So you’re looking for your first guitar, but there’s a problem. You’re left handed, and it seems like every guitar on this planet is for right handers! Well have no fear, we have combed the back catalogs to find the best left handed guitars for beginners! Whether you’re on the hunt for a classic full-size dreadnought, or maybe a body shape with a bit more room to play, we have compiled the best left handed acoustic guitars for all you lefties out there, not just beginners.
So let’s go through them and find the perfect left handed guitar for you…
Contents
Top 6 Best Left Handed Guitars For Beginner 2023
1
Fender CD-60SCE Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Jumping right in, we have the Fender CD-60SCE Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar – All Mahogany Bundle with Hard Case, Tuner, Strap, Strings, Picks, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and Polishing Cloth, and what a great guitar it is!
As the name suggests, we have an electro-acoustic instrument, dreadnought body shape, which comes with a great starter pack packed with all the essentials! While these bundle offers are aimed at getting beginner players into the market, this guitar is a great fit for players of any skill level.
The combination of a Venetian-cutaway body and mahogany top, back and sides, makes for not just an exquisite looking guitar, but also a fantastic sounding one.
Looking at the neck, we see Mahogany, coupled with a Rosewood fretboard, which we found had a lovely fast and smooth feel. Inside the body, Fender have used a quartersawn scalloped “X” body bracing pattern and have incorporated the highly acclaimed Fishman Isys II Pickup. This includes a chromatic tuner plus volume, bass, treble knobs to give you all the control you will need over the sound.
In testing, we found the Fender CD-60SCE to play beautifully either acoustically or, unlike some offerings in this price range, when plugged in (we were using a Fender Champion 100 amp). There was zero buzz present, although we did make a slight adjustment to the dual-action truss rod when we first unboxed this one. However, we don’t recommend you do that yourself unless you have experience in truss rod adjustment.
Pros
- Performs fantastically plugged in.
- Venetian cutaway for looks and more room to play.
- Beautiful warm tone.
Cons
- Longer neck makes it not the best choice for children or those with smaller hands.
If you’re looking for something similar, how about the Fender CD-60SCE Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar - Natural - Left-Handed.
Also available, and slightly cheaper, the Fender CD-60S Solid Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar - Black Bundle with Gig Bag, Tuner, Strap, Strings, Picks, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and Polishing Cloth. Missing from this guitar are the cutaway and the pickup, there’s also a different combo of tonewood but overall an awesome deal and a great guitar!
2
Seagull S6 Original Acoustic Guitar Limited Edition
Calling the S6 a beginner guitar is definitely selling this guitar a little short, but it is such a gorgeous guitar that we just had to include it. Seagull is a Canadian guitar company, founded in Quebec in 1982 by the famed luthier Robert Godin.
Known for producing not just high-quality acoustic guitars, but also world-class standard mandolins and ukuleles. Seagull have created a glowing reputation for themselves in the last three decades. And during testing of the Seagull S6 original acoustic guitar limited edition tennessee red, we found that reputation well deserved.
Unlike most other instruments at this price point, which are mostly mass-produced in Asia, the Seagull S6 was 100% handmade in Canada. The Seagull S6 has a pressure-tested solid Cedar top paired with Wild Cherry for its back and sides, a combination you very rarely find in guitars from this price range.
Although we found the tone to be very agreeable from the time we unboxed, Cedar is known for sometimes for being a little tinny, to begin with. This will soften as the wood matures, and you should find the tone to become warmer as the years pass by.
Overall the build quality is top-notch, and includes a compensated Tusq Saddle by GraphTech, which improves playability by compensating slightly on certain strings. The saddle grooves are placed in different directions for different strings, an addition you will not commonly find on guitars in this price range.
Well, the neck is a little thicker than we usually go for, but that is totally subjective and really our only drawback to this guitar, albeit very slight.
Pros
- Handmade, top quality build.
- We love the tone.
- Smaller headstock which puts the tuners and nut inline, which improves tuning stability.
Cons
- Slightly thicker neck.
3
Taylor GS Mini Mahogany-L GS Mini Acoustic Guitar
If you’re in the market for great quality, a trusted name, and something on the smaller side, then look no further than the Taylor GS Mini Mahogany-L GS Mini Acoustic Guitar, Sapele, Mahogany Top, Lefty. This little pocket rocket has always been known for bucking the trend of small guitars with a small sound.
The combination of a tropical Mahogany top, layered Sapele back and sides, and Ebony fingerboard has endowed this guitar with a rich, full sound and an excellent score for playability. The short 23.5” scale length is a dream to play, especially for anyone of a shorter stature among us.
The scaled-down grand symphony shape coupled with the X-Bracing with relief route are what Taylor claims is responsible for the big guitar sound, and we tend to agree. It’s not just the guitar that is well made either.
