Left handed guitars?

musiciansfriend.com music123.com zzsounds.com are good online sources for guitars. The are others. There are also many 'powersellers' on ebay who are dealers and have set up shop on ebay to boost their business.

Electric or acoustic?...They say to buy the guitar you want to play.

I started with acoustic and after a short while switched to electric because it was easier, a lot easier and I progressed faster.

Teacher.........if lessons are affordable and available to you, that is THE way to go. You will progress so much faster with real interaction.

LEFTY....There may be some debate about whether you should learn lefty or righty. Play the way you think you are most comfortable, even though both ways will be uncomfortable the first time you pick up a guitar but one way should be less uncomfortable.

As a lefty playing lefty, the only drawback for me is I cannot try before I buy because the local stores are loaded with righty's. But when you cannot play and are just starting out, trying before buying is a non-issue anyway. Even the very low budget guitars are good and can be made better with better tuners and a couple upgrades, a proper set up. I think trying before buying is specific to the type of guitar. I would like to try a set neck with a pair of humbuckers but will just buy one some day. I want to own and work with most of the different configurations of electric guitars before I decide which type I will settle in with to buy an expensive one.

I hope this helps even though I rambled on a bit. Welcome to guitar noise! 8)

Im left handed but started playing on a right handed guitar. Its difficult to assess how big an impact this has on my learning progression, but now I find that holding the guitar like a right hander is perfectly natural whilst holding it like a left hander is akward.

The one strong argument I would give for learning with a right handed guitar is that everybody else uses right handed guitars! That is, when you go over to your friends house and you want to play around with his guitar, his guitar is going to be right handed!!

I guess its the same with a lot of things. For instance I dont use a left handed computer mouse or left handed scissors. People who got used to using a left handed mouse will have a hard time everytime they try to use another computer than their own. Its all a matter of what you are used to. I think that whatever slight discomfort a right handed guitar might give you now will be compensated for later.

As a lefty using a right handed guitar, I would strongly recomend the same to you!

Thanks for the replies and thanks for the welcome!

I think I'll go ahead and get a left handed guitar, it does feel more comfortable for me from what little experience I have holding and messing around on guitars. I read somewhere that by playing a right handed guitar as a left hander, you're often limiting your full potential, or something to that affect. I don't know if that's true, but...

I also read that, as you said, playing an electric guitar is easier to learn on. Plus I enjoy rock music more than country and the like, so I think I'll go that route. And I'm going to look around to see what is available as far as lessons go.

Thanks for the help!

playing a right handed guitar as a left hander, you're often limiting your full potential

Nah...

These same people think that there should be such thing as a left footed car.

Imagine this...

Car dealer - Are you left footed?
Bob - I don't know.
Car dealer - How about we try both of them out because the powers that be has decided that if you use your wrong foot you'll be limiting your full potential, and as a result kill somebody. :roll:

So my suggestion is this...

If you write left handed, use a left handed mouse, use left handed scissors, if you drive a car and have to reach around the steering wheel to start it with your left hand... then sure buy a left-handed guitar.

i'm another lefty who was "twisted" into the world of the evil "rightys"
as a result my hands are usually confused and sometimes the voices in my head scream out in anquish "why me?"

seriously tho, just go the way that feels more comfortable to you. sure you won't be able to find many left handed guitars laying around but they are a lot more available now then they seemed to be back in 1970 :wink:

btw welcome to GN.

p.s. whats with the name?

I've bought a couple of lefty guitars from Adirondack Guitar:

http://www.adirondackguitar.com/lefty/LHMenu.htm

Learn on whichever type (electric vs. acoustic) you most want to play.

Good luck :D

I've bought a couple of lefty guitars from Adirondack Guitar:

http://www.adirondackguitar.com/lefty/LHMenu.htm

Good luck :D

I bought one here also. The website wasn't the greatest but I got great
(Left-handed) Washburn Electric for under $250. He has acoustic also...

Bob Jessie

p.s. whats with the name?

Heh, back when Weezer was making it's comeback they'd often do secret shows under the title 'Goat Punishment' to try out new stuff to a smaller audience. I'm a big Weezer fan.

I went through the same process 3 mo. ago. I think it comes down to how "left-handed" are you? Some people do some things with their left hands, other things with their right. Others are more "left handed".

I ran into the same problem when I learned to play golf. Everyone said the same thing. In fact, some people said I'd learn to play even better right handed. Trouble was, it was mostly right handed people who played right handed who were telling me all this. But it is true that there is a much larger selection of guitars if you play right handed. You don't know how depressing it is to walk into a store and see a wall of 100 guitars that you can't play. On the other hand, you would be unique. Sort of your own one man traveling freak show.

What helped me decide was this. Take your hands, spread your fingers out and twiddle your fingers. My right hand fingers seemed to move faster and freer. Since that is the hand that changes chords playing left handed, I figured I could change chords faster that way and therefore play better.

I went left handed and it was the best decision I could have made. I truely believe I wouldn't have made as much progress as I have so far right handed.

Good luck.

I agree that a person should play however they are most comfortable. For me it was left-handed as that was how I played "air guitar". Strumming seemed like a thing for my left hand instead of my right.
It may sound silly, but I think one's "air guitar" preference tells a lot.

I think there would be a lot more left-handed guitars out there if the right-handers would stop trying to convert us :wink:

Just about any guitar store can order any of the guitars they carry in a leftie version. I agree that Adirondack is a great place for lefties online or if you live in New England.

ok thanx for the clairification, excuse me while i go drag my mind out of the gutter. :oops:

ok thanx for the clairification, excuse me while i go drag my mind out of the gutter. :oops:

Haha, well it's kinda meant to make you go "huh?"

Anyway, I'm very, well, left handed. I write, throw, bat, use scissors, just about everything with my left hand except when using a mouse. I even kick with my left leg. And when "air guitaring" it does seem to feel a little bit more natural the left handed way. And I'd rather overcome inconveniences when it comes to guitar selection and the like over inconveniences like not being able to play as comfortably and as well as I possibly can. Thanks for all the help everyone!

Best of luck Goat Punishment! I am very happy playing left-handed. I am somewhat ambidexterous - write, eat lefty; throw, kick righty. My only problem with being lefty is that I can't pick up other people's guitars and play them (unless I am at David Hodge's house :wink: )

I've bought 3 lefty guitars online (one acoustic and two electric) and I've had no problems.
As for lessons, they are always a good idea. I don't have a teacher and taught myself a lot using the great resources here on GN. However, I do want to find a good teacher - certainly preferable if not an absolute necessity. Another good idea is to find others to play with and learn from.