Calluses.. err.. stay on!

[sanders4617]

Ok.. I am getting so annoyed. As soon as I think I have my fingers really tough where I shouldn't have problems with my fingers hurting.. they start up again. I don't think I have went 1 day without playing guitar in over a year, and I still have problem with calluses. They keep ripping off.. its like I can't keep them long without ripping them to shreds.

Anyone with advise? I have heard that people use superglue.. how does that work?

[Madsman]

Superglue is usually used to glue your nail down. If you do a lot of bending, you eventually find yourself ripping the nail away from the finger a bit, which hurts like hell (as we all know.) As far as calluses ripping off... that's just a part of life... try not to use moisturizers (basically treat yourself like an alligator) and don't play after your hands have been soaking (washing dishes, showering, etc)... but basically, it's gonna happen sometimes, no matter what you do.

[ChickenLover]

Taking the "don't use moisturizers" a step further...you might try cleaning your fingertips with rubbing alcohol or light solvent to remove some oils. That has helped me in the past.

[countandduke]

What gauge strings are you using? I have never had a problem with calluses. You could do the Stevie Ray trick. Assuming you fret with your left hand, put a small dab of super glue on each of the fingers on your left hand. Then press and hold the fingers down on your inner right forearm. Then wait for a couple minutes and RIP your left hand away from your right forearm taking skin with it!!! :dude:dude:dude

Chris

PS There is a fine line between skin that is too soft and skin that is too hard. Too soft and you have callus problem, too hard and you might have splitting problems.

Depending on how much you play during the day, you might not be allowing yourself long enough to heal and build up those calluses. They don't grow overnight.

Good luck....

[boobtoob]

I tend to use a lot of baby powder when playing to keep the fretboard dry. I think it helps keep the callouses hard? Or maybe I don't know what I am talking about.

[sanders4617]

Well.. I probably don't give them time to heal.. I dunno. I use a lot of moisturizers that I put on my face though.. so that could be it. I use .09 guage and I dig my fingers into the strings... reaching for that extra tone. I guess its something that I just have to deal with and need to get use to.

[High Voltage]

Cut off excess callouses from your feet and superglue them to your fingertips. Worked for me.

[procos]

Cut off excess callouses from your feet and superglue them to your fingertips. Worked for me.

Man that is sick. Things guitarist will do.:eek:

[Madsman]

Cut off excess callouses from your feet and superglue them to your fingertips. Worked for me.

That is hilarious and terrifying, but whatever works, right? :)

[moozak]

Ok.. I am getting so annoyed. As soon as I think I have my fingers really tough where I shouldn't have problems with my fingers hurting.. they start up again. I don't think I have went 1 day without playing guitar in over a year, and I still have problem with calluses. They keep ripping off.. its like I can't keep them long without ripping them to shreds.

Anyone with advise? I have heard that people use superglue.. how does that work?

i used to be like that a lot when i first started playing. been playing off/on since around 1975 or so. now, i never have that problem at all... never. i'm sure the ends of my fingers are a little tougher... but i don't get peel at all. personally... i attribute this to a lot of things... but one thing i think that factors into it in a big way is "sense of touch". i think the longer you've played the less "hard grip" you use... you tend to develop a more precise grip when needed and a more delicate touch the rest of the time... see what i mean?

you say you've been playing pretty much every day for over a year right? why don't you try an experiment... while you're playing stop and analyze your grip from time to time - really study what you're doing. i'm betting you could ease up on that a bit. that's what i did in my early days of playing... and it seems to have worked. this will save your frets, your stings and most importantly... your wrist... over a long period of time.

[yeahyeahyeah]

i dont have very calloused fingers but i'm pretty sure all the nerve endings are dead.

[fumbler]

I use .09 guage and I dig my fingers into the strings... reaching for that extra tone.

Clarification, please: are you talking about your fretting hand or your picking hand? I play a lot of fingerstyle myself; the sound is so much richer than with a pick.

But if you're talking about your fretting hand then you have some mighty bad habits to unlearn. You're gonna hurt yourself! And you'll always sound out of tune if you've got the neck in a death grip; especially with light gauge strings.

-fumbler-

[KRosser]

Taking the "don't use moisturizers" a step further...you might try cleaning your fingertips with rubbing alcohol or light solvent to remove some oils. That has helped me in the past.

I have to use moisturizers on mine, every day, otherwise they get too hard.

If it's only been a year, I think you just need to give it some time.

[ChickenLover]

I have to use moisturizers on mine, every day, otherwise they get too hard.I wonder if this has to do with skin type? I tried moisturizers first and the callouses would come off in big chunks...then I tried using the rubbing alcohol or light solvent (OK...sometimes not so light :messedup) and that helped a lot. I did that for many years and occasionally I would get lazy and stop doing it...callouses started getting torn up...started using light solvent again...callouses cleared up. So I'm pretty certain it's what works for me because I went through that iteration many, many times. But perhaps the best remedy varies from person-to-person depending on skin type?

Or maybe it has to do with 'what your hands typically get into'? I remember reading a story about how Jaco Pastorius would not do dishes (at home) as a teen because it messed with his callouses and of course the old story of him eating fried chicken and not washing his hands before gigs (which appears to support the moisturizer camp but he was using it for 'lubrication' and not moisturizing). That must have been the funkiest smelling bass/guitar case ever.

[sanders4617]

Well.. I don't mean that I have the fretboard in a deathgrip (yes I was talking about my picking hand btw)... its just that I do a lot of vibrato and bending.. and from what I have learned in the 2 years or so that I have been playing (steady)... that plays a much larger toll on your fingers than just straight picking the notes. I could go on and on all day playing scales and what not, but its when I start playing blues is when my fingers get tore up. =D

My hands sweat a lot as well.. so that could be a big factor in it. I definately don't think I work the strings too hard.. although I am going to re-evaluate my playing.. and if I have some huge bad habit, I will break that quick before I have been playing too long and can't.

[ChickenLover]

sanders,
You may already know this but I played for the longest time before I knew it (or ever really thought about it): One day when your playing, align your eyes right over the fretboard and look under the fingertip of a fretted note...you should see a gap between the bottom of the string and the fretboard. In other words; when you're playing, the strings virtually never touch the fretboard. Only on really hard hammers (and then only for a fraction of a second) or maybe some crazy bend but I can't see it even then.

However, the meat of your fingertips will sort of 'wrap around' the strings and will come into contact with the fretboard.

One of the reasons that people that bend a lot often like either tall frets or high-ish action or scalloped fretboards is because with low, flat frets a larger portion of the meat of your fingertip is coming into contact with the fretboard which just creates more friction. So then you press down harder, which means more meat in contact and at a higher pressure...even more friction and it just gets worse from there. A gunked up fretboard will make it even worse...I always had to keep my fretboards clean and even had to occasionally use Finger Ease to lube it up a bit when I was gigging frequently.