Guides

National Reso-Phonic Guitars was founded in California, USA in 1989 by Don Young and McGregor Gaines.  They are a builder of resonator guitars, including other resonater instruments such as mandolins and ukuleles.

In 1990 the company opened a factory in San Luis Obispo, California which currently churns out over 1000 guitars per year.  They also offer a repair service which is capable of restoring almost any National guitar to its original condition.

National Reso-Phonic Left Handed Guitars

All National guitars are available to order left handed at no extra charge.  The exceptions are the Resolectric, Resotone and RA3 models.  Take a look at a very small sample of the guitars available from National below, but be sure to take a look at their website to view the full range.

A small sample of left handed National guitars

National Website

The National website is quite basic in design, but I like the fact that it displays every guitar on a single page, making it very easy to quickly see what is available.  Each product page includes a series of beautiful high-resolution images of the guitar.

Information on left handed models is very well hidden on the site.  To find out if a guitar is available lefty you’ll need to click the ‘specs’ icon on the guitar’s individual page.  It would be nice to have this information a little more visible, or perhaps as an entry in a FAQ.

Sandberg Guitars is a manufacturer of guitars and basses and was founded in 1986 in Germany by Holger Stonjek and Gerd Gorzelke.  The company is named after their first workshop which was located on Am Sandberg – a street in Ehmen, Germany.

In 2010 Sandberg started to produce their own electric guitars, however they are mainly known for their range of bass guitars.  They are also famous for their innovative product design and unusual building materials.

Sandberg produce all of their guitars in a left handed version, with the exception of the Panther bass series which is a righty exclusive for the moment.  Take a look at a few examples below…

Sandberg Left Handed Guitars and Basses

The image above shows a small sample of a few left handed Sandberg guitars and basses.  Various different finishes and other options are available, so make sure to take a look at the Sandberg website to see exactly what is offered.

Sandberg Website

The Sandberg website employs a clean but functional design. There is no mention of left handed models on the individual model pages, however they do state in their FAQ which models are available to order left handed – good times.

Tokai is a Japanese manufacturer of guitars, founded in 1947 by Tadayouki Adachi.  They produce a variety of different guitars and basses for all price ranges, and also currently build all of the solid body guitars for Fender Japan.

Tokai are famous for coming under fire from some of the bigger USA brands after making their own replica guitar designs which were said to be every bit as good as (if not better than) the guitars they were modelled after.  These guitars, such as the ‘Love Rock’ models are now widely referred to as ‘lawsuit models’ and are very highly sought after.

Luckily us left handed guitarists aren’t left out of the loop as Tokai offer every single one of their guitars in a left handed version at no extra charge!  You will need to most likely special order your guitar however.

Tokai Left Handed Guitars and Basses

This image represents a small sample selection of Tokai guitars and basses, so make sure to take a look at their website to see the full range of available guitars.

Tokai Website

As far as I can see, Tokai have two main websites – the Japanese one and a UK one.  Neither make much mention of left handed options, so I was surprised to discover that they in fact offered all of their guitars in a lefty model.  Customer service at the UK website was incredible, I absolutely recommend getting in touch with them if you have interest in their guitars.

Hamer Guitars was founded in 1973 by Jol Dantzig and Paul Hamer, and is based in the United States.  They are considered by many as being the first boutique guitar brand who catered specifically to professional musicians.

Hamer was acquired by Fender on December 31^st 2007 and continue to concentrate on their range of high-end USA made guitars and basses.  Dantzig left the company in 2010 to build his own guitar company – Dantzig Guitars

Hamer Left Handed Guitars and Basses

So what do Hamer offer to the left handed guitarists and bassists of the world?  You can in fact order any of the models from the Hamer USA range in a left handed version upon request.  Guitars will need to be ordered through your dealer, however there is no extra charge for most of the range to be produced left handed.

Take a look at the Hamer website (link below) to see exactly what the USA range consists of.

Hamer Custom Shop

Hamer also has a custom shop based in the USA, so for a little extra expense you can take any of these USA models and put your own unique spin on them.

Hamer Website

The Hamer website makes no mention of left handed options anywhere.  This is particularly disappointing as I actually emailed Hamer 6 months ago about this, so they clearly haven’t taken this idea on board.  It would be a simple 2 minute fix to make a quick addition to their FAQ…

Luna Guitars is based in Tampa, Florida and was founded in 2005 by designer Yvonne de Villiers.  The company mission statement is “to craft fine stringed instruments with artistic sensibility that are comfortable, affordable, and inspire people of all ages and walks of life on their musical journey”.

For a relatively new company the range of guitars is surprisingly already quite large, with a good range of acoustic, electric and bass guitars on offer.  Luna currently produces a range of 9 left handed acoustic guitars and 1 lefty bass guitar.

