View Full Version : Fingertip toughness...
rickbella
Jan-01-2013, 4:13pm
Has anyone heard of something that would help toughen your fingertips? (Besides playing more, of course). I'm looking for something extra I can do at work, when I can't play.
Maybe soak your fingertips in a salt water brine? Maybe vinegar? If so, for how long?
What about rolling your fingertips, under pressure, against sandpaper?
Ray(T)
Jan-01-2013, 6:07pm
There's no real substitute for playing (give them a rest whilst you're at work) and the first 40 years are the worst!
Denny Gies
Jan-01-2013, 6:22pm
Ray got it right, just play.
shortymack
Jan-01-2013, 8:06pm
Sorta like trying to gain weight without eating.
EdHanrahan
Jan-01-2013, 8:33pm
Mindless noodling (what some might call "unfocused practice") isn't always a bad thing, especially when your team is down by 30 points in the 4th quarter!
All I can is Play,Play, Play! In addition to building up you callouses, you' ll be getting good practice in at the same time! ...my two cents.
allenhopkins
Jan-01-2013, 11:40pm
When Nolan Ryan was starting as a relief pitcher for the Mets, he was prone to blisters on his pitching fingers. One of the team trainers treated his fingers with pickle brine to "harden" them.
Don't know if it worked, or if it's an "urban legend," but you could probably find out at the cost of a jar of Vlasic...
George R. Lane
Jan-01-2013, 11:53pm
Eric Clapton uses rubbing alcohol. I once tried soaking my finger in alum. It helped somewhat. Just play alot.
rickbella
Jan-02-2013, 12:57am
Eric Clapton uses rubbing alcohol. I once tried soaking my finger in alum. It helped somewhat. Just play alot.
You guys are right -- there is no substitute for playing and I really should rest my fingers at work. Thanks...
Bertram Henze
Jan-02-2013, 4:28am
the first 40 years are the worst!
That's about the correct order of magnitude. Tough fingertips are supposed to be your body's automatic approach which will go through several phases, and it takes a while for your body to learn and experiment with tissue compositions. Chemicals can only complicate, disturb and delay that process.
FLATROCK HILL
Jan-02-2013, 5:48am
As has been said, play and play a lot. There's no substitute.
Two tips (NPI) though:
1) I was told by an old time guitar picker years ago not to practice when your fingers are saturated with water, such as immediately after swimming. That 'pruney' skin is much softer than when the skin is dry. The strings can cut right through and destroy the callouses you worked so hard to build.
2) A bass player I know uses super glue on his finger tips. He claims that if he tears or breaks through a callous, the dried glue not only protects his fingers, but keeps them from bleeding all over the strings.
I personally can't testify as to the validity of either statement. I can say though, that although both tips were given to me by musicians, niether played banjo.
greg_tsam
Jan-03-2013, 10:19am
Dip your tips in alcohol until they're hardened and form faux callouses then play until you earn your real one. Then learn to use the search function on this site. *growl :)