Southpaws: are there many out there?


billcrawford
New Member
Joined: 05/21/01
Posts: 13
billcrawford
New Member
Joined: 05/21/01
Posts: 13
05/23/2001 8:45 pm
Why are we discriminated against by guitar manufacturers? Surely there must be enough of us out there to demand access to the same choices and prices as our R/H brothers. I even heard of a guitar teacher who teaches lefthand students to play conventional R/H guitars upside down! Can this be OK?
CODA
"Its what you DON'T play that sets you apart from the mundane."
# 1
zepo
Moderator
Joined: 03/29/00
Posts: 245
zepo
Moderator
Joined: 03/29/00
Posts: 245
05/23/2001 10:05 pm
Flipping a R/H upside down isn't new (Jimi Hendrix did it) Plus it is a cool way to get new tonal possiblities because of how the pickups are set. When you flip you guitar you flip the settings the part of the pickup that is suppsosed to pickup the bass strings now picks up the treble and vice a versa. I flipped my middle single on my fat strat it has a pretty cool sound to it. But I do agree you leftys should have the same selection and price we have.
"I need a girl who's as hot as my guitar."
# 2
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator
Joined: 07/05/00
Posts: 2,907
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator
Joined: 07/05/00
Posts: 2,907
05/24/2001 12:55 am
Being left handed is only an issue if you learn that way. Most guitar teachers I know point out that your fretting hand does most of the work, not the picking hand. So being left handed would be an advantage there.
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator

Careful what you wish for friend
I've been to Hell and now I'm back again

www.GuitarTricks.com - Home of Online Guitar Lessons
# 3
Bardsley
Moderator
Joined: 02/04/01
Posts: 731
Bardsley
Moderator
Joined: 02/04/01
Posts: 731
05/24/2001 2:03 am
I'm a lefty to a degree, but I play guitar right handed. I figure I have more dexterity in my left hand, so it is good, but hten, I have always been part right-handed, I hold bats and throw with my right hand, kick with my right foot, and I am a left handed cook.
"Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it's just not that widely reported".
# 4
billcrawford
New Member
Joined: 05/21/01
Posts: 13
billcrawford
New Member
Joined: 05/21/01
Posts: 13
05/25/2001 7:48 pm
Bill's back. Flip a multi-pole single coil pickup and hear the difference? I don't think so!
However, Zepo should be a politician (reading the end of his reply).
Flip a r/h guitar (i.e. strings transposed) and you've immediately lost intonation as well as string slide through the nut. The typical bridge rake doesn't allow for saddle adjustment to compensate, so the guitar can't be tuned properly. Come on, admit it, a lefthander has real obstacles if he can't afford a bespoke instrument!
PonyOne, you must be unique!
"Its what you DON'T play that sets you apart from the mundane."
# 5
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator
Joined: 07/05/00
Posts: 2,907
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator
Joined: 07/05/00
Posts: 2,907
05/26/2001 5:22 am
1). Intonation is usually adjustable.
2). Nuts can be replaced
3). Single coil pole peices are often stagard, so if you have good ears their is an audable difference. This isn't even getting into coil windings, hum cancelation/ no longer canceled...

But yes, if you choose to play a guitar left handed, you're going to run into some real problems. That's why it's probably better to just play right handed. After all, the guy who invented the format that Guitars, Mandolines, Lutes, etc on back take wasn't left handed and everybody just assumed that's the way it's supposed to be? Maybe what we consider a "right handed" guitar really is a left handed one.
Raskolnikov
Guitar Tricks Moderator

Careful what you wish for friend
I've been to Hell and now I'm back again

www.GuitarTricks.com - Home of Online Guitar Lessons
# 6

Please register with a free account to post on the forum.