Can I play a right handed guitar left handed?

[Hamkins]

Hi, will there be any major problems if I buy a right handed guitar and flip it over, restring it, and play it left handed? thanks!

[Chaz S]

it is physically impossible.

[Hamkins]

how so? Jimi hendrix seems to manage ok...

[Blue Moon]

pick a side u friggen homo

[Hamkins]

What? I'd naturally choose to play with my right hand on the fretboard. All I'm asking is, do i have to buy a left handed guitar, or can I just restring a right handed one and flip it over.

[TSRTS]

You can buy a right hand guitar and restring it but if you do it with a single cutaway guitar (such as a les paul) you'll have trouble reaching the higher frets. So, I'd do it with a strat.

You'll also have to buy a new nut.

[Hamkins]

Nut? Whats a cutaway?

[Blue Moon]

well whatever u want, some guitars "flip" easier than others, double cutaways like,

play whatevers most comfortable and stick with it, u can flip it over but its impractical witht he knobs and maybe whammy bar there

[The Musician]

You would have to replace the nut if you decided to re-string it, since the slots wouldn't fit the correct string width. Just get a left handed guitar.

[Hamkins]

Would I regret buying this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LINDO-Left-handed-Pink-Electric-Guitar-15W-AMPLIFIER_W0QQitemZ7396662305QQcategoryZ2384QQrdZ1 QQcmdZViewItem

[Blue Moon]

Probably

[Hamkins]

curses.

This?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7396430054&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[hybridreality]

You could play right handed style, Michael Angelo did, and look at him now.

Your fretting skill will most likely excede your picking skill though, so be prepared for lots of work learning to pick fast.

[Hamkins]

My fretting skill? Will it be easier fretting left handed strings on aright handed fretboard then?

[the_uber_penguin]

It never caused Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain any problems, just name a few.

You'll have the knobs and whammy bar in awkward places, and the nut may cause some problems, but you wouldn't have to replace it. It would be worth getting it filed so that it will take the strings.

But no MAJOR problems.

[Hamkins]

so wont i be able to string a righty guitar backwards? why not?

[FENDERGROUND]

you will but youlll have to adjust some stuff the nut or the part taht holds the strings has slots. the slot that would normally hold the thinnest string will not hold the thickest string so you either have cut away at that or buy a new nut. also LP's flipped upside down will be uncomfortable

[StormX]

Just buy a left handed guitar.

[4yearpro?]

big bends nut sauce tastes delicious as you put on your nut

[zhyla]

Wow... helpful stuff here...

Nut: the thing at the top of the neck, it has slots in it where the strings run thru towards the tuners. You'll need to modify it so the big strings can fit in the slots that the little strings would normally go in. Not a big deal, it's plastic. You may need to partially fill in the bigger slots where the little strings will now go.

You'll also need to adjust the bridge to set the intonation. If you look at the bridge on most electrics you'll see the things the strings contact are separately adjustable. Setting them from scratch isn't hard but it sounds like you have enough things to learn right now, so just mark or measure how they're set and then mirror them.

You want to get something with a roughly symmetrical body if you can. The knobs are still going to be in a bad place but you'll make some progress on it and then go buy a lefty in a year or two.

[Teh Secksi]

JUST GET A LEFT-HANDED GUITAR!

[seibel88]

If you had to do it that way, I guess the guitar that probably would work best (as far as being able to go high on the fretboard) would be a Gibson Les Paul Double Cut, or something similar.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=517344

But you would be better off just getting a left handed guitar because I don't know of any guitars that would work well both right and left handed for a good price.

[Chu]

I play guitar (I am right handed), but my brother plays guitar too sometimes (He usually plays drums). My guitar is a Jackson PS-6, and he just flips it around, although then again, he's not serious about being a guitarist.. So...

