Left Handed Guitar

[Buckethead]

Hi I have a friend that cant find any good left handed guitars (hes a left handed player obviously) but really wants an electric, so I think to myself i have 2 electric guitars, why not lend one to him? However i;m not sure how to do taht exactly. I'm giving him a strat copy doing it the Hendrix way, I kno i have to restring the guitar the opposite way and to adjust the intonation, but do I have to reverse the pickups or change any wiring? If so , any help would be appreciated.

[soapbarstrat]

Bah Humbug ! I'm left handed and I play a right-handed guitar, the same way all the right handed players do it . I'm not alone either : Joe Perry, Steve Morse, The Everly Brothers, Niles Lofgren do it like this too.

But they STILL won't let me hang out with them !

Make sure your friend isn't "special" like us (but you've probably seen him play and already know for sure).

Did you know Hendrix was quite likely right handed ? (many people saw him writing with his right hand)

[rokeros]

Hey I am mainly left-handed too. But I play right handed guitar. Actually, I dunno if being ambidexdrous has anything to do with this cos i am???

[soapbarstrat]

Welcome to the club.

[Jehle]

Bah Humbug !  I'm left handed and I play a right-handed guitar, the same way all the right handed players do it .  I'm not alone either : Joe Perry, Steve Morse, The Everly Brothers, Niles Lofgren do it like this too.

But they STILL won't let me hang out with them !

Make sure your friend isn't "special" like us (but you've probably seen him play and already know for sure).

Did you know Hendrix was quite likely right handed ? (many people saw him writing with his right hand)

←

I've heard that Jimi was a righty that played lefty.

Add me to the lefty's that play righty club. Go us!

[Marzocchi705]

I can play both ways... I was actualy thinking of getting a lefty strat and playing it right handed, to get the Jimi look.

And to answer your question, no you dont need to change the wiring at all. Its fine as is.

[erikbojerik]

It should work fine, except you won't get the best possible action unless you flip the nut.

[Marzocchi705]

Youl have to do that anyway because the bass strings wont fit in the treble slots. Its easy enough to do tho.

[stiggz]

ha there are alot of ambidexterous (sp?) people out there, i got a friend who i play cricket with, he bowls left handed, bats right handed, plays guitar right handed and writes left handed.

[soapbarstrat]

But you're in Australia where left is right , up is down, round is square, guitars have a 3" scale length, cars drive sideways.... The list goes on.

[blakeish]

Not sure why anyone would care, but I'm a left hander that plays guitar left handed. Just kinda happened that my 1st guitar I got from my parents when I was just learning was a lefty, so I guess that ruined me, haha.

Kinda wish I would have learned right handed though, come to think of it. Woulda saved me some major money in the way of buying new electric guitars.....ahhhh well.

I say, if your bud feels comfy playing lefty, and you feel like re-working your righty for him, go for it, it's all in the nam of learning and doing! Good luck to you man. But first sit down with him and beg him to learn to play right handed....lol

[olyen]

it is crazy how many left handed people play right,i am one of them and whenever i can i encourage left handed people that wants to learn guitar to try a right handed, it worked for me anyways i even think there is a little advantage having a skilled left hand to move in the neck, or so i think.

[stiggz]

But you're in Australia where left is right , up is down, round is square, guitars have a 3" scale length, cars drive sideways.... The list goes on.

←

cars going side ways?? u musta bin watching some video sideways cos as far as i can tell they go farward backward and around corners just fine , howeveri beg to differ on some of that, there are only 3" scale lengths in western australia, where perry is and down is definiately not up,

lol

luke

[Mickguard]

Think about it...you ever hear of a left-handed piano?

Add me to the lefty playing righty...well, at this point, I just considered myself a two-fisted, hard-hammerin' hulk of guy...there are tons of things I do with my right that I can't do with my left, and vice versa.

[soapbarstrat]

I bet when Perry comes out with the 3" scale, Ormsby Shred Elf, we'll all just have to have one.

Back to the lefty playing righty.... Well, supposedly it makes picking technique difficult, but I remember in the lesson books I had, it would say stuff like " use a firm grip with the chording hand, and brush the strings lightly with your picking hand". Didn't have any problem doing that. But I can pick harder than needed, as well. I can also finger-pick better than all the right-handers I've jammed with. Using my thumb to fret the 5th and 6th string (while using 2-3 other fingers for fretting at the same time), is no problem for me. A righty friend who is probably the best player I hang out with, can't do that.

Basically, I can go weeks without playing, and still play like I practice almost everyday.

[Alarung]

Mark Knopfler is a lefty playing right.

Playing righty upside down is the weapon of choice for leftys that I know.

[soapbarstrat]

I didn't know about Knopfler, but glad to know it now. Funny too, because I often play hammer/pull-off stuff much like that cool little part on 'Sultans of Swing'.

There was a time (when I first started to learn the guitar), when the only famous lefty playing righty that I knew of was Nils Lofgren, and with my opinion of Bruce Springsteen's music at that time, it was almost enough to make me give up the guitar and instead, collect stamps, or become a Star Trek enthusiast.

[Guitarfrenzy]

Mark Knopfler is a great guitarist, he doesn't use a pick either, and the really only way you can get the sound he gets on "Sultan's Of Swing" is to fingerpick it like he does. I highly recommend any guitarist to learn this song, just for fingerpicking skills alone.

I had no idea that he was a lefty playing righty though.

[olyen]

you gotta love Mark Knopfler ,it inspired me to play and since i couldnt afford to buy a pick i had to use fingers,it s pretty cool to know that he is also left handed,one of my favorites of all times,later on i got into malmsteen,not very similar playing per say, is he a left handed too, that would be sick if he is.

[egdeltar]

The bassist in one of the bands I am in is a lefty playing right. It doesnt really matter what hand you lead with when it comes to instruments. When you first begin you have no clue what you are doing anyway.