The brand also produces a good range of left handed ukuleles.

Luna are certainly a creative company, with most of their guitars featuring some type of intricate graphic design and/or a bold vibrant finish.  It’s great to see a brand offering some interesting designs to the often neglected southpaw market.  Also worth noting is that Luna joins a very small group of companies who offer left handed 3/4 sized acoustic guitars, including one for the kids that they can design themselves!

Luna Henna Oasis Spruce Left Handed Electro-Acoustic Guitar

• Laser etched Henna
• Body: Folk
• Top: Spruce
• Back/Sides: Mahogany
• Neck: Mahogany
• Preamp/Tuner: B-Band
• Scale: 25¹/₂“
• Nut: 1¹¹/₁₆“
• Finish: Satin

Luna Fauna Dolphin Left Handed Electro-Acoustic Guitar

The Chapman Stick was devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s and is a rather uniquely designed electric musical instrument.  The instrument, which looks like an enlarged guitar fretboard is usually played with a tapping technique which allows players to perform bass, chords and melody lines simultaneously!

The company offers all but one of their instruments (the NS model) in a left handed option and there is no added charge for the modification. Prices start at $1900 USD for the Alto Stick and plenty of custom options are available when ordering your own.

If you’ve never seen a Stick in action before, head to the end of the article to see Stick maestro Kevin Keith doing his thing.  For now, let’s take a look at the different models that are available left handed…

Chapman Stick 10-String Left Handed

Chapman’s 10-string stereo fretboard tapping instrument has evolved greatly over the years but still has the classic Chapman Stick sound. Each new instrument features their latest adjustable components for easy setup. A wide variety of ordering options allow you to customize your instrument with your choice of exotic hardwood laminates, tunings, string gauges, pickup configurations, MIDI, and even the inlay material.

Chapman Stick 10-String Grand Left Handed

The wider fretboard of this 10-string stereo Stick model provides more room for the fingers. Center-to-center string spacing is .350″ as opposed to .315″ on the standard 10-string Sticks. The space between the two groups of strings is also wider, at .500″ instead of the standard .430″.

This instrument is meant to accommodate those musicians with larger hands and fingers, and those who want more of a guitar-like string spacing. It’s a step in the direction of the SB8 (Stick Bass), which spaces all eight strings uniformly .400″ apart, measured from center to center of each string. The SB8 has the typical Stick stereo placement of strings into two groups of four, but the string spacing is uniform all across a single sequence of perfect fourths. The Ten-String Grand, on the other hand, preserves the wider physical gap at the center between the two groups of strings, as with other Stick type 4ths/5ths tunings.

Manne Guitars was founded in 1987 by owner Andrea Ballarin in Schio, Italy.  The company philosophy is that “there is always a better way to do it”, and it is this mindset that makes them strive to produce better and better instruments.

The brand produces a range of uniquely shaped body designs as well as a selection of some more traditionally styled guitars.  All of the guitars produced by Manne are available to order left handed.

I have listed a small sample of Manne’s guitars and basses below as there are too many to list in a single article.  I encourage you to head over to the company website to see exactly what is available.  Keep in mind that Manne Guitars is a custom shop and as such, all guitars can be specced to your exacting requirements.

Manne Left Handed Electric and Acoustic Guitars

Flatline Guitars was founded by owner Rick Lockhart with the aim of building guitars that look like they were retrieved from the window display of a guitar store in a bygone era.  Each guitar is handmade and setup at the Flatline Guitars workshop in Washington, USA.

Flatline will make any of their guitars in a left handed version at no extra charge.  A lefty model will need to be assembled from scratch and the build time should run you roughly 6-8 weeks.  I’ve been really impressed with this company – beautiful guitars coupled with a lefty friendly attitude, and I’ve got to say, a fantastic price for a handbuilt USA guitar!

Let’s take a look at the left handed guitars available from this USA brand…

Flatline Delta T Left Handed Guitar

A players best friend. This guitar sings with vintage tone from the rich and warm sounding neck pickup and a very hot bridge pickup that provides tone somewhere in between a twangy single coil and a ballsy P-90. It features a simple control group with a three way toggle switch, master volume and tone. This simplified electronic setup allows the true tone of the guitar and pickups to shine through and it loves to naturally overdrive tube amps.

• Modern C-shaped maple neck with satin finish
• Kluson tuning machines
• String through body
• Vintage bridge with six saddles
• Lollar Special T Neck and Bridge Pickups
• Single volume and tone control
• 3-way toggle switch
• Colors : Caddy Red,Vintage Butterscotch,Two-tone Sunburst,Vintage Blonde
• Optional Bigsby Tremolo (add $150)