Left-Handed Bass Guitars

A left-handed bass guitar is built as a mirror image: the body, neck, controls and string order are all reversed, so you pluck with your left hand and fret the notes with your right. This page lists only basses for left-handed players – four-string and five-string models, in Jazz Bass and Precision Bass shapes, modern basses, headless, multiscale and acoustic bass guitars. You can choose from models by Sire Marcus Miller, Fender, Fender Squier, Ibanez, ESP LTD, Schecter, Cort, Ortega, SX and PSD Guitars. That means you don't have to restring a right-handed bass or get used to having the low strings at the bottom.

Left-handed Jazz Bass or Precision Bass?

A Jazz Bass has two pickups and a neck that is narrower near the headstock. Its tone is clear and articulate, and by blending the two pickups you can move it from soft to biting, which is why funk, pop and jazz bassists like it so much. Left-handed Jazz Basses here include, for example, the Sire Marcus Miller V7, Fender Squier Classic Vibe 70s Jazz Bass, Fender American Professional II Jazz Bass and PSD Guitars JZB-100L.

The classic Precision Bass has a single split pickup, sounds fuller and more direct, and easily cuts through in a rock band. Left-handed options in this shape are the Sire Marcus Miller P5, SX SPJ62 and PSD Guitars PCB-100L, which is also sold as a set with accessories. Some models add a Jazz Bass-style pickup near the bridge as well.

Four or five strings?

A four-string bass covers most styles, and beginners find it easier to learn on. The fifth, low B string extends the range downwards – you'll use it in metal, gospel or modern pop, but the neck is wider. Five-string left-handed basses here come from Ibanez (SR305, SR505) and Schecter (Stiletto Studio-5, Riot-5, Omen Extreme-5), plus the ESP LTD B-205SM and the Sire Marcus Miller Z7-5. For smaller hands, the four-string Ibanez GSRM20L with its shorter scale is a comfortable fit.

Why not just restring a right-handed bass?

On a left-handed bass, the nut slots are cut for the reversed string order, and the controls are placed where a left-handed player can reach them easily. A right-handed bass would have to be adjusted at a repair shop, and the knobs would still end up on the wrong side. Strings, straps, cases, cables and amps, on the other hand, are the same as for right-handed players – you'll find strings in the bass guitar strings category, and combos, effects and other gear in the basses category.