Okay don't laugh...

[legionserial]

You're 29 years old, so you'll probably never be a great guitarist.

This aint really true, I've been playing for 13 years. year 8 to 11 of those I barely played. Although I consider myself to have become a competant guitarist within 3 years of starting, 6 months ago I evaluated my playing, and decided in the scheme of things I sucked big time. 6 months later I am twice as good, can play twice as fast, know my guitar twice as well and play twice as accurately. Thats because I caned it and put the effort in big time. Compared to that before I was just fiddling. I played all day everyday, but didn't try to nail any technique until recently. I just...played.

I think once you learn the findamentals, its all up to who you are and what effort you want to put in to learn your stuff in a reasonable amount of time. I mean, not everyone wants to be Satriani or John Petrucci, but its nice to be able pick up a guitar and twiddle and know what your doing, and to see an obvious progression.

So 29...I would imagine by 36 (probably earlier) or so you will be very competant and knowledgeable enough to know where you want to progress. Plus you have the level headedness and maturity of adulthood (one would assume ). I started when I was 13...the snotty age. I probably would have picked it up faster if i had started at an older age, just because I would have been more grown up about it...

But as I said before, I'm a lefty and I do agree with crazydoc about maybe learning righty guitar.

 

[MadAudio]

A very good friend of mine is a great left handed guitar player,but he plays right handed guitars.

He just plays upside down!

While not common,there are a few big time guitar players who do this.Dick Dale comes to mind first,and I believe Albert King.

I wouldn't touch the guitar you listed.If you're willing to spend that much,have a luthier set up one of your righties to play leftie.

And you really,really,really don't want a guitar with a whammy bar(especially a cheap one),you need a fixed bridge to start out with.

I'm tellin' ya,upside down.

I'm right handed, but I take a regularly strung guitar and play it lefty. This is known as "goofy hand." Your friend is a "Southpaw goofy hand!"

 

[stonepiano]

I'm lefty at everything but play guitar righty for the many reasons listed above. It just takes time.

Now, i'm learning drums righty just so I can sit in on other people's kits.

 

[crazydoc]

What a discouraging thing to say! He could have 40+ years of guitar playing in front of him. He could get quite good in a few years of practice, and some folks take to it amazingly fast.

I'm willing to stand corrected. Name me a great guitarist who didn't start playing until he was 30 or older. Notice I said he could be good - not great.

Kids learn things fast - languages, musical instruments, electronic games and on and on. Most adults don't learn much of anything new when they are over 30 - they just become solidified in their habits.

And don't forget - never trust anyone over 30!

 

[notCardio]

my advice

I don't really know whether you should play lefty or righty, but, if your brand new to this, go get a Squire or Epiphone or Yamaha or something from a local music store. You need a little guidance, and most importantly, you need to be able to try out the guitar before you buy it. I know, you don't know how to play, but here's the important thing. You want to make sure that the fretboard hasn't dried out or you can slice your hand open like it was a razor blade. Take your hand and slowly and gently feel along the edge of the neck, where the ends of the frets are. It should feel relatively smooth. I mean, it will feel 'bumpy' but it shouldn't feel sharp or rough like it's trying to catch your skin. You can't test an online guitar first, and it's harder to return, and you might not even know that it wasn't supposed be that way and not even try to return it. If you get a bad one, you'll hate practicing and even playing and be likely to give it up. And take somebody who knows something with you, if you can. Don't give in to pressure from the salesman. Get what you like and what you can afford. Just go looking the first few times, knowing your not going to buy that day. Come back here with any questions you might have.

Good luck.

Good luck.

 

[YeshuasFan]

As a southpaw who has been playing guitar for over thirty-five years I vote with the group who say learn to play right-handed. There are several advantages:

The first is you won't have to pay extra for guitars.
Second--there are no guitar instruction books showing lefthanded playing technique. All the chord pictures are based on right-handed guitars.
Third--you will be playing to your obvious strength--using your most dexterous hand (the left) where it is most needed--on the frets.

And hold your head high--southpaws are an elite group of people: Albert Einstein, Alexander the Great, Kenny "The Snake" Stabler, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Glen Campbell, Picasso, DaVinci, and Michaelangelo were all lefthanded.

And let us not forget [to keep us humble]: Charles Manson, Jack The Ripper, and Albert DiSalvo [the Boston Strangler] were also southpaws.

 

[acidrock]

And hold your head high--southpaws are an elite group of people: Albert Einstein, Alexander the Great, Kenny "The Snake" Stabler, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Glen Campbell, Picasso, DaVinci, and Michaelangelo were all lefthanded.

And let us not forget [to keep us humble]: Charles Manson, Jack The Ripper, and Albert DiSalvo [the Boston Strangler] were also southpaws.

You forgot Ned Flanders.

 

[nkjanssen]

http://www.southpawguitars.com/