Stickman
625 posts
Jan 20, 2011
7:06 PM
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I have a nine year old student who told me that he had bought an electric guitar and an amp with money that he saved. This is an unusual amount of initiative for one my inner city kids, even more unusual was that he told me he was learning to play it himself. He said he was listening to songs and learning them by ear. I was sceptical so I asked him to bring his guitar to school to how me. He did, and holy socks! he scored a beautiful red Fender electric guitar in great shape for $50. The 1/4 jack was broken so he wasn't able plug it into an amp so he was practicing and learning acoustically on an electric guitar. It is unfortunate that he doesn't have a dad at home, as I was able to fix the jack with 2 minutes and a screw driver.
This leads me to my first question: When I pulled the jack cover off there there were 2 wires that were soldered the the 1/4 in jack (I presume these wires make a loop though the volume pot the on/off switch, through the pickups and back to the jack) But there was another wire. This one was black and not connected to anything, nor did it appear that ever was. It came from the body of the guitar and The end was not stripped of exposed and did not appear to be broken. It came from the body of the guitar into the compartment that held the jack and just hung there when we plugged it in to my pig-nose I seemed to work fine. So what is that wire? Is it important? Does it need to be connected or is it for some kind of aftermarket add-on?
So my second question. After we got it hooked up I asked him to show me what he learned. With a big grin he flipped the guitar over, upside down and played it left handed. He explained that he was left handed and couldn't play it the other way. So he showed me how to play Crazy Train, Smoke On The Water and Free Bird. Was he any good? No! But, for a left handed nine year old that has never had a lesson, never plugged into an amp and learned to play upside down all by himself, I found what he could do to be no less than flipping amazing. So I am wondering, is it possible to reverse the strings on an electric guitar? in other words move the low E to the bottom and the high E to the top. Would that effect the way it plays and do you think it would be easier for him to learn on that way?
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Last Edited by on Jan 20, 2011 7:08 PM
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earlounge
267 posts
Jan 20, 2011
7:46 PM
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I don't know about the output jack wiring.
About stringing it upside down. Yes it can be done if you are handy, but it will be a pain in the ass. First, the nut has smaller grooves for smaller strings, so it would need to be removed and flipped. You will crack it if you don't. Second the intonation will be completely screwed. All the saddles on the bridge would need to be adjusted to the new set up. Third (but not really important) all the controls will be in the way of your strumming arm.
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dougharps
36 posts
Jan 20, 2011
7:57 PM
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Here is a link with interesting info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musicians_who_play_left-handed
It explains different approaches, including just playing it upside down, and also switching the strings.
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Doug S.
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Roverharp
10 posts
Jan 20, 2011
10:01 PM
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Ever hear of some dude named Hendrix :)
I don't know if you could modify the slots without pulling and flipping the nut so you might have to do as earlounge suggested.
It is probably worth doing in any case because playing with the heavy string pointing at you toes is just messed up! On the other hand poeple can adapt in amazing ways. I've only ever met one guy who played that way; a lefty who played a right-handed guitar without re-stringing. He contorted his hands in all sorts of weird positions to play his jazz harmonies but he was amazing.
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sorin
240 posts
Jan 21, 2011
8:51 AM
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Stickman , my suggestion would be to have the kid learn to play the guitar like a right handed person , he has to learn everything from the scratch anyway , so it wouldn't make much difference . Both hands have to do complicated stuff ( especially if he fingerpicks ) so...
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Free video harp tabs and backing tracks
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earlounge
268 posts
Jan 21, 2011
9:04 AM
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I've heard of a lot of lefty guitar players playing upside down with out problems (Hendrix), but down the road he will have issues. TAB won't work for instance, and any visual lessons will be difficult if not useless.
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bluemoose
453 posts
Jan 21, 2011
9:26 AM
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If you play left handed but don't flip the strings the TAB is the same, you just come at it from the other side. If you do reverse the strings to play the "correct" way you now have to mentally reverse the image of the tab.
I couldn't play right handed if my life depended on it. While both my hands can do complicated stuff I have one hand that can just dance, that's full of syncopation and rhythm. That's my picking hand, my left hand. Nothing against my right hand, it just has a different job to do.
If you have grown up left handed you are already used to things being difficult. But that's where the fun is.
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MP
1290 posts
Jan 21, 2011
2:26 PM
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i think that black wire is a ground.
i'm sure it has an important job.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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AV8R
108 posts
Jan 21, 2011
5:36 PM
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Albert king flipped the guitar but left the string setup the same. This meant when he bent he was pulling the high strings (now on the top of the neck) down towards the floor, which gave him huge, powerful bends.
