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I've been playing since 1968. Back then it was very difficult to find real left-hand
basses. I know now that they existed but not in the world I lived in back then. My
first bass was a German Klira violin bass which was easy to flip and move the controls
over. Since then I’ve been able to buy left hand basses. Over the years manufactures
gradually eliminated the lefty markup cost, but still there was a comparatively small
range of colors styles.
Today I have many wonderful basses, including my upright. I do jazz and theater
pit work. My wife and I have our own folk-rock trio Jillian Graham Band
Recently I discovered TANIGUCHI-GAKKI in Tokyo that deals exclusively in left
handed guitars and basses, probably the world’s largest inventory of lefties!
I now own several Fender Japan basses that are excellent.
1) 1968, Walnut Creek, California. My first bass. An early 60s Klira bass. German
violin bass similar to the Hofner. Easy to flip over for left hand. From the picture
you can see it's still a righty but the shop changed the string orientation for me.
Light weight and thumpy.
2) 1974, Walnut Creek, California. Same bass but heavily modified! Removed the bridge
Klira pickup and replaced with a Gibson humbucker. Also added a giant humbucking pickup
near the neck, but left the original Klira pickup in place. To manage the three pickups,
a friend rewired the bass for stereo and added two on-board pre-amps. Lots 'o knobs!
I refinished it with a walnut stain. A few years later the bass was stolen. I really
destroyed that bass.
3) 1980, Concord, California. My slightly used Rickenbacker 4001, Maple Glo bass. The
4001 was probably a 1978 or 1979. I sold it a year later to have a custom bass built
.
4) 1993, Seattle, Washington. My custom built Stars Guitars (of San Francisco) bass
with Seymor Duncan jazz pickups. On-board graphic eq. Built in 1980 after selling my
Ric 4001. This shot is a local production of the musical "Hair."
5) 2009, Seattle, Washington. My second Rickenbacker bass. This one is a 1987, 4003
Fire Glo. I replaced the bridge pickup surround with a Pickguardian surround.
6) 2010, Seattle, Washington. A rare bass. Fender USA doesn't make a Jazz or Precision
five string bass for lefties. I ordered this Fender Jazz V from Tokyo, Japan. This
bass is fabulous and is now my go-to bass. My Ric 4003 and Fender Japan '62 reissue
Telecaster in the background. Yes that's one of the first Gibson Echoplex Pros made
there on the floor. I'm fortunate to have such great, professional instruments.
7) 2010, Seattle Washington. Had to show you my money-maker bass. A 1985 Strunel upright
bass. Everyone loves a "real" bass. Had it custom made with all the internal
bracing switched. A true left-handed upright bass, not many of them around. I use it
primarily for big bands and musical theater orchestra pit work. This was taken during
the musical "The Producers" by Mel Brooks.
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