I have a quick question for lefty guitar players

[mcctatas]

my dad gave my daughter one of his old electric guitars, only problem is he's a lefty and she's not. It's a fender stratocaster, and I know she's dying to move on to electric, but if I have it switched, the knobs will always be on the wrong side and in her way. Would any of you guitar types advise selling it or keeping it and getting it refitted?

Thanks much
mcctatas

[DrDan]

1. how old is the strat?

if quite old (60's or older) - I would never alter it - or sell it - worth hanging on to

If you do not know the age, mail me the serial number and I can let you know the age

if altered it is going to lose all its value

left-handed strats are pretty cheap - 400 bucks or so if you do not mind a non-American made strat (Fender)

[mcctatas]

2. Thanks

another dumb question, where do I find the serial number?
mcctatas

[DrDan]

3. here you go

this should tell you where to find it and also how to read it

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html#serial

[DrDan]

4. one more thing

here is a good site to figure out what it is worth - http://gbase.com/

you definitely need to know the age first

then you can simply put "stratocaster lefty" or something similar in that "Find an Instrument" box.

There are always a ton of Strats here so you should be able to get its value.

Again - I would never alter it. It will only drop in value.

[Jamastiene]

5. Let her play it as is. If she learns right handed

from the beginning, she will never know the difference. I'm left handed and several of my friends are too. We all play right handed. It's no biggie.