About 10% of people are left-handed — yet most guitars in the world are right-handed. If you are starting out as a lefty, the first decision (true lefty model or flipped righty) shapes everything after. Here is the honest beginner's guide.
A true left-handed guitar is built mirrored: nut, saddle and string order all reversed. A flipped righty (re-strung with the low E on top) is a budget workaround that works for learning but has real compromises — the nut slots and saddle compensation are cut for right-handed string tension.
For beginners the practical advice is: buy a true left-handed guitar if you can afford one; many major brands (Fender, among others) make genuine lefty models across their lineup.
Scale length and body size matter more than brand for comfort; a smaller-bodied acoustic or a 3/4-scale instrument suits beginners. Playability beats tone for the first year — a guitar you want to pick up daily beats one that sounds better but hurts your wrist.
Check the nut width for your hand, and make sure the store's return policy covers setup issues. A basic setup (string height, intonation) transforms even cheap lefty guitars.
Buying a right-handed guitar 'to be cheaper' and learning flipped — workable, but you will re-learn posture and picking later. Also common: buying a random used guitar online without checking whether it is genuinely left-handed or just re-strung.
The music section on the home page links the official left-handed lineups of major manufacturers, plus retailer filters, so you can compare actual lefty models — not marketing photos.