Converting right hand to left hand

[Andrew Armstrong]

A client has asked me to convert his Gibson Advanced Jumbo from right to left hand. Will require a new bridge and nut. Wondering what the issues might be. Is it likely to play/sound same? What should I be aware of to get a good result?
AA

[Clay Schaeffer]

One possibility might be to make the saddle slot wider,cutting wood out in front of the bass side and behind the treble side. Then do the reversed compensation on a fatter saddle.
Playability should be improved if he's a lefty!
Hard to say if it will sound the same or worse or better. Much will depend on the ear of the beholder.

[Freeman Keller]

1 - fill the saddle slot and route a new one (the StewMac Dremel jig makes that fairly easy) or replace bridge. If the pin holes are angled you might need to plug them and redrill. Make a new saddle. Deal with neck angle at this time if necessary.
2- make a new nut
3- optional - add a lefty pick guard. Decide if you want to remove the old p/g and deal with tan lines
4- add marker dots on right side of neck (easy to forget this one)

Obviously the bracing will be backwards which in theory will affect the tone. I doubt if anyone will know. I did a lefty conversion on a Martin OM and though the guitar sounded wonderful. In my case the top needed to be finished so the tan line was not an issue and it needed a new neck so I could set the angle correctly.

[Andrew Armstrong]

Thanks for the feedback. Owner also wants the top refinished maybe with a new pguard. Bridge is narrower than the more typical Martin style and it slopes bass to treble so will need to make a new one as he wants to keep it close to original. Will let you know how it goes. AA

[Mark Swanson]

If this is a Gibson advanced jumbo, I would refuse to refinish it, even if it's a newer model. Converting it to lefty is one thing but refinishing will really destroy its value even if it looks bad now.

[Michael Lewis]

Well, that depends on how bad it looks now. If it's already 'ruined' there is not a lot of value to protect. But basically Mark is correct.