Epiphone Flying-VeeWee

El_Kabong

I have a 7 year old who i want to get a guitar for christmas. the only problem is he's left handed so it's near impossible to find a left hand jr guitar. i figured i could get the Epiphone Flying-VeeWee and just flip it upside down...another store said you can teach him to be right handed almost as easily as teaching him left handed...never heard of that but i think i'll just stick to left handed.

anyway, does anyone know if this is a good guitar? they have a Flying-VeeWee RaveRig that comes w/ a mini amp,strap, plug and carrying case for $159 w/ free shipping at music123.

or should i just get a real left handed one on ebay or something?

thanks

this is epiphone's link for it

http://epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=56&CollectionID=7

ramspam

I'm a lefty and like alot of other lefties, including Billy Corgan decided to learn guitar right handed. I've only been playing for about 6 months but have faced no real extra difficulties because of it and makes fretting easier.

Playing guitar right handed for me feels 'natural' although I'm left handed but many lefties struggle to learn right handed. Learning right handed has the advantage of having more guitars available and being able to play right handed people's guitars.

If he feels more confortable playing a left handed guitar you should get him one but if he prefers playing right handed then its easier for him to find gear. I'm haven't heard anything about that guitar but there are some good reviews here http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_id/46205.

paulus2112

check out this link mate

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data4/Epiphone/Flying_Vee_Wee-1.html

i'm a right handed player as are most guitarists i know, i'd suggest teaching right handed as its a shame to be limited to left hand ones only.

often times i'll end up in some ones house and pick up an old guitar slung in a corner and play a few tunes - ive never yet seen a left handed guitar other than in shops!

2 problems with the v as i see it are:

i'm guessing the controls would be in the wrong place and maybe more difficult to access if u turn it upside down? and also (i have a jackson randy rhodes) these 'v' shaped guitars are a bitch to sit and play - you might be better off teaching a beginner with a strat kinda shaped guitar that rests comfortably and wont keep slipping off your knee.

I do think the wee v is a trick guitar though and the thought of getting my 11 yr old one has often crossed my mind - she's a girl though so i can get her a daisy rock instead!

Thumbing My Way

I think that'd be an awesome guitar to have as a little guy, it looks so rockin but like paulus2112 said..they are a bitch to play sitting down. My buddy has a Dean Dimebag and i hate playing it cuz it's constantly slipping off your lap. This would make it much harder to learn on.

Probably be better to start out with a different Epiphone, i know they have an SG pakage like that and a Les Paul one too if i'm not mistaken. But he is left handed so it's a tough call.....

Anyways, whatever you decide to go with, good luck and i'm sure he'll love it!!

Pacomc79

you also need to turn the nut around but for a 7 year old, why not?

It's not obviously the best guitar in the world but it dosen't need to be.

You might be able to find something cheaper but that's probably the right size and it looks cool. I'd say go for it.

El_Kabong

Pacomc79 wrote:

you also need to turn the nut around but for a 7 year old, why not?

It's not obviously the best guitar in the world but it dosen't need to be.

You might be able to find something cheaper but that's probably the right size and it looks cool. I'd say go for it.

which was a lot of my point. i don't need anything spectacular for him to learn on. my first guitar was a crappy samick, but it was something to learn on.

what do you mean 'turn the nut around', exactly?

the way i see it is why not let his body work the way it's wired? what if making him play right when he's a leftie hinders how good he can be? like i'm right handed but i can write somewhat decent w/ my left hand...but still i write a lot better w/ my right...so i'd rather stay w/ a left handed guitar.

i have seen bad reviews of it going out of tune a lot,tho. i'd much rather have a strat or maybe even the jr sg (which i can't find anyway w/ the player pack) or something easier to hold but for left handed the only option is really ebay unless i can get some store or site to order one for me. also it's pretty cheap, especially coming w/ a small 9v amp...

the main problem is fining one. just a les paul jr alone is $50 cheaper than the veewee pack, i'm sure i could find a small amp for $50 at a pawn shop or something...they even have the player pack (nicer amp, too) for that at tehs ame price as thevee wee but...no left handed ones.

so the main reason in choosing the veewee is convenience of finding one

Pacomc79

Tuning stability can be helped with a simple setup and or upgrading the tuners if the ones on it won't hold pitch, I don't really know why they wouldn't after a proper setup. I say turn the nut around or hell, change to a lefty graphite (tuning stability) so that the large gauge strings still run through the larger cut holes. There are certainly sub $50 amps perfect for that sort of thing. Even a smokey or a Hot Watt (headphone amp)


I detest player packs. I usually put toegether my own if people want them, the salesmen makes less money that way but the customer gets better stuff, I just feel like I can put toegther better deals than manufacturers. Although, I did buy an Ibanez Pack, for a kid last Christmas because it had all they might need in there and I wouldn't be able to tell them what else to get. Usually the Amp and extras are throw ins, meaning they are about as cheap quality as possible to maximise profit.

