I'm a lefty player so I clicked on this story. It was crazy because the first Strat I ever bought a long time ago ALWAYS had intonation issues and never stayed tuned. I also have transformed a right handed acoustic into a lefty. I filed the nut down after flipping it. I eyed it and got lucky and still play it to this day. Thank you for making lefty related videos and keep them coming.
I'll definitely make more lefty related guitar videos whenever there's something interesting to report. Regarding the acoustic guitar that you flipped... what did you do about the saddle compensation?
Hi Doc. I converted a lefty Epi LP to righty as an experiment since I got it very cheap. Originally $300 at my pawn shop, cleared out almost a year later for $15. Yes, Fifteen. I bought it for parts and got it home to find it's a player. Obviously a new nut is the first requirement. One of the other woodwork mods I did was adding an elevated, contoured arm rest to the edge of the lower bout so your right arm flies over the pots instead of resting on them and changing your settings. Good solution to that problem on an LP and actually looks ok, and puts your hand right where you want for resting on the tailpiece and muting. It looks no more out of place on a Les Paul than a chin rest does on a violin. I modeled the shape and height first with foam. Form follows function. On a Strat I think the knobs are far enough forward on a lefty body as to not be a problem playing righty but the jack looks like an issue. Could maybe just turn the mounting plate around. Speaking of knobs, I discovered the pots turn 'backward' on a lefty guitar. Would not have guessed that. You don't notice until you work the pots then it takes a minute to adjust to. I made little stick-on direction arrows for the vol pot knobs to remind me which way is louder. The normal LP output jack location, surprisingly enough, works fine whether playing seated or standing and is even better with a 90° plug end of course. I also made a sloped PRS-style access cut in the body between the neck heel and pickup switch for better access to high frets playing righty- not a perfect solution but a good compromise and you can play the first few strings pretty well up to about the 19th or 20th fret. Works for me. Did not have to move the bridge posts as there was enough adjustment travel left in the saddles at the factory lefty bridge location to intonate well using 9-46 Hybrid Slinkys, but I did have to reverse a couple saddles and adjust the E strings to the limits. Might not be so lucky on a different guitar and could end up having to move the bridge post anchors. Too much trouble unless a customer wanted it done. Overall the experiment was a success and the guitar plays and sounds great. I like having it as a unique player and it was fun to work on. Not much market for this mod though, unless a lefty finds a cheap used LP and wants to pay for a conversion. That gets pointless if it takes more than a few hours. Take it easy man!
Thanks for sharing your story. I've had a couple of customers, here and there, over the years that brought in lefty guitars that have already been converted to righty. Never a Les Paul - only Strats and it was always a Hendrix influence. I've even worked on one or two of those official Fender Hendrix Experience Strats. But if memory serves me, those were just right handed Strats with a reversed headstock.
It's no wonder so many people give up on learning guitar. The "beginner" guitars are usually better left for someone who knows how to work on them, and has some free time on their hands. Flipping the nut around, and not filing it, is inexcusable. Maybe when they say "beginner guitar", what they really mean is that it is built by beginners.
You're making the exact same point I always make when people bring a guitar to me and say that it doesn't have to be perfect because it's just for a beginner. I tell them that it's like saying that a bike doesn't have to work properly because it's just for a beginner. Will your kid really enjoy learning to ride the bike if it has a rusty chain, is skipping gears and the breaks don't work? Beginners don't need brand name guitars but they very much need guitars that perform correctly. "But it doesn't have to be perfect." "Of course it does."
Thank you for pointing this out!!!!!!!! My lefty Squier had a right-handed nut just flipped around too. What is wrong with Fender? I don't care if they're cheaper, this is NOT acceptable to give to beginners or ANYBODY really. Fender also uses right-handed tapered pots just wired backwards. This makes the taper backwards and VERY hard to use properly. And the right-handed pot was on my expensive American lefty Strat as well as my cheap Squire. Come on Fender, are you stupid or greedy!? Oh, then they make us pay more for a lefty than a righty guitar too. WTF!!!
I'm a lefty player so I clicked on this story. It was crazy because the first Strat I ever bought a long time ago ALWAYS had intonation issues and never stayed tuned.
I also have transformed a right handed acoustic into a lefty. I filed the nut down after flipping it. I eyed it and got lucky and still play it to this day.
Thank you for making lefty related videos and keep them coming.
I'll definitely make more lefty related guitar videos whenever there's something interesting to report.
Regarding the acoustic guitar that you flipped... what did you do about the saddle compensation?
