SpiderWars":3uthtprd said:
Wow, do you notice it in the moment (that is, if the following notes/chords don't get messed up from being out of position)? I remember this came up when some dude was using those black gloves.
Oh yeah, it can fuck up everything, but I've had this for long enough that I've learned to compensate to an extent. I actually use the black gloves sometimes and it helps to an extent.
This all stated for me around 2003-2004. I had gone through a long period of not practicing much after quitting trying to get signed back in the late '80s. I started playing again more around '98 or so, but not intensely practicing. in 2003 or so, i decided to really focus more on improving and not just playing the same stuff, so I found an ex-GIT guy for lessons and started practicing maybe 2 hours a day - real practice on new technique, not just wanking the same shit. Around mid-2004, I started to notice that my middle finger on my left hand was all of the sudden landing short of where I was sending it, so like a 3-5-7 fret legato exercise across the neck and back with first, middle, pinky that I used to rip through was suddenly very difficult because my middle finger kept landing short of the string and muting the note. Then the cramping started in my hand. So I started doing the same practice with first, ring and pinky and got pretty accurate and fast. A year later, my ring finger starts landing short. Now I'm freaking out. This started an on/off again run to Dr.s - neurologists, orthopedic surgeons etc. where they kept telling me nothing was wrong with my hand. This kept on until the curling up of my middle and ring fingers started in 2014. So, I went almost 10 years thinking I was crazy and dealing with increasingly cramping hands and diminished playing ability. I was really distraught about it during this time, it was depressing and the worst part is not knowing and everyone telling you you're fine. Anyway, when the curling and dropping under the fretboard started, I finally brought a guitar to a hand surgeon and showed him. He immediately knew what it was when he saw me try to play a bar chord and sent me to the only neurologist in the LA area who treats this and he confirmed the diagnosis. This lifted a huge feeling of helplessness I had because now I knew what I was dealing with and no one could tell me there was nothing wrong with me. We've been treating the symptoms with Botox injections into the muscle, but it's hit or miss. Sometimes I get them and I can literally play like I could pre-2004, other times it hardly helps. I stopped doing the shots six months ago because two times in a row they had almost no affect and they are painful, but I'm going back next month because things are WAY worse now without the shots. Hopefully I can get back on track - I'm sure I will...
Cool story, huh?
SpiderWars":3uthtprd said:
That sucks man. I severed the tendons in my right index finger in my mid-20s, one week before our booked studio time for our demo. I was crushed and essentially gave up guitar for about 10 years, sold everything except a Kramer. Probably explains my attraction to Django.
I get it, for sure. How are your hands holding up now?
SpiderWars":3uthtprd said:
Do you know if there are newer treatments you could get outside of the US? Seems we sometimes lag on the cutting edge medical.
There are - Europe is WAY ahead because there are actually a lot more musicians in places like Germany (per capita), but the guy I see is as cutting edge as it gets in the US. He is trying to setup a clinical trial of a new technique that has shown promise in Europe of being an actual cure for this condition using magnets for me that would literally be a trial of one. I would pay nothing and he would do it on his own time. They also are having some success with re-training, but I can't even figure out what that entails from the research
SpiderWars":3uthtprd said:
Oh yeah, you got a nice neighbor there.
Oh yeah - that Chubtone builds a great guitar - we'll be exhibiting together again at the 2017 LA Amp Show... That is my personal Chubtone I'm playing...
Steve
