good guitars for less than newbeginner but very poor lefties

Jonny

I would appreciate it if anyone could give me some good advice on finding a reasonably good left strung selmer for a reasonable price:). I'm dead tired of my crappy patenotte 251(not meant as an insult to his work in general, he must have been ill while working on my guitar). I also learned, after a while, that this particular model is for new beginners...and I feel my 900 euro could have been spent on a better guitar..little good that knowledge does me now..): How good do you have to be to be sponsored and get one for free:)?(kidding)

edan13390

You could try Manouche Guitars. I have a left handed one, very good tone
for a good price. Check it out - www.manouche-guitars.com

Good luck
Edan

Jonny

The guitars look marvellous, as do most selmer-style guitars, however, It doesn't seem they're of the price range I would prefer...not that I can be sure, since I can't find any prices on the site, but they seem rather expensive...I was thinking along the lines: used, cheap, although more thatn playable and a whole lot better than my patenotte 251(again pointing out that his work in general is magnifique, except for the one I aquired). But thanks anyway. Ahm, by the way, does this luthier in any way way specialize on left-handed guitars, or is there another reason for you directing me to this page?

Elliot

As a fellow lefty (although I play righty), I sympathize with you. At the price range you stated, the field is pretty limited - in fact you probably made a good choice for the money. Plus, good and cheap don't come often for left handed anything, as I'm sure you are aware. I think you can get Saga/Gitane to make a lefty John Jorgenson for around your price range, maybe your best choice. But if you want to go on a quest, what I would do is go to a festival like Samois or at least make some calls and start beating around the bushes by talking to luthiers, reps, and store owners. I would bet that there is a good chance someone has something nice, even used, that has been sitting around for a while they'd be willing to negotiate a great price on just to move it. However considering most price ranges you will still need additional cash if you wanted to get serious with these people and be willing to pounce when the time is right. In the meantime you could leave a 'Wanted' ad in the classified section here and at the www.hotclub.co.uk site to start. There are a few lefty players here and there that might have some good leads for you if you do some searching and PM to them as well.

Hope that helps - Good luck!

edan13390

from what i remember I asked saga/gitane if they even make left handed guitars....they said NO! manouche-guitars.com dont specialize in left handed models but I dont think any gypsy guitar luthier specializes only with left handed models.
I dont know, go for the manouche.....
btw, does anyone know what the word manouche means in hebrew?
vagina!!!

good luck
Edan

Jonny

Ahm, OK, thanks...I guess I'm rather fracked then(for those of you who've ever watched battlestar galactica(damn, I'm a nerd)).

Jonny

Ahm, I'm afraid I'd hit the sauce writing my last post, of course you haven't watched "Battlestar galactica", for your information(I'm sure most of you could do just as well without it) it's a sci-fi series on tv...What I meant to say is that it doesn't look very good...when it comes to finding good and "cheapish" selmerstyle guitars. :?

Archtop Eddy

I know as a lefty, you've probably already considered this idea... however ...

As a fellow lefty, I have often restrung a righty guitar and used that. I had a righty Busato for a while that played just great "upside down."

You could get a used Gitane say for around $400, restring it and play it upside down to see if you like it, and if you do, order a lefty and use the Gitane until the lefty arrives. Then you could sell the Gitane for most of or all of the money you spent on it.

Not the most novel idea, but it's been a practical solution for me in the past.

As for cheap lefties. Some day I expect it might happen, but as of now I don't know of anyone who makes them readily available in the U.S. (don't know if you're in the U.S.) One of the folks on the group previously mentioned a lefty Gitane being available in Europe (France to be specific), but I don't know anything about them being in the U.S.

A.E.

Jack

Didn't someone on one of the other groups mention getting a lefty Aria?

Archtop Eddy

You're right Jack; it was an Aria -- not a Gitane. The model was MM20LH and the store was Guitare-Village in Domont, France. Who knows, it might still be there...

Just for grins, I pulled up this photo from Samois 2002 of a bunch of lefty Gypsy guitars. This is the largest spontaneous grouping of lefty Gypsy guitars I've seen. From left the right are a Shelley Park, two Eimers, a Favino, and another Park. (Photo by Mary Honcoop)

Jonny

Thanks for the tips everyone! I can only hope my economy will allow an improvement in choice in the not too distant future, as it seems that money is the main object for someone scouting for a good lefty-guitar..but again, thanks, and although I couldn't make it to Samois this year, I hope to be able to add to the lefty-population of next years festival