Homepage Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar Left handed noob says”hello!”

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #23339
    Gordy Smiff
    Participant

    Firstly, may I say what a great site, although it usually seems a bit quiet when I visit.
    Been playing guitar for over twenty years, rock bands, soul bands, even a blues duo. These days I just play for my own enjoyment.
    I currently own a Gordon Smith G60. Great to play but very battered.
    Epiphone Sheraton. Sexy looking and schmoove.
    Yamaha Pacifica 112. Very good for a budget plank.
    Ozark Resonator. Loadsa fun with open E tuning.
    Yamaha FG420 acoustic. Enjoys a good BBQ.
    Fender Jazz Bass. Mmmm.
    My first guitar was a Zenta Telecaster bass. Anybody remember those?
    Horrible thing, but it got me into my first band.

Viewing 27 reply threads
  • Author
    Replies
    • #73203
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I remember the early 90s “Shoegazer” bands were wall-to-wall Ricky 360s and Fender Jazzmasters. Hefty number of Musicman Stingray basses, too.

    • #73214
      Tim
      Participant

      We really should keep our exotic Bass player language; ‘ineebreeated’ and Blah-blah’ in the bass forum, don’t want to confuse those with the smaller instruments.

    • #73239
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Good spot on the ’72 TeleCus, Lee (eg, Snow Patrol – exactly matches your descn, also “Editors” vox/rhythm player). One cool looking – and, indeed, sounding, guitar, though. The 4001 is just an iconic bass. I’d love one; except I’m mostly 5-string (the short lived 4003 5-string has a 33.5″ scale – hmmm) and I’m too cheapskate to pay lefty Rickky or Stingray prices. Snow Patrol have a lefty bass player, BTW (I might have mentioned that. Nearly as ineeebreeated as my chum Tim right now).

      Have you seen the frightening price of Flying V basses right now? $2400+ on Fleeb. Yowza 😯 Still, despite owning one of those “exotic wood, thru-neck” blah blah basses, I’m all for a return to a bit of Lake Placid Blue and a scratchplate. Call me old-fashioned… 🙂

    • #73236
      lee_UK
      Participant

      no, its because they look weird anyway.

      anyone see ‘T in the Park’ over the weekend?
      Guitars that new bands play for looks, rather than sound, top fashion guitars this year.

      6 string
      1) Telecaster ’72 custom, must be black, with either 1 or 2 humbuckers.

      4 string
      1) Rickenbacker 4001/4003 in black.

      any others?

    • #73230
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Lefties just look weird anyway (no offence: I am one) so they always catch my eye in a “looks weird” way. Assymettric guitar shapes don’t help, though. If I were a lefty trying to keep it quiet I’d go for the Gibson SG guitar or EB bass. For some reason, Rick 4001 basses always look OK in lefty guise. Is it the Macca influence?

    • #73197
      glw
      Participant

      Playing a Flying V sitting down you have to stick the lower “wing” between your legs and play it in an almost classical guitar position.

      It’s quite comfortable actually, and not the impossibiity that people often claim it to be.

    • #73200
      Tim
      Participant

      [quote=”lee_UK”]
      By the way have you noticed how very very odd some guitars look left handed? The Strat, and Les Paul just dont look right?
      do they look unusual to lefties?[/quote]

      I was on the train to work reading ‘Bass Guitar Blah Blah’ magazine and they had a lefty special with millions (maybe five) of my nearest and dearest flipped wrong-ways…made me feel all funny, just looks wrong!
      I may have still been ineebreehated tho?…from Wednesday…which was weird, to say the least (which is probably a good idea!)

      Love as ever to y’all, I’ve been lurking for a while as I’m not that tech-savvy but just know I’m here, and watching…bwah-hah-har

      Peace,

    • #73215
      lee_UK
      Participant

      no but i once tried using one as a cricket bat, very aerodynamic.

    • #73235
      Gordy Smiff
      Participant

      By the way have you noticed how very very odd some guitars look left handed? The Strat, and Les Paul just dont look right?
      do they look unusual to lefties?[/quote]

      Yes and yes. Apart from the Flying V. 😀 Ever tried playing one of those sat down?

    • #73199
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Quite right Mike, they are banned from joining many Internet Forums because the amount of Usernames with the word ‘Left’ in them, they always vote to the left, look to left when crossing a busy road (bad move) drive on the left but always assume they are right.
      Im sure there is a cure, and i think if they tried hard enough they could become full members of society, but they choose to be different and then moan about the extra charge on a Left handed Strat. 😆

      By the way have you noticed how very very odd some guitars look left handed? The Strat, and Les Paul just dont look right?
      do they look unusual to lefties?

    • #73209
      Michael
      Participant

      [quote=”lee_UK”]Of course in Tudor times Lefties were thought to be Witches, and were often burned on a right handed stake, and rightly so.
      [/quote]

      lol

      In most first world countries, it’s still quite normal for lefties in the armed forces to be considered mentally ill.

      In line battles, lefties would often lift there gun and knock out the right handed normy beside them.

