Looking for your first acoustic or classical left handed guitar? This article should serve as a good primer to help you understand the various different styles of acoustic guitars. Head to the bottom of the page for an in-depth list of the best beginner left handed acoustic guitars, sorted by price bracket.
If you’re looking to buy for a child or just have smaller hands, you may like to check out my article on 3/4 Sized Left Handed Acoustic Guitars.
Acoustic or Electro-Acoustic Guitar ?
The first thing you’ll want to do is decide whether you want a traditional acoustic or an electro-acoustic guitar. The main difference between the two being that you can plug your electro-acoustic directly into an amp, whereas with a traditional acoustic you will need to use a microphone to amplify the sound when playing live.
A great advantage to starting out with an electro-acoustic guitar is that many will come with a built-in tuner. If your guitar doesn’t come with a tuner I highly recommend a clip-on headstock tuner such as a Snark – find out more about these in Part 7 of the Newbie Guide.
After reading this you may be thinking of just buying an electro-acoustic. Hell, it’s the same as an acoustic with a few extra bells and whistles right? This is true, but these extra gadgets obviously come at a price. Think carefully about what you need.
Body Styles
Acoustic guitars come in a seemingly endless variety of different shapes and sizes and you’ll want to take this into deliberation when buying your first guitar. Various shapes and styles are suited to different genres and so this can be an important consideration to make. Let’s take a look at a few of the most common shapes.
Dreadnought Guitars
The most popular acoustic guitar body shape. Dreadnought guitars have large body shapes which will equate to a louder sound being produced. Due to the deeper soundbox the Dreadnought style will produce a very bassy, boomy sound. For the average player, this is the right style of guitar to go for. This is however a fairly large guitar and may be a handful for a smaller framed individual.
Grand Concert Guitars
The Grand Concert (GC) body style is the major body style most directly derived from the classical guitar. It has the thinnest soundbox and the smallest overall size of the major styles, making it very comfortable to play but also one of the quietest. Its smaller size makes it suitable for younger or smaller-framed players.
Grand Auditorium Guitars
The Grand Auditorium (GA) is very similar in design to the Grand Concert, but slightly wider and deeper. Many GA-style guitars also have a convex back panel to increase the volume of space in the soundbox without making the soundbox deeper at the edges, which would affect comfort and playability. The result is a very balanced tone, comparable to the GC but with greater volume and dynamic range and slightly more low-end response, without sacrificing the ergonomics of the classical style, making these body styles very popular.
Jumbo Guitars
Jumbo Guitars are designed to be loud and full of bass. It’s basically similar in function and usage to the dreadnaught. In some situations, the mid frequencies get lost, overpowered by the bass. Again, due to its size, it may not be right for a beginner player, or a small framed person. Ideal for use in large open environments where sound projection is important.
Classical Nylon String Guitars
Classical guitars are characterized by the use of nylon strings. Typically, these instruments have a wide neck and a very flat fingerboard. Some “old school” instructors feel that this is the only guitar a beginning guitarist should consider as the lighter string tension and nylon material are easy on the fingers.
Travel Guitars / Small Scale Guitars
If you need something to learn with on the road then these more compact guitars are an ideal choice. Likewise, if you are a smaller individual a travel guitar can be much easier to tame than the more sizeable options. Check out our list of 3/4 Sized Left Handed Guitars. Keep in mind that these smaller guitars will also have a much smaller ‘voice’ than their full bodied cousins.
Cutaway Guitars
All of the body styles listed above can have a portion of the body ‘cut away’ on the bottom side to allow easier access to the upper frets. The cutaway will affect the tone of the guitar to a degree.This type of guitar tends to be favored by players who are more into a fingerstyle type of playing due to the better access to higher frets. Most manufacturers will differentiate between full body and cutaway guitars by adding ‘CE’ to the end of the model name.
Types of Wood
The main element which will affect the sound coming from your guitar besides the shape is the wood that it is made from. However, as a beginner this is not something you should be desperately concerned about. To an untrained ear most acoustics will sound more or less the same!
