Marco Bruggeman

Zwolle / Netherlands

.

Finally I would like to thank you for this innitiative. I knew I wans not one of a kind but each time I went to a shop they gave me the feeling I was. I alwas could order a bass from a catalogue without actually playing on one and I still have the feeling the number of lefties in the shops is still declining. This is a pity.

Luckilly there is Internet which makes the world a whole lot smaller.

Best regards,
Marco Bruggeman

I am a 50+ bass player from the Netherlands and I also belong to the exclusive club of left hand players.
I first bought a right hand bass as left handed bases were hard to get and I wanted to try it. This was a long time ago. This bass was cheap and bad, even worse.

My second bas (first lefty) was a beautiful Ibanez roadstar II Sunburst, I still have a bad feeling of selling this one. Unfortunately everybody makes mistakes in their lives.

The second lefty I owned was a Soundgear (by Ibanez) SR 800 in the one and only available colour black. It sounded okay but used to a wider neck of the Roadstar this neck was way too slim for me, not really a success.

But where to find another bass. I wanted to start playing 5 string but this quest was even more difficult in Holland. A lot of music shops, okay but with only one or two lefties and 5 string, don’t even think of that.... . Remind this was the age before internet (sort of stone-age as I see it now) Three cheers for the inventors of internet.

After a search of several years I finally found a Pedulla Series II 5 string blue coloured (Hmmmm) with Bertolini soapbars, This is awesome !!!

Some years later I’ve got the nerves again. I wanted something else so I started looking around on the internet and I've found something I always wanted to own. A Warwick bass and I am proud to own a 2002 Neck Thru Thumb bass 5 string. Man, this thing is heavy but the pain in the back dissapears as soon as you hear the sound. THE GROWLL !!!

My first amp with the Ibanez lefties was a Peavey TNT 130. Later I’d found an Dynacord BS412, the legendary bassamp.

Getting older and playing 5 string for some times and owning a Warwick (and a Pedulla) I wanted to complete my young boys dream so I’d bought a (pre Gibson) Trace Elliot stack. An AH500X amplifier with a 1 x 15" cabinet and 2 x 10" + tweeter cabinet.

I was satisfied for several years but then I saw a Trace Elliot Quatra Valve. No second thoughts... bought it at once.... The difference between a solid state and a valve amp....

A good friend of my owned some Vanderkley cabinets, first time I heard them I knew I wanted them as well. Now I have a Vanderkley 210MT (2 - 10 inch speakers) and a Vanderkley 112NMT (1 - 12 inch speaker). I am a happy trooper....

I’ve played in a band in Delft for 15 years. Due to a tragic accident our guitar player died, unfortunately the band fell apart, during that time I've moved so had to look for another band.

First played several years in a band called Square One, and now already a lot of years in Snakedrive. In both bands we play covers of the Hardrock / Metal songs we grew up with end 70’s beginning 80’s.

Warwick Tumb NTB - 5 string bass

Pedulla MV Series II - 5 string bass

Trace Elliot - Quatra Valve Amp.

Vanderkley - 210 MT

Vanderkley - 112 NMT

EBS - Unichorus

Boss - TU-2 tuner

Aguilar Tone Hammer Pre amp/DI box