I just ordered a lefty Collings MT.

It will be the first lefty Collings MT made, the second lefty Mandolin ordered.

It will take 6-9 months. In the meantime I have a cheapo starter mandolin that I am having a ball with. This mandolin stuff is new to me, and its a blast. Its allot easier to play than I thought. But, it certainly poses a real challenge in terms of developing good skills.

I ordered it through Miss Kim at Cotten Music. She's a real pleasure to do business with.

Lefty,

6-9 months seems like a long time for a mando. I have an MT-2 which I really adore!! Hope to post some pics soon.

Kewl! I got my mando out this past weekend and started getting back into it. I had forgotten how damn much fun it is! I really need to start jamming with some folks though so I can develop my chops.

Cool!

But to all the licks sound backwards on a lefty?

I was giving this some thought this morning, lefty. Would it be possible to restring a regular right handed A style mando as left handed? The tailpiece might be slightly different between righty and lefty, but that's an easy change if necessary. The one thing I don't know is if the tone bars that brace the top are symmetrical. If they are then restringing it for lefty shouldn't be a problem at all. I suspect the tone bars aren't quite symmetrical though...

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Originally posted by Allen White:
I was giving this some thought this morning, lefty. Would it be possible to restring a regular right handed A style mando as left handed? The tailpiece might be slightly different between righty and lefty, but that's an easy change if necessary. The one thing I don't know is if the tone bars that brace the top are symmetrical. If they are then restringing it for lefty shouldn't be a problem at all. I suspect the tone bars aren't quite symmetrical though...

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It's not quite that easy. I know that Collings is now making the first lefty Mandolin, an MT2. I think getting a lefty tailpiece thing on a lefty takes some skill in producing. I know Bill Collings is currently himself working on that Mandolin and it should be sent out to Cotten Music by the end of the month. It will be their first true lefty moandolin. I thought about getting that one, but its way too expnsive for me at this stage of my mandolin playing. As far as doing a conversion from a right handed version to a left handed version, there are some slight differences in bracing, according to Collings, but probably not enough to make a difference in tone that I would notice. I thought about converting a right handed version, but I was talked out of it by Collings. Also, if I am going to spend the money, I might as well get a true lefty.

I'll most likely take delivery of it by the end of the year. But, there are no guarantees on the timeframe. I think they do mandolin's in batches, so it might depend on when they will start the next group of them. That's why I stated 6-9 months for delivery. I could actaully have it in 4 or 5 months, but I am not counting on that at all.

That's great. I play an MT2 left handed. I just switched a right handed mando around. No big issues. The tailpiece wasn't a problem. Now I put on a cast Allen tailpiece so there's even less of a problem. I put on a new nut and flipped the bridge around. I also put fret marker dots on the side of the fretboard to help me find my way. All this works, but getting a lefty out of the factory is preferrable. Collings makes great mandos. Keep us posted when you get it.