Do your fingers work very well when they are cold?

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Mine seem to have a problem if they are not fully warmed up..... expecially my pinkie. It almost feels like I have arthitis in my pinkie joint if it's not warmed up all the way. Bummer.

Anyone else have the same prob?

[Austinrocks]

I hate playing with cold hands, hard to get them moving, but I also notice it usually takes me 15 minutes of playing to really get warmed up, no matter if its hot or cold, so I usually keep it simple the first couple songs and then get warmed up for the fancy stuff.

[tonefingers]

No way.

I remember when in college, we were going to play in the
open 'quad' area in the morning.
Man it was freezing and my fingers would not move.

Go for a walk, run, or something before you play if you want
your fingers to move in the cold.
Better yet, take it inside.

[dave s]

One of the last things I do before guitar checking is wash my hands in warm water to a) get all the road dirt off them; 2) warm them up if cold.

I never have a left hand problem but can remember playing a couple of outdoor gigs in the fall where it was so cold I couldn't feel the pick between the thumb and index finger on my RIGHT hand!

dave

[funkycam]

I had a real cold practise spot for a while.
The drummer & i both used to wear arm warmers for biking under our shirts: $25 & really helps.

[Wayne8]

The warm water thing works for me.

[Mooncusser]

After 6 years of Commercial fishing and 13 years of plumbing I can honestly say that unless my hands are "warmed up" I feel like Tiny Tim on a BAD night.

Always now I wash big time with a degreaser (keeps the chemicals I work with off to protect the strings) and run warm water over my hands.

Then, I do some noodling because until my hands are "dessert heat dry" they are sticky to move around quickly.

Big PIA, but it works...:BEER
Mass

[jakob]

No mine don't work well at all.
I stretch and slowly warm my hands up...
I learned that lesson the hard way...:)

[brad347]

For some reason the warm water thing does NOT work for me at all. I can put 'em in, and they feel warmer while in the water, but once I take 'em out it's ice cold again. I have terrible circulation.

In my case, if I let my hands get cold, it takes forevr to warm them up again. So I wear gloves a lot in the winter.

Lately i've stopped caring as much though. If my hands are cold that day, I'll just play slow. Not the worst thing in the world!

[DArmstrong]

My spouse and I keep our house really cold all winter, so for half the year while our kids are getting ready for bed, I'm putting on long johns and about three more warm layers (and a stocking cap) just so that my hands will be warm. My whole body tenses up too much to play well when I'm cold.

Also, after I ride my bike home from work (I ride in a position that puts a fair amount of weight on my hands) my hands are a too clumsy to play well.

(I have no idea why I don't play well when the house is warm or when I drive home from work. :) )

Rather than warm water I'll exercise a little to warm my body up. No problem with softening my callouses right before practicing.

[Beng2040]

I have terrible circulation and my fingers will barely move when they're cold. My fingers actually will turn white if it's really cold. I can't play at all when this is going on.

[Dave Klausner]

For those of you who do the warm water trick, do you find that it softens your callouses?

[jakob]

For those of you who do the warm water trick, do you find that it softens your callouses?

Yes that's why I don't do it...
I need mine...:)

[Johnnyr]

I also hate playing with cold hands. In the winter months I take those small hand warmers that hunters use and keep one handy. You can buy them at sporting goods stores. You tear the package open and shake the little bag inside and it stays real warm for a few hours. But then sometimes in the summer months when I think I'll get a break from the cold I walk into a gig and they'll have the air conditioning cranked and my hands get cold anyway.

[guildchild]

For those of you who do the warm water trick, do you find that it softens your callouses?

This sounds ridiculous, but it works for me... i accidentally discovered while in guitar school that if i got liquid laundry detergent on my fingertips they wouldn't sweat at much and my strings would therefore last longer. i also discovered that detergent helps keeps the water from penetrating my fingertips while washing my hands. so, now, i carry a small water-tight capsule of TIDE in my guitar case. i rub a LITTLE bit on my fingers just prior to going on. i can then wash my hands without soften the callouses and it will keep me from sweating and killing the strings.

for what it's worth...