Enough chat, let’s look at a few good examples of left handed acoustic guitars…
It’s worth noting that with acoustics more so than any other style of guitar, you should really try to spend as much as you can comfortably afford. It’s a false economy to buy something cheap now, only to spend more later on getting the guitar you should have chosen in the first place.
In every price bracket, I’ve arranged the guitars in order of my personal preference. Classical options are shown separately at the end of each list.
Popular Left Handed Acoustic Guitars Under $100
Jameson EA – black or blue
Rogue RG-624 – link
SX Mentor S – link or with cutaway
Moz Electro Acoustic – Sunburst or Leaf Quilt
Omega Classical Kit – link
Best Left Handed Acoustic Guitars Under $200
Ibanez PF15L – link
Oscar Schmidt OG2 – natural or black or with cutaway
Stagg SA30D – black or natural
Jay Turser JTA424 – link
Johnson JG-624 – link
Stagg C546 Classical – link
Ortega R122 Classical – link
Neal Says: In this price bracket I’ve placed the Ibanez PF15L at the top of the list. It looks fantastic, is built from quality materials, and the famous Ibanez name on the headstock means it will hold its value very well. For under $200 it’s going to be hard to beat the Ibanez!
Popular Left Handed Acoustic Guitars Under $300
Fender CD-100 – link
Ibanez AW400L – link
Ibanez AEG10L Black – link
Taylor BT-1 Baby – link
Taylor BT-2 Baby – link
Tanglewood TW28 – link
Stagg C546 Classical – link
Neal Says: This is the price range at which we begin to see guitars from the bigger, well known brands. The Fender CD-100 is pretty much the go-to beginner guitar for southpaw players – it’s affordable, you’ve got the big name on the headstock and it sounds great. In my opinion it’s the best buy in this price bracket, but honestly you cannot go wrong with any of the guitars mentioned here. The two Taylors are a little bit smaller than your average acoustic, making them a great choice for younger players or for those with smaller hands.
Popular Left Handed Acoustic Guitars Under $400
Fender CD-100CE – link
Yamaha FG720SL – link
Ibanez AEG18L – link
Taylor BBT Big Baby – link
Dean Exotica Quilt – link
Dean Performer – Black
Dean Espana Classical – link
Neal Says: In the previous price bracket I picked the Fender CD-100 as the best buy. For a little bit extra cash here, the CD-100CE adds electronics and a cutaway for improved upper fret access – once again the Fender is a great choice. Another top pick in this bracket is the FG720SL – Yamaha is famed for producing guitars that seem to punch well above their price – and this model is no exception.
Popular Left Handed Acoustic Guitars Under $500
Taylor GS Mini – Sapele or Mahogany
Epiphone ’64 Texan Limited Edition – link
Epiphone EJ-200SCE Limited Edition – Natural or Sunburst
Fender Sonoran SCE – link
Seagull S6 – link
Dean Exotica Bubinga – link
Cordoba C5 Classical – link
La Patrie Etude Classical – link
Neal Says: Now we’re getting into the real quality picks – anything here will potentially last you for life. Personally, I would take the Taylor GS Mini (in fact, I did! I have one hanging on my wall right now!). These guitars are slightly smaller than usual, making them ideal for new players – but they sound every inch as big as a full sized acoustic. In my opinion, the GS Mini is the best beginner acoustic guitar – period. If you can afford it, you will not be disappointed.
For full sized options, the Epiphones are both limited editions, so these will make a nice investment if you’re looking for something a little bit more special. My personal choices aside, you cannot go wrong with any of the guitars in this price bracket.
So there you have it! The best left handed acoustic guitars for beginners. Hopefully you’ll have spotted something that interests you amongst these choices.
If you have any further questions, please leave a comment below.
Part One : Tips Before You Buy
Part Two : Beginner Electric Guitars
Part Three : Beginner Acoustic Guitars
Part Four : Beginner Bass Guitars
Part Five : Amps
Part Six : Effects
Part Seven : Accessories
Part Eight : Lessons