Finger callouses

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Thursday Oct 23, 2003

How do you guitar pickers develope and care for your callouses on your fingers? I've played since 1978, and have always had a hard time forming them (they're necessary for proper intonation, and endurance) and now it appears I have at least one that wants to "come loose," which sounds pretty painful. This has been an issue for me for a long time, and I can't get one on my left index finger at all, because of an accidental injury (that fingertip was accidentally cut off, then surgically reattached), which definitely affects my playing detrimentally.
Do you all use any products, or have any techniques to get and keep callouses? Yeah, I know, play more... other than that?---->JMS

Banned · Post by **Banned** » Thursday Oct 23, 2003

Isn't a little Super Glue on the fingertips supposed to produce a good artificial callous? Haven't tried it myself, so try at your own risk.

FatVin · Post by **FatVin** » Thursday Oct 23, 2003

For the finger that was re-attached, you're gonna have some trouble with that, super glue will do the trick, it sounds kind of noxious but I've never heard of anybody getting sick because of it but I'd refrain from eating until it was dry if I were you. for the other fingers, there are lots of things, Eric Clapton soaks his fingertips in witch hazel, or so I've read, SRV used the super glue to reattach a callous that had come off in the middle of a gig. Ted Nugent's method is to practice till your fingers bleed then practice some more. Tony Iommi who also had his fingers cut off wears little plastic things over the affected fingers, if you look close in pic you can make them out, That's everything I know about it.

Pure Evil · Post by **Pure Evil** » Thursday Oct 23, 2003

I've never gotten a callous from playing guitar. I know some people do and some that don't. I don't know if it's good or bad luck. I guess it just depends on how you look at it. I've had plenty of gigs where my fingers hurt like hell after though.

Punkinhead · Post by **Punkinhead** » Friday Oct 24, 2003

I've sort of always had callouses on my fingers just from practicing so much...I've heard about the super glue on the finger thing too, or you could do what Stevie Ray Vaughn did once. His finger had come open and he cut a piece of the flesh off his heel off with a razor blade and super glued it on...I would try the super glue before cutting my heel though....lol

RobTheDrummer · Post by **RobTheDrummer** » Friday Oct 24, 2003

Drummers get cracked and calloused fingers too and the super glue thing does work. They also make a glue patch thing for bowlers. Never tried that though I was tempted to once. If you are cracked open, super glue may sting a little, but just make sure to not glue the fingers together..that's the key to the operation!

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Saturday Oct 25, 2003

I tried the superglue deal, and it flaked off bit by bit, and caught a little in the strings as I fretted, so I think it'd be a "last resort" kind of thing, but it DID help where the callous was coming loose, so thanks much for the hint. When I was playing 4 nights a week, the issue wasn't the callous, but the sore flesh underneath it on the fingertip... but I guess that's just part of the game... I kinda wore that like a badge of honor... paying them dues!------>JMS

kevin · Post by **kevin** » Tuesday Oct 28, 2003

Just bite them off, eventually they become hard as rocks.

byndrsn · Post by **byndrsn** » Tuesday Oct 28, 2003

Just do what Felix did.... throw some piano wire on that guitar of yours and bend the bageezers out of the strings. Rip into those blues with them and you'll definitely get to a point where you won't need a callous, you'll have steel knubs for finger tips!!!

Dan

Bones · Post by **Bones** » Tuesday Nov 04, 2003

interesting topic. how to build calluses...well. i would think a junk acoustic guitar (high action) with something heavy would build both strength and calluses. however, and my band only plays once a week, i've never had any issues with this. granted, my left hand fingertips are not nearly as tough as my right hand, but i've never had an issue with this.

facingwest · Post by **facingwest** » Wednesday Nov 05, 2003

I've never had a problem with them ever coming off, nor do I ever want to. Sometimes if I want to do some hard core practicing, I'll grab a bass and go over scales on it. After doing this for about 20 minutes, pick up a guitar and start working on licks. Only every once in a while do my finger tips ever hurt and it's usually from playing acoustic for long periods of time. I found out the best thing to do is punish those fingers and keep at it. No pain, no gain!!

Hold on Nothing · Post by **Hold on Nothing** » Sunday Nov 09, 2003

Playing some bass always helped me develop some callouses.