What exactly stops you from just re-arranging the strings so they go the other way? Or is the whole body of the guitar somehow different? I never understood why they have to be made left or right handed.
the bridge is arranged a certain way (some of them have ridges in slightly different spots for the endpoint of each string) so restringing it would be… unpleasant. more involved than just the strings. some of them, the body of the guitar is shaped to hug your body. I can think of a few different guitars in the family collection and why it wouldn’t work, but like, it’s usually more complicated than just the strings
In a lot of cases the body of the guitar is different.
Some acoustic guitars like this one:
might work fine strung backwards; you might have to do a bit of alteration to the bridge and the nut, and you might put on a second pick guard, but you can probably Lefty that Righty.
A guitar with a bite taken out of the body like this:
That bite is so that it’s easier to reach the base of the fretboard where the high pitch meedly meedly notes live. If you flip that guitar over, the notch is on the wrong side. You can still play it, but the point of that notch has been eliminated.
Acoustic-electric guitars, such as most Ovations, have their controls or built-in tuners on the sidewall that would face “up” when held and played, making that a pain to use upside down. Possibly literally if sitting down because the knobs would dig into your thigh.
Electric guitars like the Fender Stratocaster:
Are 1. surprisingly heavy because the body is solid wood, it’s not hollow like an acoustic, and 2. are carved to fit a human body. You can see in that image the relief for your side in the back and for your elbow on the front. The tremolo lever (“whammy bar”) is in an asymmetric location so that it can be both used and moved out of the way. The knobs and switch are convenient yet out of the way of strumming. The cord socket is designed to point the cord down and away. If you use this guitar upside down, you defeat all those ergonomics, the guitar would become difficult and uncomfortable to hold and use. Didn’t stop Jimi Hendrix, who famously played a Stratocaster upside down.
I’m left handed and a guitarist, and I assert that a standard guitar IS left handed. The intricate work of fingering on the frets is done with the left hand, the large gross movements of strumming is done with the right. I’m perfectly comfortable using a standard guitar, yet most of the right handed people who have asked me to teach them to play have wanted to hold the guitar the other way, neck in right hand.
This is so interesting. I play bass right handed, standard. The lefty bass felt so weird. What an interesting thought.
The left hand is the one doing the most work.
Yes this exactly. Even playing fingerpick style with the right hand doing some intricate work, I’m really concentrating on my left hand and my right hand just abides.
I know right? My primary instrument is sax, so they both feel a little off but righty feels better than lefty. I think my hands/wrists are just in the same arrangement (right hand low, left hand wherever the fuck it’s going) for righty bass as my favorite sax.
They are not actually, at least the dozen or so I looked at on Sweetwater before buying my leftie. They right-handed selection is better, but the price was the same.
i know plenty of lefty guitarists who play right handed guitars. they’re cheaper, for one.
What exactly stops you from just re-arranging the strings so they go the other way? Or is the whole body of the guitar somehow different? I never understood why they have to be made left or right handed.
the bridge is arranged a certain way (some of them have ridges in slightly different spots for the endpoint of each string) so restringing it would be… unpleasant. more involved than just the strings. some of them, the body of the guitar is shaped to hug your body. I can think of a few different guitars in the family collection and why it wouldn’t work, but like, it’s usually more complicated than just the strings
As a lefy this is more or less spot on. Pick guards are also on the wrong side usually
You mean there on the right side.
i forgot about the pegs for the strap too.
Pick guards are for guitars that weren’t varnished properly.
–An Ovation player.
In a lot of cases the body of the guitar is different.
Some acoustic guitars like this one:
might work fine strung backwards; you might have to do a bit of alteration to the bridge and the nut, and you might put on a second pick guard, but you can probably Lefty that Righty.
A guitar with a bite taken out of the body like this:
That bite is so that it’s easier to reach the base of the fretboard where the high pitch meedly meedly notes live. If you flip that guitar over, the notch is on the wrong side. You can still play it, but the point of that notch has been eliminated.
Acoustic-electric guitars, such as most Ovations, have their controls or built-in tuners on the sidewall that would face “up” when held and played, making that a pain to use upside down. Possibly literally if sitting down because the knobs would dig into your thigh.
Electric guitars like the Fender Stratocaster:
Are 1. surprisingly heavy because the body is solid wood, it’s not hollow like an acoustic, and 2. are carved to fit a human body. You can see in that image the relief for your side in the back and for your elbow on the front. The tremolo lever (“whammy bar”) is in an asymmetric location so that it can be both used and moved out of the way. The knobs and switch are convenient yet out of the way of strumming. The cord socket is designed to point the cord down and away. If you use this guitar upside down, you defeat all those ergonomics, the guitar would become difficult and uncomfortable to hold and use. Didn’t stop Jimi Hendrix, who famously played a Stratocaster upside down.
I’m left handed and a guitarist, and I assert that a standard guitar IS left handed. The intricate work of fingering on the frets is done with the left hand, the large gross movements of strumming is done with the right. I’m perfectly comfortable using a standard guitar, yet most of the right handed people who have asked me to teach them to play have wanted to hold the guitar the other way, neck in right hand.
i play electric bass (badly) and am a leftie and agree
This is so interesting. I play bass right handed, standard. The lefty bass felt so weird. What an interesting thought. The left hand is the one doing the most work.
Yes this exactly. Even playing fingerpick style with the right hand doing some intricate work, I’m really concentrating on my left hand and my right hand just abides.
I know right? My primary instrument is sax, so they both feel a little off but righty feels better than lefty. I think my hands/wrists are just in the same arrangement (right hand low, left hand wherever the fuck it’s going) for righty bass as my favorite sax.
Drums are similar. Playing “right handed” puts your left hand on the snare, generally.
Jimi Hendrix famously did this, but it’s not without its drawbacks. Some models are more problematic than others.
An acoustic like this would probably be pretty straightforward.
I play guitar right handed because I was taught by a right handed person and those were the only guitars he had. Right privilege is real.
They are not actually, at least the dozen or so I looked at on Sweetwater before buying my leftie. They right-handed selection is better, but the price was the same.
Huh, til. They were at the shop I looked at 30 years ago and the market has not changed I refuse to accept it.
Just string a right handed guitar the wrong way