Carving a cutaway in a right-handed bass guitar to better suit a left-handed player

Question

I am annoyed with the selection of left handed guitars. What bothers me about turning a right handed guitar into a left handed guitar is that there is not enough room given for the hand to reach the higher notes on the 'wrong' side of the neck. Since this is not the side where I see knobs and dials for the pick up, I am assuming that it is just wood over there.

So to make room, I have the idea that I can carve more free space from the wood to get my hand further down there? How does this sound?

EDIT: an example is here

Answer 1

The most important wood is that direct path from the nut to the bridge, so in many cases you can remove extraneous wood. That being said, resonance can be affected, especially if there are hollow areas, so don't overdo it.

With the ones I have made, you could remove all the wood beyond a centimetre or so either side of the strings...if it wasn't for the electronics.

Answer 2

Depending on the type of guitar removing wood near the neck join could cause too much weakness there. You might have some success with a PRS type cutaway. Could you link a pic or Site showing what guitar you want to modify.

Answer 3

If it is a bolt-on design like most basses, removing some wood from a cutaway should not be a big deal. Is this a bass you already own? If not, you can buy a used lefty Rogue bass on ebay for $100 or less. This would save you some carving time, as well as having the controls laid out more ergonomically for you (not under your left forearm).