LEFTIES UNITE!

Phil

Martin Weiss (sure he's a violinist, but a recent clip with Bireli showed him to also be a more than capable guitarist)

Archtop Eddy

So far 13 names. Here's a rundown:

Patrick Saussois, a variety of excellent lefty Gypsy Jazz guitars
Stephane Boucher, Shelley Park (?)
Carlos Vamos
David Ramos, Dupont 2011 Nomade
Gary Williams, 2005 Dupont MD100 & 2011 Geronimo Matheos
Ray Bartlett, 2003 Rob Ayleward, 2006(?) Moustache, 2x Harmsworth and Willis D holes
John Wheatcroft, Ayleward & Manouche
Janet van Goudswaard, Eimers 2008, JWC 2010 D hole, Manon 2011
Kaatchie Rosenberg
Gustav Lundgren, AJL
Pere Soto, 80s Macias, Favino copy
Martin Weiss
Archtop Eddy, 1999 Shelley Park, 1977 Favino, 1997 Gerome, 2011 Latcho Drom Nuages

Interesting how many different guitars there are in the list -- and most are top quality instruments. I'm sure this is due to there not being readily available (until recently) lower-priced lefty GJ guitars.

Let's keep the list going. Thanks all for contributing!

AE

Bob Holo

pinkgary wrote:

All these lefties i'd forgotten about! Pere is left-handed & plays some kind of Favino copy, i've had a go on that one too, very nice, but i'm sure Bob is likely to remember the luthier.

Actually, I mis-spoke - it was a 1977 Favino Macias so it was either a JP or Jacques built guitar. It had a replacement fingerboard on it when he bought it, so it wasn't rocking a MOT grille, but it was an actual Macias.

pinkgary wrote:

I would like to point out (i've dropped this hint before, after experiencing Stephan Wrembel's Holo) that there's not a single Holo on the list.....

Go on Bob, give us a chance.

I've never tried building a guitar left handed... I'm not sure my saws will hold blades that have teeth on the other side ;-) Actually I was very tempted to build one for Patrick Saussois years ago. He was incredibly nice to me when he came through Portland. He helped me change the way I hold my picking wrist as I was angling it too sharply and it was causing a lot of pain. He's a hell of a good man.

Archtop Eddy

Thanks Bob for the clarification on the Pere Favino. Glad to see its a '77 -- same year as mine!

As for a lefty Holo, I attach the following to perhaps "entice" you into considering one. Personally, I think it looks damn good! (Look closely, and you 'll see it even has a proper Holo logo...)

shavora

Hi buddies,

Philippe from Montreal : Alves de Puga SL 14 & Moustache # 001 D hole 12 frets

Archtop Eddy

Hi Phillip - Good to hear from you fellow-lefty! AE

englishjanet

Eddy I read on facebook that Kaatchie Rosenberg doesn't play guitar anymore!

Archtop Eddy

That's unfortunate. He sounds great in this 2009 clip on YouTube. He's soloing on Minor Swing at around the 3 minute point. (I am going to keep him on the list because he is a lefty and did play GJ guitar. Much in the same way as Patrick Saussois is still on the list) AE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-gQBTzvaRX0

Archtop Eddy

Douglas Linaker is another lefty GJ player. I don't think he's a member here--and I don't know what guitars he plays. Janet, do you know? AE

Djangoslefthandman

I'm curious about Ray's Alyward myself... Ray, do you know if I played that in 2002? I remember that one builder had a new lefty guitar he had just built. It was a fantastic guitar!
You definitely played my guitar and it was about two weeks old at the time. It was a Favino copy and Rob was camping with us at Samareau. I was with Steve Royle & co. You raved about it.


Is that the Aylward that in played at IGGF 2011?

Could be, I was there for the first time in a couple of years and swapped guitars with another lefty. My friend Doug Linaker was there jamming at our camp site last year as well. Doug plays an Aria and an Harmsworth & Willis.

The "green" guitar that Robin Nolan played back then was made by Rob Alyward. John Wheatcroft had a great lefty Alyward which was the first gypsy guitar I ever played. Top man John well worth checking out.