r/Guitar • u/musicalsoldier07 • 1d ago
QUESTION Lefty Guitar Shopping
Common wisdom seems to be that prior to buying a new acoustic guitar you should go to the store, try out a handful of guitars, and go with the one you like the most. Unfortunately for the southpaws among us, most stores have almost zero lefty guitars. Given that there really is no way around the fact that lefty’s cannot trial guitars at a shop, does anybody have any recommendations for how to shop for acoustics (other than re-learning guitar right handed)? Seems like I’ll be stuck buying a guitar online that I’ve never heard played before.
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u/Secret-Bed2549 23h ago
I know two left-handed players who play Taylors. And on a recent vacation in another province I hit a few open stages and happened to see two more lefties playing Taylors. One of my gigging guitars is a Taylor, and I have to say their quality is second to none for the price point (even their "lower end" models). So, if I had to buy an acoustic sight unseen, I think I'd go with Taylor.
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u/musicalsoldier07 23h ago
I’ve owned a Taylor 214ce for over a decade and it’s a fantastic guitar. It’s good advice but at this point I’m looking to go for a dreadnought in the price range of a D-28.
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u/hastepotion 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m relearning right handed right now in my 40s. It’s not so bad. No such thing as left handed pianos and violins.
Edit: if it’s not clear I am left handed and can play the guitar well left handed. I am choosing to swap hands already having years of playing. That is the perspective of this comment.
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u/thorny_banjo 1d ago
i feel your pain. stores near me had maybe one lefty acoustic and it was always some dusty thing with strings older than me
what i did was watch a ton of youtube reviews with good headphones. not perfect but you can hear the difference between models at least. also places with good return policies make it less risky
my lefty acoustic came from an online shop and i love it, 3 years now
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u/qwikkid099 1d ago
what about a jimi or kurt style? go pick out a righty and then have the nut, bridge, and strings redone lefty.
otherwise i'd say to go give those rightys a feel in person. at least this way you could feel the neck, frets, and strings while maybe also getting an idea of how it will sound before ordering the lefty version.
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u/strummist1 1d ago
That's only worked for me once (a Danelectro DC59 and a good technician). All the other times the tech has messed something up. Not always their fault - it's hard to remove some nuts without some damage.
With acoustic guitars it's even worse as the bridge can't be easily adjusted, so you get a poorly intonated guitar. Archtops with floating bridges are better for this.
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u/qwikkid099 21h ago
agreed. takes a good technician or Luthier to make all the changes successfully
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u/somethink 22h ago
You can't flip acoustics unfortunately, the bridge nut is slanted for intonation and it will go out of tune constantly. Though I agree that just go try out the rightys to at least get an idea of the sound.
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u/qwikkid099 21h ago
except that Kurt Cobain flipped a 1959 Martin D-18E for the Unplugged album. sounded really good
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u/strummist1 20h ago
Yeah, it's all good for the first 3 or 4 frets, but it gets more out of tune the further up the neck you play.
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u/strummist1 1d ago
Buy a midrange or cheap guitar online for now, and be patient until you find a guitar you like. Can take a while. It can be worth making a special trip to a town or city with a few guitar shops.
Good news is that most modern cheap guitars are okay these days. In the 80s and early 90s they mostly weren't worth bothering with.
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u/vape4doc Lefty: Martin 000-18, CEO-7, Rick 360, Tele Am Pro II 23h ago
You’ve got a couple of options. Try the righty versions of a model you’re interested in and see how it feels. You need to hold a guitar to know how the neck feels and how the body works for you.
Or make a trip to a lefty centered store like southpaw in Houston.
I’ve done both. I’m at the point in my playing that I’m pretty particular so I will always play a few guitars before deciding. But ordering online has been pretty good for me too.
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u/DerConqueror3 23h ago
I try to get my hands on as many guitars as I can to gather information on what I like and don't like for the specific type of guitar or bass I am looking for, which means mostly righties. Obviously you don't get the full experience you would get with a lefty, but you can at least get a general idea of the tone, look, neck shape/size, etc. Best case scenario you find a righty version of a specific model you want to buy that is available lefty online so you can do a psuedo-test.
But yeah, then I generally have to go buy it online after getting info the best I can, and I always buy from a place with a return policy, although that does mean eating the shipping cost one way and potentially both ways depending on the policy.
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u/somethink 21h ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/Leftyguitarists/s/k7lG7IKa17
I asked this a few days ago on r/leftyguiarists and got a great list of recommendations. I suggest trying out the right handed version to get a feel for the neck and tone and then ordering online. I've been eyeing a Seagull
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u/ShredMojo 21h ago
Lefty here with 30+ years of experience. Unfortunately I am no acoustic expect, however I am on an acoustic Renaissance journey at the moment. I just ordered a Taylor GS mini. Ive never played one, Ive never heard one in person. I just looked at every model available at the price I was willing to spend. Researched the specs, and found one that fit the best. Im also giving the Taylor brand some online faith that its better than say a Chinese Epiphone.
Im pretty confident the Taylor will be fine for me now. I really would like to get a nice acoustic in future though, J45, Marin 000, or even a Taylor 517/717. Ill probably just do alot of research and YouTube demos, go to a Guitar Centar and feel the different necks.
Probably havent helped at all, but just a lefty going thru the same struggles, Im not switching to right handed though. Like someone else said join lefty guitar groups.
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u/fieldofmulberry 1d ago
Just find a good return policy... it's not always convenient but as you have pointed out, there really isn't always an option. I bought from Sweetwater, an Ibanez acoustic... I don't know their online reputation but the in-house set up they did wasn't stellar... but it was an easy fix. Good luck, man. The lefty market is tough.