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Question for left handed guitar players
CS8161
Member Posts: 13,595 ✭✭✭
I was watching a Roger Waters video and one of his guitar players has a Fender Strat. He's playing it left handed, but has the strings reversed...the high E string is up top of the fingerboard. That has got to be confusing as heck when playing chords, does anyone play left handed with the strings reversed? Jimi Hendrix played left hand but had the strings in the normal position, didn't he?
Comments
Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and a variety of other lefties have done this before.
Infact I have seen Dave Drohl of the Foo Fighters, who is a righty, do it with one of Kurt Cobain's lefty guitars he had left to him.
Hendrix played a dtrat upside down but restrung it so the strings were normal. I was watching the country music awards the other night and a backup player uas playing a Gibson upside down but with the strings normal. Guess some do play that way. Confusing to me. I have enough trouble playing right handed with the strings normal. My fingers are so large that my finger tips are wider than two strings on the fret board. I used to have callouses built up on my finger tips but a couple of years ago my hand was burned with second and third degree burns all over my left hand. Now I don't play anymore.My hand recovered but the tips of my fingers are just to wide to fret with. Thinking about going to base until my callouses build back up.
Try going to a wider neck. 1 3/4" (at nut) neck width which was the prefered width for finger style pickers used to be more common than today. But if you search, some guitar MFG offer it as a option. Or find an older guitar that has it. On acoutics, most 70's vintage Epiphone's and Yamaha's had the wider neck.
And even the lowest end 70's Japanese builts will rival, if not exceed the mid range ($400.-$800.) Korean or Chinese builts of today in quality.
Wider neck electrics are harder to find. Might have to have one custom made.
I had a lefty friend who bought right handed guitars, had a new nut put on it, and then strung it upside down so he had a better selection of guitars.
Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and a variety of other lefties have done this before.
Infact I have seen Dave Drohl of the Foo Fighters, who is a righty, do it with one of Kurt Cobain's lefty guitars he had left to him.
Speaking of Cobain. Sure wish I had known back in the 70's & 80's that he was going to single handedly make the values of old Fender Mustangs and Jaguars skyrocket. I can't begin to count how many I passed on pawnshop walls for $50. Back then they were considered "beginners guitars" and no one who knew how play wanted them. Strats and Les Pauls were the rage. I was always a Tele man myself, but liked Strats too. Never cared much for Gibsons. Too heavy and didn't like the higher bridge. But those Les Pauls are sure versitile in the sounds you get out of them. Not so much a factor anymore w/the effects boxes of today.
Yeah Cobain brought back the Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang, and Duo Sonic back into the forefront and his Jag Stang is becoming a collector as well.
I am more a a Gibson Guitar man myself, but being a poor kid have the Epiphone clones of the Gibson Les Paul and SG.
When I leave those behind I have an Ibanez and ESP 7 string.
My basses are mostly Fender. I have an old MB5 and Jazz Bass. My only non Fender is a Epiphone Nikki Six Signature Thunderbird Bass.