Lefty Strat differences

  • Thread starter Thread starter pdadda
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pdadda

pdadda

Captain Sea Boots
I recently discovered that Strats sound frigging awesome through my amp. For the life of me, I cannot avoid hitting the pickup switch constantly on Strats. So I thought, maybe I should just reverse string a lefty strat (then the pickup switch would be outta my way). Are the nut grooves compatible with this? Are there any other mods I would need to do? Oh yeah, I am right handed.
 
I would almost guarantee that the nut will not work for that. You'd probably have to reverse it. Otherwise, in my experience, most guitars are ok with being restrung funny. I don't see why strats would be much different.
 
pdadda said:
I recently discovered that Strats sound frigging awesome through my amp. For the life of me, I cannot avoid hitting the pickup switch constantly on Strats. So I thought, maybe I should just reverse string a lefty strat (then the pickup switch would be outta my way). Are the nut grooves compatible with this? Are there any other mods I would need to do? Oh yeah, I am right handed.
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You'd have to get a new nut cut for it, and who knows what weirdness the whammy bar would experience with the skinny strings' pegs close to the nut and the thick ones far away. Also the slant of the pickups would be backwards from stock. That stuff never seemed to bother Jimi, though.
 
ggunn said:
You'd have to get a new nut cut for it, and who knows what weirdness the whammy bar would experience with the skinny strings' pegs close to the nut and the thick ones far away. Also the slant of the pickups would be backwards from stock. That stuff never seemed to bother Jimi, though.
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I have a Sunburst Strat (74') that was owned by a lefty and he had converted it to work for him, so yes the nut will need replaced. I think the whammy bar would be a problem with being hard to access when you needed it...to each their own though. ;)
 
I'm just wondering what kind of funked up hand positioning/style playing is required to have the p/u selector get in the way on a strat. I have one, and play it hard and gentle, and the switch never gets in the way. The volume knob is another story.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
I would almost guarantee that the nut will not work for that.
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I will completely guarantee that it wont work.

Aside from the nut, the pick-up pole pieces are not adjustable, and they are set at heights that compensate for the different gauge strings. So your sound will be different.

If you are contemplating modding a strat to this extent, a possibly more effective method would be to rewire the five way position switch as a rotary selector.

Just my thoughts.
 
Yo Greg! He's not alone. If you play rhythm, not lead, and strum full chords with a flat pick (consider The Who, for instance), it is really easy to run into the pickup selector with your hand, especially if the sound you want involves using positions 1 or 2, using the neck pickup. It took me weeks to learn to hit the strings over the neck pickup instead of the middle pickup, just barely missing that damn switch. I would much prefer if the switch were in the same position as a Les Paul. Another alternative is to lose the plastic knob on the end of the switch lever, and bend it over or cut it down so the strumming hand clears it.-Richie
 
32-20-Blues said:
Aside from the nut, the pick-up pole pieces are not adjustable, and they are set at heights that compensate for the different gauge strings. So your sound will be different.
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Except, of course, the pickups on a lefty Strat are probably right handed strat pickups in the first place. And if they are lefty pickups, then you can always replace them with right handed pickups quite easily.

BUT there is one thing with the pickups which make a considerable difference, which is the angle of the bridge pickup will be backwards. This will make the low strings brighter and the treble strings warmer. (That angle, and the more extreme angle of a Tele, are a big part of the sound of Fender guitars).

On the nut, you would need to either reverse it (which might work with some adjustments), or get a new one made.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Greg_L said:
I'm just wondering what kind of funked up hand positioning/style playing is required to have the p/u selector get in the way on a strat. I have one, and play it hard and gentle, and the switch never gets in the way. The volume knob is another story.
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It's an issue for a lot of players (including me). My hand just kind of hits the switch, if I'm not careful.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Why don't you just get a blank pickguard for your right handed strat and put the switch someplace else. You probably won't have to move it far. If you don't use the tone knob, you could get rid of it and move everything down and over.
 
Get a Tele...its two controls, basically a soild plank of wood with strings. And they sound sweet.
 
TelePaul said:
Get a Tele...its two controls, basically a soild plank of wood with strings. And they sound sweet.
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Paul, I have to admit that the Tele switch was awkward for me to avoid from hitting when I started playing Teles-and that was after playing a Strat for well over 30 years! Mainly it was that big top hat type switch knob, I kept bumping it out of position. After getting used to it its no problem at all now! :)
 
To me, it just sounds silly to get a lefty guitar and have to replace the nut, change the strapbutton, worry about the whammy bar, etc... instead of fixing your right hand. In addition, I would think that the controls on an upside down guitar would get in the way more than a regular right handed one would. But whatever, man.
 
I'm not worried about the whammy or tone controls. But it seems this may take more $ to mod than I thought. I'm gonna try to borrow a friend's strat and see if a bit of practice can keep me from hitting the pickup selector.
 
pdadda said:
I'm not worried about the whammy or tone controls. But it seems this may take more $ to mod than I thought. I'm gonna try to borrow a friend's strat and see if a bit of practice can keep me from hitting the pickup selector.
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Just move the switch, it's not hard or expensive.
 
How could I easily do that? There is no other space on the pickguard. Would I have to drill a new hole in the guitar?
 
You should probably go out and buy another pickguard. If you don't use all the knobs, get rid of the ones you don't to make more room. You might try just moving it closer to the knobs and angling it a little differently. It won't have to move much to get out of your way. Pickguards are cheap, you can experiment.
 
pdadda said:
How could I easily do that? There is no other space on the pickguard. Would I have to drill a new hole in the guitar?
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Only in the pickguard. Seriously, though, even that is a bit of hassle. Just practise your right hand position for a few days, and you'll be fine.
 
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