Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Has anyone on this site ever tried to play opposite handed (like switching right to left in order to play mccartney?) Im starting to try too, but its sooooo hard! any tips?

To me, it is worse than what I remember being a beginner was like. A friend of mine is a lefty and I often try to play his basses. Some people can make that switch but it does not come naturally to me.

Unless you are naturally ambidextrous I'd forget it.

why switch?

stand in front of a mirror or reverse the negative ...

I was in Lima at an oldies concert and saw two left handed bass players get up in a row and both play right handed basses upside down with the strings strung for a righty, I couldn't believe it. Maybe one of them gave the other lessons.

Saw some old lady YEARS ago (I might have been 10 or so) play an acoustic guitar like that (left handed, but strung for righty). She was mainly a folksy/bluegrass style, but also played some Bach and Vivaldi pieces.

Her explanation was she just picked it up like that, never knew any better. She was from the Deep Woods...Deliverance territory IIRC. But she SMOKED on that guitar.

I occasionally try to play that way when I'm in the mode for a nice case of vertigo. Or have had far too much to drink!

It is commendable to be versatile, a jack of all trades. I still think it's better to be a master of one...

Jimmy Haslip plays leftyupsidedown!

I think it's all in how you learn at the beginning. I've heard of people learning the other way after playing for x-number of years, and with some of them, it really bothered them (arm/hand/wrist problems, etc.) I play lefty, because I couldn't play righty. I tried for years when I was young to play the guitars my father and brother had, but until I actually restrung an old acoustic to play left hadnded, I couldn't play at all!
It's even stranger because I'm ambidextrous at almost everything else I do, but playing guitar was something I -had- to do lefty.

Jimi Hendrix could play both ways. His bass tracks were played with Noel's bass - flipped over but still strung for righty. The Martin acoustic guitar he kept in his bedroom in London, he wrote music with that guitar, was strung righty, he never changed that.

Albert King played a lefty guitar strung righty.

You mean like this?

Striking Ronn. Did you do the work?

You play like that Ronn?

Yep, I'm a lefty that plays with the big string on the bottom.
And yes I did the paintjob. I substituted teal for silver/grey just 'cause I prefered it. Here's a shot of almost everything, all strung righty.