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#253613 - 02/04/09 11:56 AM
Re: Problems with buying guitars
[Re: thetenthplace]
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Swinger44
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 02/04/09
Posts: 24
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i do wonder what determines left handedness, and indeed right handedness, is it your upbringing, or just muscles on one side being slightly different? anyone?
I remember watching an early '90s science documentary (it may have been Horizon but I'm not sure) Where the theory at the time was that handedness was determined by how a baby predominately lay while in the womb and in the first two or three months after birth. If the baby laid primarily with the left side of it's head on the supporting surface it would most likely become right handed. Likewise it would likely become left handed if it predominatly lay with the right side of its head on the supporting surface. Whether this theory is still held or has been validated or proved wrong, I've no idea but at the time it was the scientists best hypothysis based on a long term study.
I remember it due to the fact that I'm left handed... in most respects and so interested by default in that kind of thing. I have to say though that while I'm left handed and left footed in ball and bat sports I'm a right hand rifle shooter but left handed pistol shooter. I play cricket (batting) either left or right handed depending on my mood and I only play golf right handed. Oh and I'm a left handed writer.
I also learned to play the guitar right handed and left handed when I was young but can only air guitar left handed.
Strange world isn't it?
Edited by Swinger44 (02/04/09 12:01 PM)
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#255299 - 29/04/09 05:30 AM
Re: Problems with buying guitars
[Re: Swinger44]
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denaced
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 02/10/07
Posts: 4
Loc: black country uk
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i play guitar, write and throw left handed, use a bat etc.right handed was right footed when i played football. when i was four or five i fell onto some glass and nicked a tendon in my right wrist had my hand strapped up for months (was back in the fifties) and my mother used to tell me as i'd just started school i learn't to write left handed, my brother is totally ambidextrus and my sister left handed
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#261630 - 28/08/09 02:38 AM
Re: Problems with buying guitars
[Re: denaced]
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windu73
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 28/08/09
Posts: 2
Loc: Somerset
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New to the Forum today so Hi all!
My dad is a righty and I learned sitting opposit him as was mentioned in an earlier post.
For me, playing lefty was all about what felt right and the rhythm aspect of my playing. Personally I am very left sided. Can't kick a football straight with my right foot, play all racket sports lefty etc etc. Holding a giutar righty style just feels as wrong to me as it does for a righty holding theirs updside down.
Also, I can't tap out a consistant rhythm with my right hand for toffee so playing lefty was a no brainer from the start.
As for experiences buying lefty axes, it's certainly gotten better over the 20 years I have been playing. Tanglewood are about the best in the acoustic range as they are mostly the same price as an upside down guitar (!) and most of their range is available the right way up (left handed).
Fender are still muppets when it comes to lefty choice.
Hendrix, Cobain, McCartney, Tony Iommi, Albert King. Nice.
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#271357 - 02/02/10 07:46 AM
Re: Problems with buying guitars
[Re: stickyfiddle]
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Vialli
One of the Regulars
Registered: 01/02/10
Posts: 67
Loc: Bristol
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There is a gene that has been linked to left-handedness and also a theory that exposure to higher levels of testosterone in the womb causes left handedness.
There have been a few references to “standard” guitars in this thread, as if these are not right-handed guitars designed by, and built for, right-handed people. To think that such instruments are independent and aren’t biased to right or left handed people is naïve. Most tools & techniques in daily life that require the use of 2 hands in different roles are biased towards right-handers. Some classic examples being: scissors (left handers can’t see the cut and the natural action of the hand forces the blades apart making them difficult to use) & hand writing (can’t see what you have written and smudge ink everywhere). But less obvious things such as the ticket slots on just about any entry barrier you care to think of (underground etc) or cameras (button is always on the right). Pianos I think are different as the left and right hand roles are essentially the same whereas on guitar they are performing very different roles.
Most right handed people never face these issues so are largely unaware of them in my experience. I see the view of a “standard” guitar being something equally useable by left or right handed people as being an example of this. From a young age I watched right-handed guitar players yet it always felt natural to me to want to play left-handed. Same as I always wanted to write with my left hand and use a knife and fork left handed, despite attempts to force me to do otherwise when I was very young (and knew nothing of the politics involved). Most people also assume I am left-footed, which is not true. I don’t deny it is possible to learn the other way around but it would be more difficult at first, certainly for me. And perhaps more difficult the older you are when you start. If it was a benefit in general for the dominant hand to be the fret hand, make no mistake, the vast majority of guitars would be built the other way round!
In terms of availability of left handed guitars I agree this has got better over the past 20 years. Do I think the guitar industry has started treating lefties better? Not really. I think the advent of the internet has made everything more accessible. So accessibility is much better, not necessarily the variety of products on offer. In other words things are better mainly due to advances outside the guitar industry. I have bought 2 guitars new, both online as local availability was non-existent unless I wanted an Epiphone Les Paul, and even then both times the model I wanted was not available and I had to compromise.
Someone posted that the lack of availability was simple economics. I agree to a certain extent but think the situation is worse than that. Most estimates say around 10% of population is left handed, some estimates a fair bit more. In no music shop I have been to has 10% of stock been left-handed. Were this the case, I could easily accept it, I am a pragmatist. But the availability does not seem to me to reflect demographics or demand. Far too often left handers are faced with “why don’t you just play right handed?” The number of lefties playing right handed guitars is significant, and most seem to have been led down that path or made a decision because of the dearth of options for lefties - which in turn perpetuates the problem! Or even worse people say “just flip it upside down” which I find ridiculous. I blame Jimi Hendrix for that last comment :-)
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