I'd go with the Vee Wee and just make it better if need be. The amp can come later.

tika1104

hey

i'm right handed and i'm looking to get a guitar this would be my first. I wanna get a pack that has an amp and the guitar and i came across the vee wee rave rig. Can any1 give me some feed bak on the pro's and con's, or just if it's a good choice or should i get something else. And also i dont plan on doing any concerts or anything like that so is the amp ok for a small bedroom or should i by a seperate amp, if so wat amp's a good idea?

who's_pearljam?

That pee wee is pretty cool. They are a pain to sit down and play, so think about if that would be discouraging to him. Remember though that in some respects, the first guitar is the MOST important one. Make sure it's easy to play, and sit with. That little Paul is cool, too. Or maybe a pee wee strat. The strat flips over pretty nicely. Wasn't there some guitar player in the 60's that did that? Can't remember his name.
You would change the nut around to accomodate the string sizes in the slots when you reverse the strings.
Remember that the cord is going to come out of the top of the wing if you flip the Vee, too.

The first time I saw the pee wee vee, I thought,,, ooooh Lap steel! You could set a beer holder on one of the wings! :cool:

I've played with a lot of leftys that learned on righty guitars, and some converted over to righty guitars later.
To me, it seems like fretting is more complex than picking, so the left hand would be the one to use for a left handed person. I think it might be learned behaviour, but I'm no expert at that.
The leftys went to righty guitars just because of the fact that they could play anybody's guitars then, like ramspam said.

When I taught, another guy who taught kids put the guitar in their hands straight up, and let them see what direction the KID put it on, then went from there.


Well, I hope that clears everything up, because I just confused myself!

El_Kabong

who's_pearljam? wrote:

That pee wee is pretty cool. They are a pain to sit down and play, so think about if that would be discouraging to him. Remember though that in some respects, the first guitar is the MOST important one. Make sure it's easy to play, and sit with. That little Paul is cool, too. Or maybe a pee wee strat. The strat flips over pretty nicely. Wasn't there some guitar player in the 60's that did that? Can't remember his name.
You would change the nut around to accomodate the string sizes in the slots when you reverse the strings.
Remember that the cord is going to come out of the top of the wing if you flip the Vee, too.

The first time I saw the pee wee vee, I thought,,, ooooh Lap steel! You could set a beer holder on one of the wings! :cool:

I've played with a lot of leftys that learned on righty guitars, and some converted over to righty guitars later.
To me, it seems like fretting is more complex than picking, so the left hand would be the one to use for a left handed person. I think it might be learned behaviour, but I'm no expert at that.
The leftys went to righty guitars just because of the fact that they could play anybody's guitars then, like ramspam said.

When I taught, another guy who taught kids put the guitar in their hands straight up, and let them see what direction the KID put it on, then went from there.


Well, I hope that clears everything up, because I just confused myself!

thanks for the reply...it gives me some things to think about...i'm gonna call around some stores a little further away...see what they have then go look at them...the strats were a bit more for just a jr guitar.

i saw a little kid play at an experience hendrix contest...had to be 10 or younger...played left handed and had his strat upside down...he was fuckin amazing for his age...forgot what song he played but he nailed it

Richy_Faceliftology

I just learned right handed even though im left handed,even when i air guitared it was left handed,but i just learned it right handed.wasn't any different for me like!try it!

likepilateihaveadog

i just want to say that any seven yar old with a flying V is a badass to me.

El_Kabong

well, i ended up going w/the les paul jr player pack

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/518744/

it was the same price as the veewee. i called guitar center who had both in stock but they wanted $229 for the les paul (and he said that was their sale price!!) and $175 for the veewee. both are $149.99 at the site above so i jsut got it from there. i figured that would be just as easy to string upside down and would be easier to play sitting down, too.

i asked if they had the sunburst one in stock but they only had ebony, he said he wasn't sure if they made them in sunburst (music123 had the sunburst one but was $10) more...i told him they had it but i had bought stuff from them before and decided to stick w/ a company i know and trust...he ended up uping the shipping to 2 days for free! which i then spent on the gold coverage which protects everything for 2 years.

sometimes procrastination does pay off

who's_pearljam?

El_Kabong wrote:

well, i ended up going w/the les paul jr player pack

sometimes procrastination does pay off

I live by those words!

Congratulations! Cool choice. I can't think of any famous upside down Les Paul guitarists off the top of my head. Maybe little Kabong will be the one! :cool:

jeff's_the_man

may i suggest first letting him try play it right handed, i am a lefty and i wish that i had the initial patience to just try play right handed!! i am slightly regretting it now....