Epiphone DR-100 Lefty Conversion

Preamble

The subject of this post is a nice little Epiphone DR-100 acoustic from Jengka. It's a right handed model, but the owner cannot play it as he's left handed. Understandably, he's requested a right handed to left handed conversion. For starters, he's already removed the pickguard and installed a left handed version on the opposite side of the soundhole, kudos to him. Of course, there's lots more to be done before this conversion is complete. And now, without further ado, let's dive right in.

Fretwork

The frets on this DR-100 are worn and pitted in lots of places, making a fret level and crown totally necessary. The 13th fret is also bent out of alignment at the low E end. I'll be replacing this fret before doing anything else.

High frets identified and marked

Here's the 13th fret

Fret leveling in progress

Frets are level

Recrowning the frets

Abrading the frets

Upgrading the Tuners

The existing trapezoid tuners are wonky and won't stay in tune, so they'll need to be replaced. The replacements are a set of Alice Al-016Ps which are totally enclosed, sturdy, and have a much higher gear ratio than the trapezoids.  

Headstock minus tuners

Stock trapezoid tuners

Alice Al-016P machine heads

The Al-016Ps don't fit

Reaming the tuner holes

Good fit achieved

Old tuner screw holes plugged

Al-016Ps installed

Left Handed Bone Nut

A left handed nut has been fashioned from a water buffalo bone blank. Honestly, crafting a custom bone nut such as this is no easy task, and the first one ended up being way too low to be used. I had much better luck on the second attempt, and that's the nut you see below.

Water buffalo bone nut blank

Starter slots marked and cut

Left handed bone nut after final setup

Relocating the Saddle Slot

As one might expect, converting a right handed acoustic to a lefty involves quite a lot of effort. Simply flipping the existing saddle is not going to work. This is because not only are the positions of the low and high E strings reversed, but also the orientation of the saddle. In a nutshell, one needs to fill the existing saddle slot, and then cut a new slot that is a mirror image of the old one.

Existing slot filled with a strip of ebony

Filler strip was cut from this block of ebony

Filler strip sanded flush with the bridge

Here's the new saddle slot

Left Handed Bone Saddle

As it was for the nut, a left handed saddle has been also been fashioned from a water buffalo bone blank. Although the process of crafting a custom bone saddle is a little less complicated than that for a nut, success or failure hinges on several factors. These include a snug fit in the slot, a saddle top radius that matches that of the fretboard, optimal saddle height for low action without buzzing, and adequate compensation for accurate intonation.

Water buffalo bone saddle blank

Test fitting the bone saddle

Left handed bone saddle after final setup