Help: big guitar guestion

Subject: big guitar guestion
From: bob jr
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 12:51 AM

i am looking to buy a "good" guitar to do some recording i need some advice for getting a decent acoustic but i am left handed anyone??

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: JamesJim
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 01:25 AM

I'm also lefthanded, but play righthanded. I have a Guild D46 and it's a fine instrument. I would imagine you could restring it to accomodate, with no problem. Goodluck and good recording. Jim

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Racer
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 01:27 AM

For recording, I think you'll be better off with an Ovation. I know they're plastic, but from what I've heard, they sound the best for electric/acoustic recording.

Even the cheap models have an equalizer built into it. Trust me, it's nice to have that kind of control built in to the body of the guitar.

Be sure to try out DR Zebra strings. They don't last long, but boy do they sound good!

-Racer

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: kendall
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 06:20 AM

Any Taylor dreadnaught. Excellent balance of highs and lows, and unbeatable intonation.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Mooh
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 08:07 AM

Warning...re-stringing a righty to make it lefty completely screws up the intonation. Mooh.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 09:15 AM

Mooh is absolutely right. To convert a right-handed guitar to left-handed, you need to get a new nut (with the "fat" and "skinny" slots reversed), and reverse the angle of the bridge saddle (giving you a slightly longer scale for the bass strings). Get somebody competent to do this stuff for you; you can really screw up an instrument by taking on a job like this without really having a handle on it.

As for recording, generally small guitars tend to be easier to deal with than big guitars. But the best advice I can offer is to use an instrument that allows you to play your best, and do a lot of experimenting with microphone positions so as to capture a good balanced tone. There are lots of options, and a number of articles out there these days providing information on what sorts of results you're likely to get with different microphone types and positions (the home recording revolution is prompting a lot of "how to" articles for relative laypersons). Do some homework, and a lot of comparative listening. Good luck.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Mooh
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 06:11 PM

Many guitars are braced differently side to side to emphasize bass or treble frequencies. Reversing the strings may negate the engineered benefits of the top bracing. My advice is to buy a lefty. Mooh.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: bigchuck
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 07:50 PM

As Mooh noted, virtually all guitars are braced differently on the bass and treble sides. I have done several conversions for people on relatively inexpensive guitars (tho never on anything that was solid wood). They work fine from a playing standpoint, but are uncertain tonally. I would think a manufactured lefty would be best. Both Taylor and Martin will be happy to build any of their models as lefties, but be prepared for a 4-8 month wait. (or maybe longer, if you want a Martin).

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: bob jr
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 08:47 PM

yeah i am not gonna convert the guitar i am looking for a good lefty acoustic

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Nicole Leonard
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 08:31 AM

I would recommend a Taylor (forget the Ovation). They are great guitars.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: dwditty
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 09:16 AM

I love my Gallagher 71 Special (not that my last name being Gallagher has anything to do with it).

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 11:10 AM

I was just down to Elderly Instruments a few days ago and they have a section on left handed guitars. If you go to their website and type in "left handed" in their search engine you will get a listing of some left handed guitars.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Kim C
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 11:36 AM

Being EXTREMELY right-handed it always seemed to me with the guitar, and the fiddle, that the left hand has the hardest job anyway! So in theory a lefty should be able to play right-handed without any trouble. But I guess it don't work that way, huh? :)

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Gary T
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 12:23 PM

Kim, many of us have felt that the "off" hand has a harder job to do, at least in the beginning stages of learning an instrument. I even had a guitar store clerk suggest that I, a lefty, get a right-handed guitar for that reason (I'm sure the fact that his store had NO lefty guitars had no bearing on his advice, right?). That raised the question in my mind, then why don't music shops stock mostly or all left-handed guitars for the benefit of their right-handed customers?

And therein lies the "proof of the pudding"--pick up a left-handed guitar (or fiddle, if you can find one) and see how it feels. There's a great awkwardness to having your dominant hand farther away than your off hand--compare the standard positions used in boxing or shooting a rifle. For those with a strong sense of their "handedness", a "wrong"-handed guitar will never feel right.

I also gather that those who become proficient on their instruments (which leaves me out) use their dominant hand to do some really challenging and skillful motions in their picking & bowing, to where the off hand doesn't necessarily have the harder job.

So you're right, for most of us "it don't work that way", though there have been times that wish it did.

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: dwditty
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 01:46 PM

Then, again, many right handed ball players bat left handed, though not so many left handed players bat righty. I know several left handed people who play guitar - some play left handed guitars, some play right handed guitars, some play right handed guitars upside down and backwards ala Libba Cotten. Come to think of it, I have never known a righty to play anyway but right handed. Hmmm
dw

Subject: RE: Help: big guitar guestion
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 03:15 PM

I think the truth is that some people have a more pronounced "handedness" than others. Some have a slight preference for the dominant hand, while others have a strong preference. That's why some ball players can switch-hit, but not all can.