[kimock]

Mine seem to have a problem if they are not fully warmed up..... expecially my pinkie. It almost feels like I have arthitis in my pinkie joint if it's not warmed up all the way. Bummer.

Anyone else have the same prob?

You bet.
The double whammy for me is cold at high altitude.
I play the Denver area at least a couple times every winter, and I swell up liKe a balloon for a couple of days until I acclimate.

My big dumb fixes for this include grabbing one finger at a time of my fretting hand and pulling out from the palm, massaging each finger as hard as I can stand it for a couple of minutes.
So, palms facing you, thumbs up, right hand thumb goes on top of left finger, pressure applied from the sides, right?

Two minutes of that activity is worth a half hour warm up playing for me.
Really helps circulation.

I almost never do the hot water thing directly on my hands.
I dump out an aluminum soda or beer can and fill it with the hottest water I can find. Put a towel around it if it's boiling, duh. . .
Nice dry radiant heat.
In case you were wondering just exactly how old I feel,
I learned the scalding hot water/soda can thing from Elizabeth Cotten!
;)

[tonefingers]

You bet.
The double whammy for me is cold at high altitude.
I play the Denver area at least a couple times every winter, and I swell up liKe a balloon for a couple of days until I acclimate.

My big dumb fixes for this include grabbing one finger at a time of my fretting hand and pulling out from the palm, massaging each finger as hard as I can stand it for a couple of minutes.
So, palms facing you, thumbs up, right hand thumb goes on top of left finger, pressure applied from the sides, right?

Two minutes of that activity is worth a half hour warm up playing for me.
Really helps circulation.

I almost never do the hot water thing directly on my hands.
I dump out an aluminum soda or beer can and fill it with the hottest water I can find. Put a towel around it if it's boiling, duh. . .
Nice dry radiant heat.
In case you were wondering just exactly how old I feel,
I learned the scalding hot water/soda can thing from Elizabeth Cotten!
;)

That's interesting about swelling, is it due to atmosphere pressure?
That's some biting cold up there.

Also Steve, If Elizabeth used a soda 'can', then it must have not been that long ago.
I think you meant to say 'bottle', but you said 'can'
That's enough proof to believe you are part of the Pepsi genneration.
You are still a young whippersnapper bygolly. Soda 'can' lol . Busted.

[kimock]

That's interesting about swelling, is it due to atmosphere pressure?
That's some biting cold up there.

Also Steve, If Elizabeth used a soda 'can', then it must have not been that long ago.
I think you meant to say 'bottle', but you said 'can'
That's enough proof to believe you are part of the Pepsi genneration.
You are still a young whippersnapper bygolly. Soda 'can' lol . Busted.

'70's. . .S.F.
Cans, not bottles.
In between every song, she warmed her hands.
I was water boy.
She was beautiful, real.
Freight Train!

[tonefingers]

'70's. . .S.F.
Cans, not bottles.
In between every song, she warmed her hands.
I was water boy.
She was beautiful, real.
Freight Train!
Ok, a can it is.
I guess I thought she left us way earier.
Sounds like a great conection

I may have seen her at the Filmore or someplace.
I saw a lot of shows back then. Lived in San Bruno.

[MrDoty]

My hands are useless unless properly warmed up. warm water works good for me as others have said, or you can keep some of those glove warmers in your case and throw them in your pockets along with your hands to get them up to a reasonable temprature. that one is a real life saver when you cant get to a sink.

[Scumback Speakers]

Got frostbite on my hands in Minnesota when I was 12, so cold weather makes my fingers stiff, and not move too well. I just had to go out toboganning that day when it was 19 below...

[future2future]

I almost can't play when my hands are really cold. My fingers don't do what i want them to do, that's really messed up! I ussually take a bottle of warm water and keep it in my hands 10,15 mins before the show starts and this helps sometimes

[Betos]

I have more trouble with cold feet :confused:



Betos