Useless post++;

[hades2]

SG's, LP doublecuts and LTD Vipers are your easiest bets for flipping. How you'd deal with the control knobs being under your arm is up to you, though. It's a lot more practical to just get a lefty, what with you needing to have a new nut installed. Have a scan around for left handed models from various companies, some are better than others for the avaliability of LH models ;)

[iamabouttopoopEVERYWHERE]

I wasn't sure if it was possible, so I decided to go out myself and get a right handed guitar. I couldn't find one so I had to use your mom, I found that you can use either hand, or if you really try both at the same time.

[mutant!]

^ If you tried really hard, you could use both your brain cells at the same time. Maybe that would enable you to play a single note on your guitar, you untalented, worthless excuse for a turd.

[achang9]

Pull a hendrix.

[Hamkins]

Sod it I'll just buy a used lefty off the bay for 150 bones, tell my parents it was 75. They, along with the university fund (not that i really have much of one) can go bum themselves. Piss piss piss I need money. Any ideas on how I can get money? Well, more than this whole rent-boy thing is bringing in at the moment.

[rocken rossco]

throw a bbq, charge ppl money for the food, but buy cheepo food, so you have leftover cash

[mnemonic]

guitars like les pauls, as stated above, will have the cut out on the wrong side, so fret access will be limited, also it will look funny

on sg's, and other guitars with tune-o-matic bridges, you will run into intonation problems, becasue the bridge is compansated, i had a right handed offbrand electric with a tune-o-matic bridge that i strung left handed, and i had a problem intonating the low E string. the rest were ok, but not great.

guitars with tremolos, like strats, are easier to intonate, because you just adjust the saddles, and the whole bridge isn't compansated, only the saddles. so strats are fine for stringing upside down (accept for a slightly more limited fret access)

as far as nuts go, on most guitars (like strats) you can jsut pop it out, and flip it over, and glue it back on. doesn't work on all guitars, but it works on most.

...just thought i'd add my 2 cents..

[Leukeh]

I'm left-handed. I started right handed. It's good like that, because now I can play basically anyones guitar. Left-handed guitars aren't as common, so if I go to someones house and they play guitar, it's likely it'd be right handed. If I were you, I'd use a right handed guitar, and play it right handed. But I'm me, not you so...

[mutant!]

^ Same here. I'm a lefty too, and from the start I played my dad's 12-string right-handed. It's just such a hassle playing left-handed - if someone wants to show you something, you have to keep flipping it around in your mind; and no-one is going to be able to jam on your guitar, and vice versa. I reccomend you learn to play right-handed.

[Kapura]

The knobs on the guitar will get in the way of your pick hand, the head will be upside down, and of coruse, the strap will be on the wrong side...
go get a left handed one, and be happy they make left handed guitars.
random fact: 3 out of every 25 ppl are left handed.


~KN~

[mnemonic]

so if the ratio is 3 out of 25 are leftys for all people, what is the ratio for musicans?
(been wondering that for a while)

[BLS_Infernus]

how so? Jimi hendrix seems to manage ok...

He had his setup right. If you don't get it setup right you could mess the tuners/machine heads up.

[TojesDolan]

Yes Lefty in here. I haven't really started getting my "proper" guitar positioning yet, since I don't know anyone with a lefthanded guitar. I think you just have to change the nut and the strings, but I'm not sure really.

And yes it's weir d holding most guitars (especially strat-like) because the knobs get in the way and the strap will feel too short for a while.

[DougJI]

90% of people who play guitar are right handed handed, because a lot of left handed musicians run into the problem of right handed guitars :P

[Jetpack]

Dude,


I'm left handed, I learned to play right handed, it just took a bit of effort but i cant imagine playing a guitar lefthanded....

RH guitars are cheaper and you can get just as good at it man maybe even better

[seerofgoodpeople]

dude pull a dick dale.he took a righthanded strat set up normaly and just flipped it so instead of the strings being eadgbe (low to high) it was ebgdae(low to high)no adjusting and you would be able to play any right handed guitar.