Anyone know anything about guitars?

LisaTX · **Posted:** Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:41 am

Dd loves music and has been wanting a guitar for awhile now, even more so after she got to play one at her AHG meeting. I want to get her one for Christmas. The problem is, she's left handed and the left handed guitars are more expensive than the regular ones. But then, some people say you can adapt a regular guitar for left handers? And I'm assuming the one she played at AHG was just a regular guitar.

Any knowledge/advice about guitars, would be appreciated, especially if it pertains to handedness.

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

To adapt a regular guitar you would just string it the opposite way and play it upside down but they DO make left-handed guitars and if you're buying her her own, that's probably the best way to go.

Paul McCartney is a left-handed guitar player!

Tory · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm **Posts:** 5828

My ds is a left-handed playing guitar player!!!!

Everyone tried to talk him into learning to play right handed, and some people CAN play right handed.... but not my ds.
For my boys what I did was I bit the bullet and got them each a nice acoustic guitar for their 15th bd. One got a left handed guitar the other a right handed guitar.

Ds says: Take your dd to the guitar store. Just LOOK. They should allow her to hold them if you ask them. She can get a feel of them in her hands. My ds knew the instant he held both right and left handed which one he could play.
He ended up with a left handed one even though they are more expensive.
The place we went to was a small mom and pop store and they didn't sell many lefty's so we were able to get his guitar at a little bit less price but it still wasn't cheap.

For your dd.. once you find out which one she likes the feel of.. left or right handed and beings she's just beginning, ds says that you can search online (guitar center dot com) and see if they have a beginner set for left handers*. The beginner sets are cheaper than buying a regular guitar from a guitar store.
Get her an acoustic one, not an electric one, even though the electric ones look "cooler" and come in a variety of colors, the acoustics are better for learning on.

Sorry to dispute Sis's post, but ds says that because of the configurations of the strings it may not work well to just buy a right handed and switch the strings.
He says guitars are so fine tuned these days that the thick strings probably won't fit into the holes for the thin strings. He says restringing a guitar is a whole 'nuther animal, too.

Also, if SHE feels more comfortable with a left handed guitar, do NOT let the sales people in the store talk you into getting a right handed one. They will tell you that plenty of lefty's have learned to play "right" handed but ds is hopelessly left handed and would never have learned to play right handed. He would have been so frustrated that he would have given up.

*or right handed if that's what she prefers.

Sis · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:22 pm **Posts:** 8837

Tory wrote:

Sorry to dispute Sis's post, but ds says that because of the configurations of the strings it may not work well to just buy a right handed and switch the strings.
He says guitars are so fine tuned these days that the thick strings probably won't fit into the holes for the thin strings. He says restringing a guitar is a whole 'nuther animal, too.

Also, if SHE feels more comfortable with a left handed guitar, do NOT let the sales people in the store talk you into getting a right handed one. They will tell you that plenty of lefty's have learned to play "right" handed but ds is hopelessly left handed and would never have learned to play right handed. He would have been so frustrated that he would have given up.

*or right handed if that's what she prefers.

No problem. I agree with your post. Dh is a leftie but plays right-handed. His brain is wired to go both ways. I've seen the "upside down, strung backwards" idea on a movie and I know it "works" to a point. But it is sure not the ideal.

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

Well, I emailed my BIL who is a gifted guitar performer & a guitar teacher.

Here's what he advised (without me even mentioning the reversal idea : )

In a way you can simply restring the guitar with the strings reversed, except for one thing.

First, a string is held down by a pin, then it crosses a little white piece of plastic or bone called a Bridge. On the bridge are little grooves, (indentations the string lines up with). Strings are different widths, and the cut in grooves match the strip widths.

To properly reverse a guitar, you would need a bridge that has the correct size groove marks for each string, which makes the bridge either right left handed or left handed. You can probably get away with just reversing the strings anyway, but you’d have to try it, there might be some string buzzes, there might not be. If it works, great if not, no big, go the the Guitar Center and have someone set it up for a lefty.

It should cost somewhere between $25 and $60 to get a guitar repair man in the store to put a proper fitting bridge in, and you’d be good to go.

Tory · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm **Posts:** 5828

My ds said the same thing about the strings possibly buzzing.

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

Lisa - my BIL said if you want to discuss it in more detail with him, I can give you his email - just PM me if you're interested, and I can give you his contact info.

LisaTX · **Posted:** Fri Oct 09, 2015 9:49 am

Wow, thank you for all the info! I'm glad I asked because it's a little more complicated than I thought. I will have to search for a guitar shop, but that shouldn't be too hard because Austin is a music loving city.

Tory · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm **Posts:** 5828

Try to find a small mom and pop store as opposed to the big store chain type.

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