Hendrix flipped his guitar over but reversed the strings to be "normal" which requires reworking the nut.
If this kid has become used to having the high strings sitting on top of the neck, and is learning by ear anyway, i don't see how it would hurt him. But if he takes lessons it will drive his instructors crazy!
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oldwailer
1525 posts
Jan 21, 2011
6:17 PM
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The nut is one of the hardest things to get right, without the proper tools. I seriously doubt that just "Flipping" the nut would work well--The possibility of screwing the intonation is great. I don't remember the exact shape of a Fender nut--I haven't had one for 20 years--but it is probably not just a straight piece that flips easily. What is the bridge like? It might need some changes too.
If its a decent guitar, I think a trip to the luthier would be smart, if it's possible--a fix like that probably wouldn't cost more than 20 or 30 dollars--I recently had my acoustic bridge re-done after I botched it, and the cost was $30.
In a situation like this--I think a good luthier, given the back story and teary eyes, might just help the kid out--sounds like a budding Hendrix to me. . .
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Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
-Joss Whedon
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mercedesrules
87 posts
Jan 21, 2011
7:25 PM
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.....As MP suggested, the wire is probably a ground between the bridge and the pickups. To check, while holding the guitar normally and with the amp turned up, touch the wire to the jack body to see if hum decreases (not dangerous). What model Fender is it?
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Stickman
626 posts
Jan 21, 2011
7:58 PM
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Thanks for the help it has been very informative. I will take this information to my student "K-Man" and see what he thinks. Money is a problem. I know he can't afford anything. He is nine years old and just blew his life savings on a guitar that is BassAackwards! and broken (although he got a killer deal, a killer deal is relative) I feel for the Kid. He just wanted to buy a guitar and learn how to play. He scored supreme that he got a Fender and an amp for 50 bucks. Aint life a Bitch to find out that your guitar wasn't built for lefties.
@Sorin I talked with him at length about leaning "right handed" and he kept coming back to the fact that he "just couldn't play that way" this made no sense to me, since my wife is left handed and learned to play right handed. But after reading your suggestion and Dougharps link I did a little (Not Much) more research, and have found that there are degrees to handedness or chirality and to what extent one can learn to adapt. Hence some lefties find it easier to learn to play right handed guitar and others find it easier to learn it upside down and backwards. One thing I do know for sure as a teacher, is that it is very VERY detrimental to try to force something that is "unnatural" on somebody that is left handed. Studies show that people will quit the task before changing their dexterity preference.
I would love to buy him a left handed guitar (I really feel that that I should) but ethics dictate that that would be way out of bounds.
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Last Edited by on Jan 21, 2011 8:08 PM
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Stickman
627 posts
Jan 21, 2011
8:03 PM
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@ mercedes. I don't know what kind of Fender it was. Maybe he said it was a "short" or a "Jr". I don't know, Ill ask him tomorrow. As for the wire, It appeared to have come from the factory unconnected
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BlueDoc
28 posts
Jan 21, 2011
9:46 PM
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"I would love to buy him a left handed guitar (I really feel that that I should) but ethics dictate that that would be way out of bounds."
Stickman,
Maybe there's another way to get him a left-handed guitar, if that would help him the most. I just did some quick web searching for foundations that help kids from lower-income families afford music lessons. (I seemed to remember hearing about something like that a while back.)
I found a link to a foundation called MusicLink, whose website says: "We seek out promising music students from schools, churches, and community youth programs and link them with teachers who volunteer to teach students on partial or full scholarship."
If a kid can't afford an instrument: "The MusicLink Foundation will assist in finding an instrument for your child which will be on loan. If your child remains in the MusicLink program for 4 years the instrument will be theirs to keep."
I'm not sure if this is the best way to go for your student, but it might be worth checking it out. Their URL is http://www.musiclinkfoundation.org
If he ends up switching to a left-handed guitar, he could (if he chose) sell the $50 Fender, and probably get more than $50 for it--which could in itself be a valuable experience for a nine-year-old.
Please keep us posted on how things go for him!
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mercedesrules
88 posts
Jan 22, 2011
8:28 AM
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....."Short", "Jr"
Some common Fender guitar models are:
Stratocaster (Strat), Telecaster (Tele), Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang. All are pretty popular and easy to work on. They are modular, like MS harps! ;) One could even change out the whole neck, if needed. So there are many possibilities here.
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