    • #73207
      Gordy Smiff
      Participant

      Some people can be so cruel.
      I may as well sell all my kit to the nearest witch I can find and state that Jimi Hendrix never existed. 😯

    • #73225
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Leftism. 😆

    • #73206
      1bassleft
      Participant

      I have the same problem finding the prawns in “Morrisons” but, strangely, failed to mention this interesting nugget of information, Lee. Learn something new about Lefties every day 😆

    • #73194
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Of course in Tudor times Lefties were thought to be Witches, and were often burned on a right handed stake, and rightly so.
      Also lefties were never allowed on ships sailing to the new world, after a left handed Spanish captain sailed around the Canary Islands for 2 months on a constant left hand curve, he eventualy ship wrecked his vessel into a rocky outcrop south of Fuerta Ventura, and his name was Jose Jonah, hence the term ‘Jonah’ or bringer of bad luck to sailing vessels.

    • #73223
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Coupla other things. Don’t worry about Lee, he’s trying to get a response from me. He wants to play “Devil’s Advocate” but it’s got more than three chords so he has to settle for playing “Devil’s Legal Secretary” 🙂

      You can get left-handed control pots, btw. My cheap backup 5-string (a Cort) has righty pots so they have to be turned in the wrong direction. Still, I’m a bass player. What do I want a tone knob for?

    • #73237
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Lefties-playing-righty include Robert Fripp and (bloke I mentioned in your “over-rated” thread) Mark Knoppfler. I play electric guitar lefty but with the strings upside down. This is because all the guitarists I knew were righties so I just got used to learning it that way. My basses are lefties strung lefty. Another upside-downer was the rhythm guitarist in early Whitesnake.

      Doves’ bass player (whose name has escaped me) plays an upside-down Precision which he hasn’t restrung. That just weirds me out when I see it.

    • #73195
      Gordy Smiff
      Participant

      “Moaners Corner”? Our own forum?
      Do I detect a hint of anti-leftism here?
      Or am I being a bit paranoid, ooh Tony Iommi, he’s another one, and he wears false fingertips! How about that for overcoming adversity.
      Noel Gallagher is left handed, plays the guitar right handed, and boy cant you tell, he looks so uncomfortable. I’d rather stay being a lefty than look as though I’m reading straight from the Beatles Complete chord book. 😆

    • #73213
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Leftyism just isnt normal is it? but i think it’s great the way we accept them into society and allow them to go to ‘normal’ schools, and they even get charged the same amount to travel on right handed buses.
      Of course when it comes to guitars i think they should be forced to play right handed, it just doesnt look right.

    • #73238
      glw
      Participant

      Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals is one such lefty who plays a righty-strung guitar upside-down.

      I believe that Dick Dale is another guy who does this trick, hence this is why on the Fender Dick Dale sig Strat the bridge pickup is angled in the other direction so you can obtain a more accurate representation of his sound.

      Wasn’t it Guitarist magazine who once ran an April Fool’s article about left-handed strings (wound in the opposite direction)?

    • #73196
      lee_UK
      Participant

      I think you ‘Leftys’ should have your own forum, you could call it ‘Moaners Corner’ , if you ask me, its just not natural playing guitar left handed, next you’ll be asking for left handed picks, and upside down inside out volume pots (incidently, that thing with rolling the volume off accidently, it happens to us Right Handed – Normal – players too, you cant hijack that one on your crusade) 😆

      Also i bought some equipment from a guitar player in South London, he played left handed with a right handed guitar turned upsided down – Hendrix style- but with the strings upside down too. as a right handed player i could play his guitar without adjustment.
      So if you dont want to pay premium prices, then why not re-learn to play guitar in this unorthadox style? 😉

    • #73231
      Gordy Smiff
      Participant

      There’s no feeling quite like playing your first proper lefty 8)

      I know exactly what you mean about eBay, the only problem is you need to trawl through an awful lot of rubbish. Bit like kissing frogs to find your prince(ess) I suppose. 😉

    • #73191
      1bassleft
      Participant

      😆 , and that little-finger-on-vol-pot can be a struggle. Upper fret access is a real drag with a righty Stratty swap, too. If anything, buying a lefty guitar in the 80s or 90s was even more of a nightmare. First time I went on eBay, I nearly wet my knicks at all the instruments I could buy. Had to restrain myself…

    • #73202
      Gordy Smiff
      Participant

      Hi guys, and thanks for the warm welcome.
      Yup I went through the “using a righty” experience.
      An Eros Blackbird acoustic *shudders*.
      It’s taken me a long time to get my collection together, and it still boils my piss that leftys have to pay a premium for the priveledge.
      Strat style guitars are a problem for me due to my playing style, I’ve got a bad habit of hitting the pick-up selector. If you watch Gary Moore his picking hand looks very similar, pick between forefinger and thumb, other three fingers splayed out. I should add that we neither sound or look alike!

    • #73220
      1bassleft
      Participant

      Gordy, fellow Lefty, hello and welcome 🙂

      The great thing about the ‘net is finding out that we don’t all play the Squiers hanging on the local music shop wall. Did you ever go through that “started out on a righty” experience? That was no fun. It amazes me how many lefty instruments I’ve bought have been hacked by a righty? Couldn’t they find a genuine righty in the shop ❓ 😕

    • #73212
      lee_UK
      Participant

      This is the man who has soft toy ‘Crazy Frog’ on his PC.

    • #73071
      Michael
      Participant

      Welcome aboard, or to a-board.

      Urrrg, you know your losing it when forum humour gets that crap.

    • #73064
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Welcome aboard Gordy, Nice collection of guitars you have there,
      Funny how most people have a ‘BBQ’ guitar, usualy gets thrown around in a soft case, few dents, strings are the originals thay have been on there for 12 yrs, and an action like a cheese cutter.

Viewing 27 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.