The “soft” case included with this guitar is by far our favorite f any in this review. And it provides almost the same protection as you would get from a hard case while being much more comfortable and weighing in super light.
The Taylor GS Mini Mahogany-L is, in our opinion, the best looking guitar on this list. Pairing the beautiful tropical Mahogany top with the subtle curves of the scaled-down grand opera style make it a true stand out in the small guitar world and one that has been since copied countless times.
For more information, please check out our in-depth review of the Tayler GS Mini.
Pros
- Compact and sturdy.
- Best soft case of any guitar reviewed.
- Big sound in a small package.
Cons
- No pickup.
4
Donner Left Handed Acoustic Guitar Cutaway DAG-1CL 41 Inch
We thought we should add in an offering from the lower end of the price scale, and we just couldn’t go past the Donner Left Handed Acoustic Guitar Cutaway DAG-1CL 41 inch Full-size Beginner Guitar Package with Big Bag Tuner String Strap Capo. This low-end guitar surprised us over and over again with how well it performed, delivering first-class tone, and we found it a joy to play.
The full-size 41 inch cutaway dreadnought body makes for a versatile, warm sound that resonates through a tonewood combo of Mahogany neck, back and sides, and a Spruce laminate top.
Simply because it truly does not feel or sound cheap! And with the addition of a gig bag, tuner, capo, and a spare set of strings thrown in, we think this is the best deal for the beginner out there who just wants to dip their toes into the guitar world and not splash out too much.
Yes, this guitar does have some “cheaper” parts, like the nut and the saddle, but that really is to be expected here. These sorts of things are cheap to change out for higher quality materials if you decide you want to later. Or if the guitar bug takes over, just upgrade to a better guitar in a year or so?
Pros
- Super affordable.
- Great sound.
- Heaps of extras included.
Cons
- At this price, it’s not going to be the best quality, but still much better than we expected.
5
Yamaha FG820 Left-Handed Solid Top Acoustic Guitar
As soon as we picked up the Yamaha FG820, we knew we had found something a little special. This is a guitar that performs well above its price tag, but that’s not super surprising given Yamaha’s reputation.
Here we are looking at that classic combination of a Spruce top with Mahogany back and sides. We loved the smooth feel on the matte, standard-shaped neck, which is topped by an easy-playing Rosewood fingerboard. This full-size dreadnought produces an unmistakable sound that we think is almost impossible to reproduce in smaller body shapes.
Well firstly, Spruce has a well-rounded, articulate sound, and its characteristic projection has been well documented. This, coupled with a warm, well-balanced tone associated with Mahogany plus its propensity for increasing mid-range frequencies, makes for a perfect pairing.
The Yamaha FG series is the most popular and best selling, range of acoustic guitars in the world, and it’s not hard to tell why. If you’re looking to learn guitar on one of the best beginner guitars out there, we think this might be the ax for you!
Pros
- Scalloped bracing boosts low frequencies and increases projection.
- Yamaha’s trademark build quality.
- Great all-rounder.
Cons
- None at this price.
6
Ibanez Performance Series PF15 Left Handed Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural
Rounding off our review today, we have the Ibanez Performance Series PF15 Left Handed Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar Natural. As the name suggests, Ibanez are offering a left handed dreadnought style acoustic guitar that is performance quality while keeping the price down.
Again we have a Spruce top here and, you guessed it, Mahogany back and sides. We were big fans of the intricate black and white rosette on display, as we were of natural high gloss finish. The great feeling standard shaped neck is topped by an easy-playing Rosewood fingerboard, which provides a smooth action for all styles of play.
The PF15L features Advantage™ pins, which are easier to put in and take out compared to standard old-fashioned tuning pins in the saddle of the guitar. As with all the guitars in this review, you can expect a solid, sturdy instrument that will deliver exactly what a beginner is looking for.
This is a great all-rounder, and we really enjoyed testing this one.
Pros
- Smooth playing neck.
- Great styling.
- Great all-rounder.
Cons
- Nothing at all.
Need Some Accessories For Your New Guitar?
A few of the best left handed guitars for beginners we reviewed included quite a few accessories, but many didn’t. So it may be worth checking out our reviews of the Best Acoustic Guitar Strings, the Best Sheet Music Stands, the Best Acoustic Guitar Pickups, the Best Guitar Humidifiers, and the Best Guitar Wall Hangers currently available.
So What’s The Best Left Handed Guitars For Beginner?
Decision time and boy, this was a hard one. After countless hours deliberating, we finally were able to settle on one clear winner! It was a toss-up between the Taylor GS Mini Mahogany GS Mini Acoustic Guitar and the Fender CD-60SCE, but the Fender won by a nose by not only providing amazing sound, playability and a pickup system but also all the extras needed when first starting out!
This does not discount the rest of the list, though; they are all great guitars worthy of your time.
We hope this review has helped guide you in your decision of which is the right fit for you!
Happy strumming!