provny Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Not that I need another guitar, but I have seen a J-180 at a local guitar shop that has caught my attention. The problem: I play left-handed guitars, and this is a right-handed guitar. Is the J-180 a good candidate for converting to lefty, or is there something about its structure (bracing?) or anything else that would make this a bad idea? Thanks for any insights on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 You hit the nail on the head, with the bracing issue. Not that the bracing couldn't be converted as well as the saddle & nut. I had a lefty converted to right handed many years ago. I'm always surprised at how affordable luthiery work is. At least the cost of the conversion will not be enough to have to pass on a good guitar. Just curious- so how did you try out this guitar out in the first place? I suppose you could bring a friend to play it to you to hear how it sounds(?). Also- be mindful if it has electrics installed. Where the controls end up might not be too handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Keeping in mind that I'm not an expert and could well be wrong when it comes to a J-180, four decades of playing upside-down and left-handed tell me this much: While guitars are generally braced the way they are for a reason, the guitar probably will not explode into pieces if you make the switch. Will it sound different than a guitar braced the "proper" way? Probably. Will it be a big enough of a difference that your ears may pick it up? Yeah, if you've got good ears. Will audiences pick up on the change? Probably not. There is, however, the whole pickguard issue. You can play it with a righty pickguard, but an upside-down pickguard looks kind of silly if you ask me. (Never bothered Bill Staines, though.) And if you remove the pickguard, there'll probably be a tan line underneath. And I don't know how Gibson is about selling lefty J-180 pickguards. In a perfect world, you would get a lefty J-180, so Gibson would know that A) there are lefties out there and B) they wanna buy guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 The J-180 comes with a lefty and a righty pickguard. No issue there. If you want a lefty just call Music Villa and they will get you one in 6 weeks. The guitar will be properly braced and the saddle will be properly intonated. The warranty will be intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Keep in mind also, that you will probably have to get the saddle/bridge assy. replaced or your string's intonation will be pretty far out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provny Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 You hit the nail on the head, with the bracing issue. Not that the bracing couldn't be converted as well as the saddle & nut. I had a lefty converted to right handed many years ago. I'm always surprised at how affordable luthiery work is. At least the cost of the conversion will not be enough to have to pass on a good guitar. Just curious- so how did you try out this guitar out in the first place? I suppose you could bring a friend to play it to you to hear how it sounds(?). Also- be mindful if it has electrics installed. Where the controls end up might not be too handy. Thanks for the response. I checked with a local luthier, who said it might cost $300 to do a proper conversion. He hasn't seen the J -180 though, but doesn't think it should be anything but successful. As far as trying out the guitar, a friend played it right handed, and I flipped it over and practiced my upside down playing (the guitar of course, not me). Felt nice, sounded nice, but no real way to know how it would sound as a lefty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provny Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 In a perfect world, you would get a lefty J-180, so Gibson would know that A) there are lefties out there and B) they wanna buy guitars. Excellent point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provny Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 The J-180 comes with a lefty and a righty pickguard. No issue there. If you want a lefty just call Music Villa and they will get you one in 6 weeks. The guitar will be properly braced and the saddle will be properly intonated. The warranty will be intact. Thanks. I called them tonight and awaiting response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provny Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Keep in mind also, that you will probably have to get the saddle/bridge assy. replaced or your string's intonation will be pretty far out! Thanks. The luthier I spoke with mentioned this, and said he would at least have to build an appropriate saddle and fill in where the old one was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eltonwce Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Paul McCartney's Epiphone has standard right hand bracing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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