Left Handed Acoustic Guitars

Left handed acoustic guitar players feel more comfortable picking left handed, and will often choose a left handed acoustic guitar over adapting a right handed guitar. Other left handed players may choose to play a right handed guitar upside down to pick with the left hand, leaving the strings as they are, or adapting the guitar to reverse the strings and play left handed, as though it is a left handed acoustic guitar.

LH GIBSON ACOUSTICS	LH FENDER ACOUSTICS	LH MARTIN ACOUSTICS	LH IBANEZ ACOUSTICS
	LH TAYLOR ACOUSTICS	LH OVATION ACOUSTICS

Altering a Right Handed Into a Left Handed Acoustic Guitar:

Reversing the strings on a right handed guitar involves additional adaptation, since the nut and bridge are made for string widths, which requires some changes to make the strings seat right on a right handed acoustic guitar that is altered for left handed guitar players.

By changing the nut to accommodate the reversed string widths, and changing the bridge to make the lower stings longer than the top for the proper tones, it is possible to alter a right handed guitar for left handed playing, since acoustic guitar bracing is non-symmetrical. It is possible to find left handed acoustic guitars at affordable prices in many styles and models.



Finding the Best Playing Options for Left Handers:

Adapting a right handed acoustic guitar might work for many players since some left handed people are able to play guitar right handed, and use a right handed acoustic guitar. Ambidextrous left handed people have more options, and some may actually play just as good, right handed. Some left hand acoustic guitar players say that they never felt comfortable playing right handed, and feel they actually perform better left handed, once they have had the chance to try both ways.

Some people say you can tell when you first pick up a guitar, which way feels the most comfortable.  Left Handers that are able to play right handed have an easier time, since most music is written for right handed playing. Which ever is your most dominant hand normally determines which hand you are best suited to pick or strum with, and if your left hand is the one that feels the most comfortable, then you are a left handed guitar player.

Another test often used is clapping to find which way to play, so if the left hand is doing most of the clapping, then you would be considered a left handed player.  For those whose hands move equally or the right hand is clapping, then you might play well on a right handed guitar.

Famous Left Handed Guitarists:

Some of the top performing legends like Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Billy Ray Cyrus are left handed guitarists.  They adapted to playing left handed on right hand guitars, although purchased left handed guitars in later years, as it came into vogue.  Slim Whitman was one of the first famous left handed acoustic guitar players and was an inspiration for other left handers, such as Paul McCartney.