Need advise. Lefty electric for a kid..

[73Fender]

I would like to get a lefty electric and small amp for my 8 year old son. He is a lefty so he can't use my many righties.

Was thinking of a Squire Strat..assuming they come in lefty. 3/4's might be a good idea as well. Also been scratching my head on how a righty (me) teaches a lefty. All advise welcome. Thanks.

[Strat62]

Rondo is a good place to start. If you're any good at setups, they are a great value, especially for beginners. Also, how much of a lefty is your son? I'm a lefty but play right-handed, it always seemed natural to me to hold the guitar with my left hand as the fretting hand. If he wants to hold it left handed tho, so be it. Teaching him shouldn't be a real issue. He should be able to mirror image your finger placement as you face him.

[Joe-Bob]

All the lefties I know play righty. Why not just let him play right-handed?

[73Fender]

I've done a little testing and he definitely feels better playing it "backwards". Just went to the local mom and pop, 3/4's is too small. May order a Squire from MF or Guitar Center. Rondo may be an option but a Squire is not much more $. I can do some basic set up stuff other than fret work.

[straightface]

As soon as I saw the thread title I knew the "play righty" comments would be there. Good on you for letting him go with what feels best. If he sticks with it he will thank you for it. Squires seem to get a lot of love these days. You could also check out some used MIM's, could probably get a good deal on one if you do the ebay thing.

[peartcarey]

I am a lefty, that converted to right handed. But before I decided to do that, I picked up a Sunburst Squire Strat and was happy with the guitar. It was when I started to get hooked that I ran into the wall of not being able to find left handed guitars that were to my liking either because of availability or price. Even now, for shoots and giggles I will throw my guitar the other way, only to realize that it's a bigger mountain to climb...but my wallet will thank me down the road. GC is where I found it.

[stevehyphen]

I did think about switching to play right handed for a while. Then I realized that no matter how hard or much I practice, my right hand will never have the dominant strumming rhythm that my left does. If I try that with my right hand, it feels lame and unnatural, kind of like throwing with the wrong hand.
To the OP though, I have an SX strat and a CV50 tele and I would suggest either of them as a starter guitar in a heartbeat.

[Sasz]

What are the neck profiles like on the SX strats and teles these days?
Just wondering, as I did once have an SX tele and it had a really chunky almost U-shaped neck, which I can't see being the easiest for an 8 year old to handle.
(I'm not that much larger than the average 8 year old myself, and find my Squier Affinity tele neck so much more comfortable)

[SouthpawGuy]

Can't really go wrong with a lefty Squier Strat these days. If only they were around when I started back in the stone age

[LondonLefty]

Don't listen to this let him play a righty nonsense, if he's left handed, he needs a left handed guitar. The 3/4 Squire Strat is a great place to start. My 11 year old has one and the built quality is very good.
More power to the lefties ;)

[otterhound]

Left on and groovy man .

[Hop2it]

let him play which ever way is most comfortable for him. I am a lefty and my younger daughter is also. She started out on drums and then wanted to try guitar at 11 years old. She did everything else lefty (throw, bat, write) but when she picked up the guitar, she picked it up righty so I taught her righty. Like someone else posted it's not that hard it's like mirror image. Like the others said Squier or SX are good choices for lefties, I think SX may even have 3/4 size lefties. Another good place to check out is Daisy Rock.

[59TweedVibrolux]

I tried but never felt comfortable as when I used a lefty guitar. I have some
Óriginal old strats that I simply flipped (changed nut). Jimi never had a problem with that ! I believe Mark Knopfler is a lefty playing right handed.

These days finding great L/H guitars isn't as hard as it used to be

[otterhound]

Just like Jimi says before starting on Hey Joe on the Jimi Hendrix Concerts LP .
" They're livin' in the past " .

[Jeranhound]

If a 3/4 is too small then I'd recommend a gibson scale or a 7/8s.

