Rob Tahan
Member
I know what you are going through. Ive been there...
Ive had tendonitis since i was 17. For years i had it so bad i physically could not even play guitar at all. I then had surgery and this did not really help all that much. It just set me back even more time that i couldnt use my left arm, and threw out thousands of dollars that i didnt have because i had no health ins. The fact that i can play a G9 chord or even play guitar at all is a miracle. No question about it. And i give the glory to God almighty.
One thing you cant do is adopt the philosophy of no pain no gain. Forget it. I was young and stubborn and thought that i could continue to play through the pain. Never. I could go on forever about do's and donts etc. The last thing you wanna worry about is the little tonal difference in lowering your guage strings. What you need to do is Rest, eat right, and excersise, BUT not your wrist or forearms! Cardio and things to get the blood flowing. The body can heal itself if you treat it right. Also eat well. Never neglect this. If you put garbage in your car it doesnt run right. You may need to cut out things like caffene, nicotene and drugs. But ask yourself the question; is it worth it?
Switching to 8's is a good idea actually. There are a lot of great players out there that use 8's and i think with most of them its because of issues like this. Ive played blues clubs all night long and have been praised about my tone. ..if they only knew i used 8's..haha. You can always do little things like boost your mids and use compression to compensate. And most of all... For the most part ...Tone is in your fingers, and its how you manipulate the strings with your hands. 8's will help you with your pain and adapting to having a lighter more accurate touch.
Anyways all in all each case is unique. half the time doctors dont know what they are talking about. I could write forever about this but i dont wanna ramble.
Hope this little bit of info helps.
Ive had tendonitis since i was 17. For years i had it so bad i physically could not even play guitar at all. I then had surgery and this did not really help all that much. It just set me back even more time that i couldnt use my left arm, and threw out thousands of dollars that i didnt have because i had no health ins. The fact that i can play a G9 chord or even play guitar at all is a miracle. No question about it. And i give the glory to God almighty.
One thing you cant do is adopt the philosophy of no pain no gain. Forget it. I was young and stubborn and thought that i could continue to play through the pain. Never. I could go on forever about do's and donts etc. The last thing you wanna worry about is the little tonal difference in lowering your guage strings. What you need to do is Rest, eat right, and excersise, BUT not your wrist or forearms! Cardio and things to get the blood flowing. The body can heal itself if you treat it right. Also eat well. Never neglect this. If you put garbage in your car it doesnt run right. You may need to cut out things like caffene, nicotene and drugs. But ask yourself the question; is it worth it?
Switching to 8's is a good idea actually. There are a lot of great players out there that use 8's and i think with most of them its because of issues like this. Ive played blues clubs all night long and have been praised about my tone. ..if they only knew i used 8's..haha. You can always do little things like boost your mids and use compression to compensate. And most of all... For the most part ...Tone is in your fingers, and its how you manipulate the strings with your hands. 8's will help you with your pain and adapting to having a lighter more accurate touch.
Anyways all in all each case is unique. half the time doctors dont know what they are talking about. I could write forever about this but i dont wanna ramble.
Hope this little bit of info helps.