Left Handed Magneto Guitars - A lefty Magneto Sonnet Classic US-1300 Lefthand with a Candy Apple Red finish

Left Handed Magneto Guitars 2023

by Chris

May 5, 2023

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Last Updated on December 14, 2023 by Chris

Does Magneto Guitars Make Left Handed Guitars?

Yes, they do! At the time of writing, there are two different left handed Magneto guitars available.

Go straight to the guitars here.

Please note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I may get a small commission if you buy anything when you click through. If you do make a purchase, then thank you so much! It really helps me keep this website going.

Who Are Magneto Guitars?

Magneto Guitars was founded by Christian Hatstatt back in late 2008, and launched in May the following year. Hatstatt is known for working with a number of guitar brands, most notably Blade Guitars.

Magneto Guitars founder Christian Hatstatt setting up a Magneto Starlux guitar in his workshop
Christian Hatstatt setting up a Magneto Starlux guitar in his workshop.

Christian Hatstatt grew up in Alsace, France, and had an early start in music, after being introduced to the piano by his parents when he was just six years old. At twelve, he discovered the guitar while watching The Beatles on a black-and-white TV.

By the time he was 15, he was already designing his own unique guitars. However, he had to finish school first before he could pursue his dream of becoming a luthier.

At 16, Hatstatt started tinkering with guitars and doing simple repairs like fret jobs for a local music store, and at 21, he landed a job at a repair shop called “Guitars by Levinson” in Basel, Switzerland, which provided service and distribution for various brands, including their own.

By the time Hatstatt started Magneto Guitars, his first designs were the Sonnet and T-Wave, inspired by Fender‘s legendary Stratocaster and Telecaster models, with the Velvet joining the ranks later in 2012, which was more of a Gibson Les Paul inspired guitar.

However, Magneto wasn’t content to just copy and paste with these guitars; they put their own spin on those classics for a fresh and unique sound.

As well as being inspired by these classic shapes, Magneto designs body shapes to have a strong influence on the tone of their instruments, while keeping things simple at the same time.

High attention to detail goes into the design of their handmade guitars, with everything from the various tonewoods employed, to how the guitar vibrates depending on the shape of the body or thickness of the headstock.

What Do I Think of Magneto Guitars?

The first time I heard about Magneto Guitars was around about 2016 when I first discovered left handed guitarist Eric Gales, who has been in partnership with Magneto since 2011.

I was immediately impressed with Gales’ playing; fantastic phrasing and feeling. His sound was equally impressive to me, and I was intrigued to find out what guitar setup he was using.

Naturally, I’m always interested in what instruments musicians I admire are playing, and Gales is no exception.

Eric Gales performs “Southpaw Serenade” live for an XPN Free at Noon Concert. Recorded at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia on 3/8/2019.

I could see from various videos that he was playing a Magneto guitar, and so I had to check out their website to see if they made left handed guitars.

Although Gales plays left handed, he still plays right handed guitars, turned upside-down, so there was no guarantee that Magneto made them.

Thankfully, they do! You can see which lefty models they make below.

Different Types of Magneto Guitars

  • Handmade Guitars – Made with traditional lutherie methods; everything is handcrafted by professional and experienced luthiers.
  • U-One Series – These models are built in the Far East and represent Magneto’s affordable range.
  • Signature Series – Special edition artists’ signature models.

Left Handed Magneto Electric Guitars

Magneto Sonnet Classic US-1300 Lefthand

Left Handed Magneto Guitars - Sonnet Classic US-1300 Lefthand with Candy Apple Red finish

Made in China

  • STRINGS: 6
  • BODY: Two-Piece Basswood
  • BODY FINISH: Polyurethane – Candy Apple Red, Black
  • SCALE: 2.5″ (648 mm)
  • NECK: Hard Rock Maple
  • NECK FINISH: Satin Polyurethane
  • NECK PROFILE: Medium C
  • FINGERBOARD: East Indian Rosewood
  • FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 12” / 305mm
  • NUT TYPE: Synthetic
  • NUT WIDTH: 1.65″ (42 mm)
  • FRETS: 22 Narrow Jumbo Style Frets by Sanko, Japan
  • PICKGUARD: Finished Wood
  • HARDWARE COLOR: Chrome
  • TUNERS: Magneto
  • BRIDGE: Vintage Style Tremolo
  • NECK PICKUP: USC-200 Single
  • MIDDLE PICKUP: USC-200 Single
  • BRIDGE PICKUP: MHN-200 Humbucker
  • CONTROLS: Volume, Tone, 5 Position Switch

Check price/availability at:

Magneto UT-Wave Classic UT-2300 Lefthand

Left Handed Magneto Guitars - UT-Wave Classic UT-2300 Lefthand with Metallic Pearl White finish

Made in China

  • STRINGS: 6
  • BODY: Two-Piece Basswood
  • BODY FINISH: Polyurethane – Metallic Pearl White, Black
  • SCALE: 25 1/2″ (648 mm)
  • NECK: Hard Rock Maple
  • NECK FINISH: Satin Polyurethane
  • NECK PROFILE: Medium C
  • FINGERBOARD: East Indian Rosewood
  • FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 12” / 305mm
  • NUT TYPE: Synthetic
  • NUT WIDTH: 1.65″ (42 mm)
  • FRETS: 22 Jumbo Style Fret
  • PICKGUARD: Finished Wood
  • HARDWARE COLOR: Chrome
  • TUNERS: Magneto
  • BRIDGE: Fixed
  • NECK PICKUP: UTN-200
  • BRIDGE PICKUP: UTB-200
  • CONTROLS: Volume, Tone, 3 Position Switch

Check price/availability at:

Final Thoughts

With two different left handed Magneto guitar models available, each in two different colors, it’s nice to know that we lefty guitarists are catered for. Of course, it’d be even better if there were more lefty models available, such as the Velvet, but I guess we can’t have everything, especially when it comes to left handed guitars!

Hopefully, the forthcoming ’50s-inspired Starlux will be available in a lefty version at some point…

If you happen to be left handed and play the way Eric Gales plays, which is essentially a right handed guitar turned upside-down without restringing it, then any of the right handed models would suit you, including his signature guitars.

What do you think about Magneto guitars? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo credits: magnetoguitars.com

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