[syrynx]

When my left-handed younger son was ten years old, he wanted an electric guitar.

One of my brothers is also left-handed, but chose to learn to play guitar right-handed, figuring that he needed to use both hands anyway, and fretting seemed more challenging to him than picking or strumming. I so advised my son, and also noted that he'd have a much wider choice of instruments if he learned to play a right-handed guitar, regardless of which way he chose to play it.

I took him to a good music store, which had some left-handed guitars, figuring that a Strat-style guitar would be the least expensive and most versatile instrument for a beginner. I was right, of course. But after trying a dozen or so different guitars of both persuasions, he looked up from a flawless, natural mahogany, right-handed Epiphone G-400 (SG clone) and said, "Dad, this is the one." He was right, of course.

Thanks to a couple of outstanding teachers in his schools' guitar programs, the stimulus of YouTube videos, and the easy, free availability of tablature, he can shred with Vai, Gilbert, and Malmsteen; he has won classical guitar competitions; and he won't be seventeen until the end of this month.

Here are a couple of options no one has yet pointed out in this thread:

1: Get him a 'ukulele, preferably a tenor. Switching from right-handed to left-handed involves nothing more than swapping the second and third strings (and possibly slightly enlarging the second string groove in the nut), as the first and fourth strings are the same gauge. A few weeks or months of trying it both ways should allow him to make a much better informed decision. Besides, everyone needs a 'ukulele.

2: Let him try playing a right-handed guitar left-handed. This worked well for Elizabeth Cotten...



...and Bill Staines...



...and Bla Pahinui, who, with his brothers Cyril and Martin, learned to play guitar from their father, Hawai'ian slack key virtuoso Gabby Pahinui, and his friends, via the instruction method prevalent in the Islands at the time: "Watch. Listen. No ask questions. Jus' press."



(Total thread hijack: Check out slack key and 'ukulele virtuoso Ledward Kaapana's "Jus' Press" cap-- at a slack key workshop just last year.



Maybe that's still the instruction method prevalent in the Islands?)

I hope Elliot Easton sees this thread and chimes in.

[otterhound]

Playing lefty-righty is done by many .
I believe that you can include Albert King in that group of players .
The orientation of the player is much more important than the guitar in the end .

[marc13]

This is related in a slightly offhand way......first iff, im a true lefty, all the way through. HOWEVER, when I was in between 5th and 6th grade, having become a percussionist in the school band the year before, my parents bought me my first drum kit. The director of the school band sent over the high school jazz band drummer to help me assemble/set up/teach me my first few drum kit licks. When we were setting it up, he recommended that we set it up right handed as my parents were having him come to our house for lessons and it was my only kit, therefore making it a hell of a lot easier for him to teach. I agreed, started playing right handed, and still do. Just felt natural from the start.

Fast forward a few years, while jamming with friends in the basement, I picked up a friend's guitar and learned a few power chords and smoke on the water. It was too late to go back, I now play guitar right handed as well.....

What it comes down to is just how it feels most natural to him, I remember being conscious of whether something felt natural or awkward at that age, so only he can decide.

Lots of cool lefty's on Craigslist though, I wouldn't worry about him finding cool gear. If he has a problem, there's always some awesome parts-casters out there!!!

Edit: come to think about it, that first guitar I ever picked up was a Mexican standard tele. :D not bad...available in lefty I believe ;)

[73Fender]

wow guys, thanks so much for the good advise. He seems to like black Strats, I may get one (Squire) from GC or Mus Friend due to their good return policy in case the 1st one is a dud.

And I do have a uke, never realized the 1st and last strings where the same gauge. Good idea.

Thanks again for the advise and comments.

[smallstoner]

I second the suggestion to check our Rondomusic's extensive lefty selection. They're cheap and they've got an amazing return policy.

Check 'em out: http://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitarleft.html

BTW, I'm a lefty that plays righty, and I think you should let him play lefty.