Excellent diagnosis, and excellent presentation of the problem!
Glad to hear you liked it.
Hi Doc. I converted a lefty Epi LP to righty as an experiment since I got it very cheap. Originally $300 at my pawn shop, cleared out almost a year later for $15. Yes, Fifteen. I bought it for parts and got it home to find it's a player. Obviously a new nut is the first requirement. One of the other woodwork mods I did was adding an elevated, contoured arm rest to the edge of the lower bout so your right arm flies over the pots instead of resting on them and changing your settings. Good solution to that problem on an LP and actually looks ok, and puts your hand right where you want for resting on the tailpiece and muting. It looks no more out of place on a Les Paul than a chin rest does on a violin. I modeled the shape and height first with foam. Form follows function. On a Strat I think the knobs are far enough forward on a lefty body as to not be a problem playing righty but the jack looks like an issue. Could maybe just turn the mounting plate around. Speaking of knobs, I discovered the pots turn 'backward' on a lefty guitar. Would not have guessed that. You don't notice until you work the pots then it takes a minute to adjust to. I made little stick-on direction arrows for the vol pot knobs to remind me which way is louder. The normal LP output jack location, surprisingly enough, works fine whether playing seated or standing and is even better with a 90° plug end of course. I also made a sloped PRS-style access cut in the body between the neck heel and pickup switch for better access to high frets playing righty- not a perfect solution but a good compromise and you can play the first few strings pretty well up to about the 19th or 20th fret. Works for me. Did not have to move the bridge posts as there was enough adjustment travel left in the saddles at the factory lefty bridge location to intonate well using 9-46 Hybrid Slinkys, but I did have to reverse a couple saddles and adjust the E strings to the limits. Might not be so lucky on a different guitar and could end up having to move the bridge post anchors. Too much trouble unless a customer wanted it done. Overall the experiment was a success and the guitar plays and sounds great. I like having it as a unique player and it was fun to work on. Not much market for this mod though, unless a lefty finds a cheap used LP and wants to pay for a conversion. That gets pointless if it takes more than a few hours. Take it easy man!
Thanks for sharing your story.
I've had a couple of customers, here and there, over the years that brought in lefty guitars that have already been converted to righty. Never a Les Paul - only Strats and it was always a Hendrix influence.
I've even worked on one or two of those official Fender Hendrix Experience Strats. But if memory serves me, those were just right handed Strats with a reversed headstock.
Hiya GQ met you at Steve’s live😊
Subbed my good sir
Nice channel buddy 👍🏻
Thanks for dropping by. Steve Cassidy is great.
@@GuitarQuackery my pleasure GQ , feel free to pay my channel a visit when you get a chance my fellow axe man :)
@@Atlantean-1980 I just had a quick peek at your channel homepage. I see there’s a lot to go through. I will have to get back to it. Thank you, buddy.
@@GuitarQuackery my pleasure mate :)
Like most products, manufacturers sometimes don’t accommodate lefties.
You’re right about that. You can’t even buy left-handed guitar picks anywhere.
It's no wonder so many people give up on learning guitar. The "beginner" guitars are usually better left for someone who knows how to work on them, and has some free time on their hands. Flipping the nut around, and not filing it, is inexcusable. Maybe when they say "beginner guitar", what they really mean is that it is built by beginners.
You're making the exact same point I always make when people bring a guitar to me and say that it doesn't have to be perfect because it's just for a beginner. I tell them that it's like saying that a bike doesn't have to work properly because it's just for a beginner. Will your kid really enjoy learning to ride the bike if it has a rusty chain, is skipping gears and the breaks don't work?
Beginners don't need brand name guitars but they very much need guitars that perform correctly.
"But it doesn't have to be perfect."
"Of course it does."
Thank you for pointing this out!!!!!!!!
My lefty Squier had a right-handed nut just flipped around too. What is wrong with Fender? I don't care if they're cheaper, this is NOT acceptable to give to beginners or ANYBODY really. Fender also uses right-handed tapered pots just wired backwards. This makes the taper backwards and VERY hard to use properly. And the right-handed pot was on my expensive American lefty Strat as well as my cheap Squire. Come on Fender, are you stupid or greedy!? Oh, then they make us pay more for a lefty than a righty guitar too. WTF!!!
Thanks for pointing out the right-handed pot taper issue. I should have included that too in this video. Hopefully viewers will read the comments.
A wise man once told me "You can't afford to buy cheap".
Definitely not, if you also want it to function correctly.