How to Convert a Right-Handed Guitar to a Left-Handed Guitar

Would you like to convert a right-handed guitar to a left-handed guitar? This is an easy conversion to do, but you'll need to do more than just change the strings. While I believe that it's better to just buy a quality left-handed guitar, maybe you've found a right-handed guitar that you really like. Perhaps you're a lefty just dabbling in guitar playing and not yet ready to make an investment in a left-handed guitar. Most left-handed guitar and bass players are faced with this dilemma.

When I was learning to play, I didn't have a lot of money to invest in a high-quality guitar, so I went to the flea market and purchased the cheapest guitar I could find, a twenty-dollar acoustic. Even with its standard setup, the action was terrible because the neck was warped. The strings wouldn't stay in tune. In short, the guitar sounded like a dying animal. But I converted it to a right-handed guitar by flipping the strings. I didn't bother to change the nut or the bridge, and this was part of my problem.

Eventually I swallowed my pride and visited a music store. Their luthier looked at it and shook his head. He said it would cost a couple hundred dollars to make it sound really good, but for about forty he could make it serviceable. I went with the latter option. In addition to doing the work, he explained what needed to be done to convert a right-handed guitar to a left-handed guitar.

This works for acoustics, electrics, and electric basses. The materials required to convert a guitar are new strings, a tuner, and wood glue. You may also need a blank nut, a screw driver, sandpaper, and a truss rod adjuster. A string winder is a handy tool to have as well.

First you need to remove the old strings. Once the strings are off, remove the nut (the little thing at the top of the neck). You may need to pry this out with a flat screwdriver. Once it's out, scrape out the crusty glue with a screwdriver or some sandpaper. Add a little bit of fresh glue to the nut and replace it with its direction reversed. The nut has a groove sized for each string, and if you don't change it around, there will be play in the little strings and the big strings won't seat properly.

If something happens in this step, for example the nut breaks or the angle causes the strings to sit too low to the fret board, you'll need to file your own nut. You can have a guitar shop do this, or you can purchase a file and do it yourself. Plenty of video tutorials are available.

For electric guitars, you might want to reverse the directions of the pickups. To do this, usually you just need to unscrew the pick guard or pickup frames. Be careful not to lose the springs that allow for height adjustment. Once your glue dries, go ahead and install your new strings. To keep your nut from flying away, don't tighten the strings to full tension until all six strings are on. Use your tuner to get close to the correct pitch. Stretch your strings a bit as you tighten them up.

After they're installed, play for a while and give them time to go to their length. Once this happens, it's time to set your intonation. Maybe you'll be lucky and you won't have to set it. To check intonation, you compare the pitch at the twelfth fret (octave) with the pitch of an open string. They should be the same.

On acoustic guitars, you may need to alter the bridge to ensure correct intonation. Sometimes this is just a matter of getting a blank and filing it down. If you are converting an expensive guitar (not recommended), take it to a luthier and let them do it.

For electric guitars and basses, this process is much easier. The string saddles are usually adjustable with a Phillips screwdriver. All you need to do is adjust them until the pitches of the twelfth fret and open string match. Always use a tuner for this process, and don't forget to re-check the open-string tuning every time you make an adjustment to the string saddle.

That covers about everything you need to know about converting a righty guitar to a left-handed guitar. For more information about left-handed guitars, check out the resource box below.

To learn more about left-handed acoustic, electric, and bass guitars., visit the Left Handed Guitar and Bass Guide.

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Two Ways of Beginning Acoustic Guitar Lessons

Beginning acoustic guitar lessons does not begin with the purchase of the guitar. It does not begin with the research on where to go to in order to get the instructions in playing the instrument. It all begins with the enthusiasm and the willingness to learn. If you do not have these two, even if you learn from the best teacher and have the most expensive guitar in the world, you will not really know how to play the guitar. As with every other task, you have to put your heart into it.

The first way in beginning acoustic guitar lessons is to hire an instructor or enroll in a guitar class. In enrolling in a guitar class, you will be able to interact with other beginners such as yourself. You will be able to ask questions to the instructor whenever you do not understand a lesson. Also, you can gauge yourself on how you are doing based on the performance of the class. Are you ahead of the class or do you have to catch up? This way, you can strive harder if you feel you are going behind. This can also be your motivation to do better in playing the guitar.

The second way you can get to learn how to play the acoustic guitar is by going online and signing up on the lessons. There are paid lessons online and there are free of charge lessons as well. You Tube is the best place to start beginning acoustic guitar lessons for free.

If you go to online sites to learn the use of the guitar, you will be able to get one on one session. This gives you more access to the skill and the knowledge of your instructor. You will have better focus this way for the instructor would be able to attend to you alone. Every strum you make can be heard by your instructor so he can correct the mistake immediately. You will be motivated to study more so that the lesson will advance at the pace suitable to you.

Whatever way you decide to begin to play the acoustic guitar, you should always remember the importance of practice. Practice every day so you can hone your skills. This will loosen up your fingers, make you memorize the guitar chords and it will enable you to strum with ease. Beginning acoustic guitar lessons can only lead to success if the person doing the lesson focus on the task at hand, practice and be enthusiastic about what he or she is doing.

Ian Stevens is a guitar enthusiast and owner of http://www.acousticguitarbeginners.com, which is a resource site mainly on providing beginning acoustic guitar lessons.

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Learning How To Read Guitar Chords

Moreover, they have enough time to hone their talents and possibly even create a career out of playing or creating music. Each musical instrument is unique. This means that the learning process for each one also takes different approaches. Since most musical instruments are based on the C scale, learning to play music on one instrument can be applied to some extent onto other instruments. For the guitar instrument, a budding musician can learn to follow guitar chords to create melody. These are seen as black dots placed on top of lines that resemble guitar strings.

Reading guitar chords can be tricky. For the untrained eye, these can just look like a series of circles that when connected together will create an image. To learn how to read these chords, purchase a chord chart from a local music shop. There are shops that include guitar chord charts upon purchase of the instrument. Some also include extra guitar strings just in case you break some while learning how to play the instrument. There are different techniques on how to quickly learn how to play the guitar. There are some online videos that you can watch to help you gather the basics until you set off on your own. These videos mostly teach you how to play specific songs and indicate the chords that need to be struck. However, without the basic knowledge of the chords, you can't get anywhere near creating even a two note melody.

Instead of videos that teach the music itself, search for the ones that teach you how to read guitar chords and placing specific fingers on the strings and frets to create the note. As an example, the thumb is usually placed on the topmost string of the fingerboard and is used as leverage when playing other notes. When you know how to read guitar chords, it is easier to follow videos that teach you play specific songs. However, the learning process also depends on the ability of each individual to grasp the lessons. There are a lot of successful guitar players who did not attend formal music schools to learn the skill. Their passion for music and determination to play the guitar fuel their drive to be skillful in handling the instrument.

Learning to play guitar or are a advanced player? Visit http://www.guitarchords247.com/ where you can find all the guitar chords and guitar chord books for all the information and tips you need.

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