Guitar shop strikes the right chord with musical lefties
For 12 years, Lefty Guitars in Antwerp province has been catering to the needs of left-handed guitar players from all over Europe
No one left behind
“The only one between here and Paris,” Van Rompaey adds. From those humble beginnings, when he stocked his garage shop with eight guitars, Van Rompaey has come a long way.
Today, the shop’s inventory includes more than 100 guitars, from the left-handed electric, acoustic and bass, to a left-handed ukulele and a left-handed mandolin. “I knew there was a gap in the market that I could fill,” he says, “but I didn’t think we would still be here after all these years.”
Being left-handed, Van Rompaey found it frustrating that the only suitable guitars he could find were online. He now has guitar lefties visiting his shop from all over Europe.
Filling a gap
But with just 10% of the world’s population being left-handed, he knew he was entering a niche market. “I kept my job as an accountant, because I knew I couldn’t make a living from my guitars,” he says.
To run the business as a full-time endeavour, “I would have to become a salesman, pushing sales in the shop and online, with larger expenses and greater risk,” he continues. “Now people can have a look around, without being pressured into buying anything.”
The beginnings, however, were difficult. “I didn’t know anything,” he admits. “I didn’t know where to get the guitars, what to do as a dealer or what kind of profits I’d be making.”
After two years, I was convinced that all the left-handers out there would have the guitars they wanted; but they just kept coming back
At a tradeshow in Germany, he finally secured a deal with Fender, an American guitar manufacturer made famous by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others.
Today, Lefty Guitars still sells the Fenders, but its inventory also includes guitars made by Gretch, Martin, Sigma, Eastwood and Guild. Prices range from €99 for the Tanglewood beginner acoustic guitar to €3,600 for the top-of-the-line Gretch White Falcon electric guitar.
The shop’s success has caught Van Rompaey by surprise. In 2007, Lefty Guitars moved out of the garage to its current location in the Peulis neighbourhood.
“After two years, I was convinced that all the left-handers out there would have the guitars they wanted; but they just kept coming back.”
Flanders’ southpaws
He admits that most guitarists (himself included) fall victim to the guitar acquisition syndrome – the all-consuming urge to acquire more gear. “I own a lot of guitars myself. Last year I had 48 Fender Jazzmasters in stock, and I kept one.”
Over the years, all the southpaw musicians in Flanders have visited Lefty Guitars at one time or another: Guido Belcanto, Stef Kamil Carlens, Raf Van Brussel and Mirko Banovic to name a few. Once, the local teenage phenom Emma Bale popped in for a guitar repair, and Tindersticks guitarist Neil Fraser flew in from the UK to head to Putte.
Hopes ran high when famous left-hander Paul McCartney was in the neighbourhood to play Rock Werchter last year. But, sighs Van Rompaey, “he didn’t stop by”.
