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Post by ijustwannastrat on Aug 14, 2009 0:47:25 GMT -5
Yea, no idea what's going on. I've been playing guitar for well over 4 years, maybe 5 (why be petty? alot of you have been doing it since well before I was born), and my fingers are going soft. I have been playing a little bit more for the last two weeks, and I really don't understand the change. Same string's, Elixer 10-52's. Guitar is 25-1/2" scale (the only one I would ever play). The only thing I've really done different is my excessive use of wah (Hendrix licks with friends). Is a greater being punishing me for this? It's not like I am using a talk-box to sing cheesy 80's lines.... Any advice? suggestions? I want long term results.
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Post by D2o on Aug 14, 2009 8:55:36 GMT -5
I have been playing a little bit more for the last two weeks That could be it, cheesy-lyric-singing-person. ;D It could also be one of those things ... we are organic beings and sometimes we "change" a bit. We go bald, etc. etc etc.. I used to play a lot more and I used to have harder calluses than I do now. Now I play a bit (15 minutes) every day or second day, and more on the weekends if I can swing it. My fingers hurt on the weekends and I curse a lot, and then they kind of "dry out" and firm up during the week, particularly when I give them a rest between the longer weekend session and the next time I play. What I'm trying to say is you can look forward to a bald head and a pot belly.     D2o |
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Post by newey on Aug 14, 2009 9:07:25 GMT -5
Is the weather hot and humid where you are? I find my calluses get more prominent in the dry winter months, then fade a bit in the summer. Probably more skin oils being exuded.
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Post by sydsbluesky on Aug 14, 2009 21:59:04 GMT -5
Pick up a 40 dollar rogue acoustic and put heavies on it, then before you're gonna play your electric, pick up that one first and play for minutes. After that, the other guitar will feel like silk! Like hitting yourself in the beans to overpower a headache, but you can't deny that it works! I had a friend that held his fingertips to a bench mounted grinding wheel during his lunch break once in a while to build up calluses. ...he didn't play guitar, though, so I dunno what (/if) he was thinking. But in all seriousness, I think D2o may be right. It may be time to switch to bi-focals and a Buick.  Edit: Even at *cough* seventeen. Last time I jump on your bandwagon, D2o...lol |
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Post by sumgai on Aug 15, 2009 0:19:32 GMT -5
For a change, I'll take the serious road..... After so many years of playing pretty regularly, I guess I didn't notice exactly when, but I woke up one morning to realize that my left-hand finger tips felt exactly the same as my right-hand finger tips.... ie, no discernable calluses at all. So I took a forced break from playing for a few years (had to act like a contributing citizen to our society, doncha know?  ), and when I picked up where I left off, I thought I'd have to go through the finger trauma all over again. Nope. Didn't happen. Both my muscles and my fingertips acted like I'd played just yesterday. Hmmmm, how come's that?  Dunno. But my guess is that once things have settled into a firm routine, you can break that routine for short periods without harm to your muscular memory, nor to your physical attributes. (However, I refuse to say what happens to anything as far as aging goes!  ) In short, it was like riding a bicycle, and you know the drill on that one..... DITH (dunno if that helps....) sumgai |
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Post by sydsbluesky on Aug 15, 2009 11:57:28 GMT -5
Well, I suppose I have something to add. My fingers on my left feel exactly the same as on my right. This is after about seven years of consistent playing, but the fingers are still soft! My guess would be that it's somewhere between the hardness and the thickness that you build up the armor. I'd imagine there's some loss of nerve connectivity after a point, but whatever the reason, I haven't had discernibly hard tips in years ( , ) but I can rock out the cheapest of the acoustics for an hour and not feel a thing. There is one thing that very good to avoid, though. Don't play guitar with waterlogged (pruned) hands. It'll rip those shells right off. While I'm on the subject of cheap guitars... The other day I ordered eight packs of elixirs from MF for my acoustic, like normal, except their current promotion includes a free 60 dollar rogue acoustic with the purchase of the strings. It should be arriving monday. |
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Post by ijustwannastrat on Aug 18, 2009 21:14:54 GMT -5
Thanks for all the stories and personal experience. Don't know what happened, but my fingers are hard as a rock again. Bending actually is easier having gone through this soft period (broke the G string yesterday for the first time, .017 I think on the 10-52's) so I am set to continue playing. It may be time to switch to bi-focals and a Buick. 1994 Buick LaSabre, most reliable car of all my friends. In all my time with it, I have never had to have it fixed, and most of my friends with brand new Japanese cars fix them twice a year. Sorry for offtopic-ness. |
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Post by sydsbluesky on Aug 19, 2009 11:15:56 GMT -5
Well, on that handy little list of companies that consumer reports puts out, it's usually Lexus, Toyota, Acura, Honda and Buick on top for reliability. Have a buddy that drives a Buick. He seems -especially- good at driving it into trees. Not the cars fault on that one lol.
Glad to hear about everything hardening up after taking off that G string.
(what the...?)
Modified: I don't like proboards word wrap.
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), and when I picked up where I left off, I thought I'd have to go through the finger trauma all over again.
Dunno. But my guess is that once things have settled into a firm routine, you can break that routine for short periods without harm to your muscular memory, nor to your physical attributes. (However, I refuse to say what happens to anything as far as aging goes! 
) In short, it was like riding a bicycle, and you know the drill on that one.....