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Question: When was the first left handed guitar introduced?

(Posted by: B KilliN on 2009-08-18 12:13:28)

I know through Jimi Hendrix's life there was no left handed guitar on the market. But when was the first left handed guitar introduced and where do you know this from? Bolt thrower, i think i see a flaw in your answer. If left handed guitars have allways been around, why would Jimi need Fender to make him one. And why would'nt he just buy one. But instead he allways played a right handed fender strat strung backwards and played upside down.

Posted by: eightbraker on 2009-08-18, 14:27:27

Left handed guitars were around long before Jimi was playing but they usually had to be ordered special. A lefty friend of mine has a small collection of left handed guitars from the 50's and 60's , all special orders. I don't know think there was a particular year or date when left handed guitars became available off the rack. Different manufacturers kind of phased them in at different times. A lot of companies are actually going back to the special order system for making lefty models due to low demand and for financial reasons. PRS in 2007 and Gibson in 2008 just to name a couple. As far as Jimi goes theres no doubt that he could of owned a lefty but guys like Jimi didn't play just any old strat. It had to have the right tone and feel for him. And you gotta' remember that back in those days they didn't have all the pickup mods and custom shops and stuff like they do today. So when Jimi found a strat that he really liked he would just flip it over , restring it , and play it that way.

Posted by: Bolt Thrower on 2009-08-18, 12:18:53

Dont know the exact date when but there has always been left handed guitars on the market and as far as jimi goes when he first came out and started playing,fender would have made him one but it cost to much money which jimi didnt have.

Posted by: areyouhigh on 2009-08-18, 12:23:50

I could be wrong, but i think it was the guitar Jimi hendrix had made for him. It was a custom left handed Fender strat. I'm not sure when the first ones went into production though.