Here`s a little motivation for all the lefties:

Look at the guitarist. He plays a Dean Razorback, which is not at all one of the easiest guitars to play, left handed, but strung right handed so basically he`s playing upside down!

 

You could also do what Hendrix did and just take a right handed guitar and play it left handed.

 

I've been playing on and off since I was 12
YES - buy a guitar. It will give you years of happiness.
YES - NOT a cheap one.

I would suggest nylon strings to start with on an Ibanez a Yamaha or something similar. Mt wife has a Stagg and it's not expensive and good to your fingers.
Quality strings are a good investment too. Earthwood make them in different thicknesses.

I'm left handed and left handed guitars although available are a little harder to get.

Converting a right hand to left hand isn't difficult - any decent music shop should do it cheaply.

I have a couple of 6 string guitars, 2 acoustics, one with nylon, one with steel strings and my all time favourite an Ibanez 140 12 string steel .
Must be because I love "the Byrds"

Do it Bordo, persevere and you'll be a happy man.
Plenty of places on the net to get chords for songs.
Start with "the house of the rising sun"
just about everyone does.

 

Thanks again to all for your advice. I'm going to buy a lefty through a local music shop and go from there. I know I wont be playing fluently for some time and I know I have a lot to learn and time and practice will bring that. I have found some really good video on youtube with what seem very good teachers. I am keen to learn some new skills at this stage of life and am very excited about it.

 

Thought I'd just chip in with a bit of encouragement Bordo.

I've been playing for nigh-on thirty years now, was never any good but it has given me endless hours of fun. It's a very therapeutic thing to pick up an instrument and play/experiment, it blocks the rest of the world out, almost like riding does in some ways.

Once you start you'll always be a guitarist, there may be long breaks between picking the guitar up, but it's never left me completely and never will.

I own a total of five guitars, varying wildly in quality and value. My best guitar is a 1972 Gibson SG, which plays like a dream. My first guitar was an Ibanez Strat copy, which was a good starter guitar, but the difference between the two is huge!

However the guitar I play the most these days, is a little kids acoustic which I originally bought for my Son, it's good quality, but he didn't want it 'cos it isn't full size. It sits in the corner of my lounge and when the mood takes me, I'll thump out some good old '12 bar blues'. I may then dig out one of my other guitars, but that's the one I play the most.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, that it doesn't have to be a fancy guitar to give you a lot of enjoyment. The main thing is that you play and play frequently.

Here's a picture of my SG in all her battered glory. I love her Battle scars and wouldn't want her any other way.

 

Thanks Hawk ! I've just had a very generous offer from Robster for a free guitar. I can get it re strung to left handed and go from there. Its amazing how many great guys there are on this forum. I've never been a member of such a great interweb group of guys. Robster is like me going to start learning something a little later in life. He is going to learn to ride a bike and me the guitar. We have something in common there I guess. I was lucky enough to start riding a bike a long time ago. I just wish I'd done the same with the guitar. Thanks for your encouragement and experience. I appreciate all of the input, advice and encouragement I have found here.

 

Wow, Kudos for Robster!

 

I made a little boo boo. Robster is a female version !!!!! Very sorry Robyn. I thought I was talking to a Robert !!!!!.....lol. None the less we are sorting out getting the guitar sent my way !. I have managed to borrow a left handed guitar in the meantime and am liking it very much. My main problem is my fat fingers are muting other strings. I'm learning the chords ok atm. My fat fingers are hampering me trying to learn chord progression. I think I may need some lessons on technique for fat fingered fools like me.......lol. I've managed a little bit of the intro of Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi so far learning from Youtube. There are some very good teachers on there. I really love that song and wanted to see how to go about playing it. Its not overly difficult but again my fingers are hampering me a bit there. Anyway I'm going to arrange some tuition on fingering technique and go from there but so far so good !!!!

 

I got my guitar project completed. In case you want to see, and haven`t already, pics can be found here:

https://cbrforum.com/forum/off-topic...2/#post1214350