Can you take a left hand acoustic guitar and turn it

[isteen]

I am looking at a left hand acoustic guitar at a good price - only thing is that I am right handed. Would it be needing work on the nut/saddle to play it ”right handed” (a reversed Hendrix?)?

[Cat Burrito]

My local guitar shop told me about this ages ago. Apparently it works fine for open chords but once you start playing past the 7th fret, the intonation is a challenge. There may be others who can do better but I rated the guy that said this very highly. 

[isteen]

50 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

My local guitar shop told me about this ages ago. Apparently it works fine for open chords but once you start playing past the 7th fret, the intonation is a challenge. There may be others who can do better but I rated the guy that said this very highly. 

Thanks mate, very helpful knowledge

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Cat Burrito said:

My local guitar shop told me about this ages ago. Apparently it works fine for open chords but once you start playing past the 7th fret, the intonation is a challenge. There may be others who can do better but I rated the guy that said this very highly. 

Yep, ideally - and depending on what type of bridge is installed - you’d modify or flip the bridge, or potentially install a right hand version. If you have photos of the bridge we can be more helpful I’d imagine.

 

And you will need to install a new nut, I doubt you can simply reverse the existing one, although you may be lucky 👍

[lemmywinks]

You'll need a new nut, the saddle slot filling and a new saddle fitted in the correct position. This is all regular work for a luthier as a lot of vintage (and some not so old) acoustics will need new nuts and saddles at some point anyway

 

If the guitar is worth it then by all means get the modification done as long as the guitar doesn't need anything else doing to it, get a quote from a good luthier and see if it's viable it to you. A lot of the time the cost of work on acoustics makes initial bargains much less appealing.

 

What's the guitar, is it new?

Edited December 31, 2024 by lemmywinks

[isteen]

On 31/12/2024 at 10:57, lemmywinks said:

You'll need a new nut, the saddle slot filling and a new saddle fitted in the correct position. This is all regular work for a luthier as a lot of vintage (and some not so old) acoustics will need new nuts and saddles at some point anyway

 

If the guitar is worth it then by all means get the modification done as long as the guitar doesn't need anything else doing to it, get a quote from a good luthier and see if it's viable it to you. A lot of the time the cost of work on acoustics makes initial bargains much less appealing.

 

What's the guitar, is it new?

Nah, it’s got a few years on the back - I might just look for a righty

[RonC]

Besides the already mentioned points, the bracing is different for both sides (bass and treble) so therefore the acoustic sound won’t be optimal..

[Beedster]

19 minutes ago, RonC said:

Besides the already mentioned points, the bracing is different for both sides (bass and treble) so therefore the acoustic sound won’t be optimal..

Very good point 👍