Sorry for the long title! I've had a recent arm break and it's become apparent that I'll never regain sufficient supination (wrist rotation) to be able to play anything other than a cello.
I'm going to have to learn again but this time left handed. I'm tempted to learn as the thread title reads as this would mean I'm not constricted to playing left handed guitars only and can keep my current guitars.
Apart from the obvious problems such as the position of the controls, leads and strap pins are there any other obstacles I need to be aware of before I decide to make the change?
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I never got a trem to work upside down. Even when I bent the arm in the correct direction...
One other problem I suppose is having the output jack socket and controls under your arm. Hendrix seemed to manage it but they used to tear the shit out of my sleeves snagging on them
I'd get at least one lefty guitar personally.
Elizabeth Cotton had no problems with it http://youtube.com/watch?v=43-UUeCa6Jw
I'd be tempted to try to learn something new rather than trying to get your brain to reverse everything to start with. Maybe something on one string ( as mentioned above like a Dick Dale riff).
I would second the view that having the guitar strung up side down is only going to be a hindrance. If you're happy with mainstream guitars why not just buy a left handed one?
I don't have any medical expertise but from what you describe it doesn't sound as if rigorous strumming/tremolo picking would be advisable? Perhaps you could venture into playing with a thumb pick or just fingers instead?
Albert King, the famous blues player, was left-handed and he played a 1959 right handed Gibson Flying V upside down with the high E string on top. He lost this guitar in gambling.
King's first Flying V guitar is now owned by Steven Seagal after undergoing serious repairs when it was found lying under water during flooding in Memphis.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/3813/albert-kings-flying-vs/.
Gibson gave King a 1960's Flying V, but this was also a right-handed standard model and was also played upside down with the high E string on top.
King had a left-handed Flying V custom built for him by independent luthier Dan Erlewine, but he couldn't change his playing style and this guitar was played with the high E string on top.
Immediately, a lot of muscle memory moves do not work. Double stops are fine but the fingering of many popular chord shapes needs rethinking. Without regular practice, most players will flounder like a beginner.
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If chording is going to present problems, consider adopting an instrument that usually only sounds one note at a time. e.g. Bass guitar.
Are some chords impossible to play upside down strung then?
The funny thing is that Gruff isn’t even left-handed, it’s just that he learned by picking up his brother’s guitar, a right-handed guitar flipped over. His brother lent me his guitar at a rock workshop thing when I was a youngster and it was strung the normal way, I’m guessing he re-strung it that way as he brought it there specifically to lend to someone who might need it (like me, after my mate stepped on my lead, ripping the jack socket off my £25 Satellite!)