As just about all of you know by now,I have a yet undiagnosed neuro-muscular condition in my hands and it seems to be getting worse.In order to be able to play the guitar longer I have ordered 3 sets of Rev. Willie's .007-.030 strings and hopefully the super light gauge won't be so hard on the fingers and consequently I'll be able to play longer than I have been with the .008-.038s.

I've also been considering buying a nylon stringed classical guitar as I figure the nylon strings won't be so hard on the fingers and may give me a bit more time to playing time. I'm willing to try just about anything to be able to play longer and these are 2 possibilities that just might work.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I think those are both a great idea! If possible you might want to see if you have a luthier in your area that could lower the action as much as possible too..unless of course you already thought of that and did it yourself! I hope your plan works out..you will have to let us know!

_________________
Mona
"Music is What Feelings Sound like"

I have been doing my own set-ups and adjustments for years and I have the action super low on most of my guitars as it is.Where I've been using .008-.038s for years on all my electrics I shouldn't have to adjust the intonation too radically because of the negligible difference in the string gauges.Learning to do all the routine adjustments yourself can save you hundreds of dollars in luthier fees over the years,plus after you become really proficient at it you can pick up a few bucks on the side doing this routine maintenance for others.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I really hope this gives you some extra play time Derek.I can only imagine the frustration you must have.I woke up the other morning and my pinky was numb on my fretting hand and I had a full on flashback of when I was going through the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome scenario in both hands.It really scares me the thought of not being able to play.I hope and pray that you get some playtime in and some pain relief bro.Best wishes

_________________
1986 Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
1990 Fender Red Knob - "The Twin"
1992 Fender Newporter - Acoustic
2000 Fender American Series Strat - Natural ash
2010 Fender Mustang 1
2011 Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster -Sunburst
2012 Fender Champion

Derek, hope that works to your advantage, both good ideas.

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Sometimes that's not a good idea, but in this case it is...

_________________
It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

Hope your plan works out. Wish you the best ! It suddenly came across my mind ; the other day I had a visit from a guitar playing friend , who has some kind of issues going on with his hands. He was happy to see that I own a lap steel ! He tried it out , and came a long way with it that night , though he had never tried one before . So maybe this is an approach to playing the strings that you should consider ?

_________________
A-man

Hi guitslinger. I too hope that things work out for you with the lighter gauge strings. If you're considering another guitar, may I suggest you try one with a scalloped fretboard. Recently I played the Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster and was amazed at how little effort it takes to produce a note. Barely touching the strings is enough. Fretting the note - i.e. pushing down to the fingerboard - produces a pitch bend.

HTH

Cheers!
BM

_________________
This is the Blues. Are you listening?

Derek

My father-in-law is a rheumatologist and he works with professional musicians.

Are you 100% sure there is nothing in your playing style that could be changed, so that your condition would be less activated? He keeps telling me that sometimes even small adjustments make a huge difference.

It bothers me a bit that you still don't have a real diagnosis. At least it means you have none of the usual.

I wish you the best

Cheers

David

_________________
"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Gee wiz GS that's still giving you drama huh sorry to hear it.... The only thing i can suggest you would already no doubt know. As well as light strings that really plastic coating the put around stings like Elixir called Polyweb. They put this coating on strings to take the scratchy feel out of them. I've played them and they feel a whole lot different, like smoother rubber coated sorta there's no slide sounds up strings they are really quiet. And easier on your fingers. I don't know if it's any good info but good luck getting comfortable rocking asap!!

Here they are....
http://www.elixirstrings.com/products/a ... lyweb.html

_________________

Thanks so much for the encouraging words and good suggestions guys.I've considered taking up slide again several times lately.I used to play a bit of slide quite a few years ago and taking it up again shouldn't be any problem at all.I don't think that there's much that I can do to refine my playing style as I've spent years developing the most comfortable posture I could find.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hi derek, I suffer from arthritis in my hands and shoulders and have found going to 009's after using 011's and 010's most of my life helped immensely. I also find now if I start out on one guitar strung with tens and then switch a few tunes later to a guitar with 009's I can play most of the night and it keeps the strength up in my hands, Sort of like practice swinging with three baseball bats before you get up to the plate. Anyway hope you can find a work around cos' I know what it's like not to be able to play. (oh yeah a good hand massage between songs helps also)

_________________
Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

A shorter scale guitar would help.

Hi GS.
It is heart-warming to read all the replies from the fam.
Wishing you all the best, may I suggest, on Utube,
Dr. Joe Dispenza.
His sharing of the research in neuroscience is changing my life.

I busted the capsule of my left thumb 18 years ago, permanent and worsening injury.

All the best, dear friend!

_________________
FIGHT!

I'm more concerned about you than your strings. I went through this sort of thing with my wife. We went all around looking. she got to the point where she couldn't walk and the finally found that the lower left lung was collapsed. Her nerve problem was from paraneoplastic syndrome from lung cancer. Ask about it. It is so rare that it will be hard to find a doctor that is familiar with it.

Read up on vitamin D and I think B-12. May not help anything but it has been known to help with nerve problems.

I'm going to try some of these strings also! I'l be praying for you.