't think buying a six string at this stage would be a good idea. Although a five string and a four string are fairly closely related, a six string is a totally different animal. The high C is for noodling on, so unless you're planning to get into jazz or any other type of music in which you are likely to be soloing, I would stick to a four or maybe five.

[canofbeans]

ok thanks guys.

i don't have an amp but i do have a pc with a mixer that can take line or guitar or mic inputs... and some juicy fx pedals ( moogerfoogers and boss delay/ chorus and murf)

budget wise was thinking £150 ish, maybe yamaha or squier ish bass.

note i can barely play the guitar and because primarily i'm a keyboardist, i tend to stick to that ( nord lead 2x and lil phatty)....

[steve-soar]

Hi there. Nice to have another fellow left hander in the club and a good choice taking up the bass. I started playing bass over twenty years ago and began with an Ibanez Blazer £99 and played this through my stereo bad idea. I stopped playing for far, far, too long but picked it up again in 2004 and bought a 1995 Squier Precision, absolutely mint with a £40 padded gig bag and a great strap for £100. I fret- stoned it, and gave it a good set-up and it plays really well. Maybe you could take a bass player with you when you go to buy the bass to check it out. 4 or 5 string would probably be best for now only because you won't find a 6 string thats any good for £150. Happy hunting, Steve.

[paul, the]

A surprising fraction of Aria Pro basses are left-handed. The tone and playability will keep you motivated also. Some great budget brands out there though. It's an art in itself.

[wildus]

[attachment=1447:P1060121.JPG]Hi, I play left handed,Yamaha are nice basses
I have a five string thats going cheap

[Brave Sir Robin]

If you stick to known brands, you'll be ok (yamaha, Ibanez, Squier, Peavey, OLP). Best is to try them yourself of course. At this price range, build quality and comfort are probably more important than pure tone. Also, cheap active basses usually have noisy preamps.

examples :

[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/10206"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/10206[/url]
[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/13880"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/13880[/url]
[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/10520"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/10520[/url]
[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/15860"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/15860[/url]
[url="http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/10217"]http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/fl...roduct_id/10217[/url]

You'll also get more bang for bucks on the second hand market. Although a lefty maybe hard to find, the low price bracket is quite populated.

If you check out the local shops, you can find good deals, basses they can't shift (left handed are good candidate). While looking for a 5 string, I personnaly tried and liked the Ibanez RD, Yamaha BB (both have a nice vintage tone, and had a nice sounding low B if you go 5 string), and the BTBs (higher up market). Didn't think too much about OLPs, but some like them. Peaveys (Millenium BXP) were good too, but 'harsh' sounding and felt a bit cheap. Some like squiers, but Fenders not being my thing, I don't have first hand opinions.

If you plan on recording via a computer, you may find problems with impedance matching, and the bass sounding thin and hollow, and clipping on the low end. A compressor is useful, also a DI box to level the signals. Don't have to be expensive. Again, second hand market.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Brave Sir Robin

[canofbeans]

thanks again everyone.

[Tait]

I'd reccomend the OLP MM3. you can get one for that second hand off ebay.