Hi all, my name is Ric (from Maryland). I’ve been considering for a while now wanting to play a stringed instrument (mostly focusing on Celtic music). I can read music (played sax for many years). After browsing and listening to many many videos and sites, I came to really enjoy the sounds of the irish bouzouki. So without boring you further, here are some of my concerns/questions:
A #1 concern - I’m lefthanded and no matter how I try, when I pick up a friends guitar it just does not feel right as a right hander. His instructor many moons ago forced him to play righthanded although he’s also a lefty. I’ve read it’s not as easy as to simply reverse the strings on a bouzouki.
I have no training on stringed instruments. Would it be more advantageous to learn guitar first or can I skip that and go straight to a zouk?
Which to buy? I must admit, I love the sound and style of the P.W. Crump B-III. Obviously being a fresh starter, that’s significant investment. What would you suggest to get started on, that can be modified for a lefty?
Lessons. I’ve been searching the greater DC area, and I think I may have found one person, but I am open to other options including e-lessons, etc. Any recommendations would super.
Those 3 would be my main concerns with getting started. Especially the lefty thing. If I’m going to commit to this, I want to do it the right way from the very start. Any other advice would be great as well!
Thanks for reading!
R
If you like bouzouki, go for it right from the start. I’d imagine that there are some good beginner’s books out there. If not specifically for 'zouk, an octave mandolin book should get you started.
If you get a decent entry level bouzouki, any decent luthier or guitar shop oughta be able to refit it for lefty playing. A movable bridge can just be turned around, but the nut would take a tad more work.
These people can probably do it for you, in the general DC area I think:
http://www.hmtrad.com/
Here’s an interesting article:
http://www.robinbullock.com/article02.htm
Cool. I know of that music store, I believe there is an instructor there as well. Any recommendations on a decent entry level bouzouki?
Thanks for the info!
Hi Ric and welcome!
I think you’ll get a lot of votes for the Trinity College bouzouki. They are probably the most popular instrument for the beginner. They are very well made, affordable, readily available instruments that can be converted to left-handed very successfully. As Paul mentioned, there is a little work that has to be done; you don’t just put the strings on backwards. Also, for any stringed instrument - especially mandolin-family ones - it’s important to have the instrument properly set up and adjusted to play well. Very few mandolin-family instruments play their best right out of the box. So have a set up done when you get the conversions made. Also, be sure to save the right-handed components for the day you’ll want to upgrade to that Crump! 
I have a Trinity College octave mado and like it a lot. I’d assume their 'zouk is just as good.
BTW-- have you tried octave mandolin? If you’d consider one of those, you’d have a lot more choices. Similar, but not identical sound, and a shorter octave for,IMO, easier fingering.
Do some searching for used instruments too.
I’ll do some searching to look at the OM. One of the things that grabbed me about the zouk was the sounds clip of the Crump B-III
I’ve been looking over the options for an intro OM over the weekend. As mentioned above, seems TC is the main supplier of them. I’ve also seen Johnson MA-450, and Gold Tone OM-800 out there as well. Is there any preference among the experienced crowd with these 3? Preferred vendor?
Thanks much, I can’t wait to get started!
I was ready to settle for a TC OM. I did some looking around and it seemed that Elderly was a quality shop from comments I have seen. I spoke with their repair shop about converting to LH and the costs bump the $550 original price to over $800 (including a handmade bridge).
Assuming this is what I’m faced with, a couple hundred more puts me into a price space of some independent luthiers where a LH setup may be less of an issue. Is this a valid assumption?
If you know what instrument you want to play, then go for it. I wouldn’t think that learning guitar would give you any great advantage as opposed to working on the zouk directly.
Don’t worry about left handed conversion! You’ll have an initial advantage in fingering and an initial dis-advantage in picking, but after a hundred hours of practice it will even out. If you learn to play a standard instrument you will always be able to play a borrowed instrument, or try out different models in a store. The only exception would be maybe if you had a physical impairment.
A buddy of mine just started playing bouzouki. He was reasonably tolerable after a week, but he started with a MP on guitar.
Go for it! It’s a much lovelier sound than the guitar right from the start (I’ve just bought my husband a mandolin, primarily to stop him getting on my nerves with his guitar noodling. It works.) If anything, learning the guitar first might be a disadvantage as the tuning & number of strings is different…
Personally, I think $250 to convert a TC octave mandolin is a little pricey. Maybe that includes other things like set up and a case?
For a thousand dollars you end up at the entry level for a couple of luthiers. Go to MandolinCafe.com and check there. You’ll find a lot of players and a number of builders to speak with. Keep an eye on their classifieds section as well. It’s a really active mandolin-specific forum and all the best deals show up there. TCs, even lefties, show up from time to time, and if you ask for one in the forum, you might get directed to a specific seller. It’s good to be a member of specialized groups like that. MandolinCafe is like the Chiff and Fipple of the mando world.