Another finger injury puts me into slide mode

[Shortfinger]

My nic comes from an injury to my fret hand's index fingertip sustained long ago when my D-18 was only two years old. I'm a woodworker, a stupid careless one.

Ten days ago I did it again, this time to the tip of the fret hand ring fingertip.

It may be a year or more before the gouge heals enough for me to begin the process of hardening up the pad tip with callus so I can play, so it's now time to learn slide.

I'm thinking of getting my Fender 12-fret parlor set up with a taller nut and saddle to make for easier slide work. Is this what you would do?

[Athens]

" Is this what you would do?"

I think I'd give up woodworking..

Do you know the most common nickname for oil rig workers? Stumpy

Seriously, if it's happened more than a couple of times you need to decide which hobby you like more.

Just my less than humble opinion, but you did ask.......

[Toby Walker]

Hi Shortfinger,

I encountered a similar situation with one of my students. After he showed me the loss of his middle finger on our initial visit, I threw a slide on his ring finger and gave him his first lesson on slide guitar. That was over 25 years ago and he continually thanks me for turning his entire world around.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Shortfinger

…I'm thinking of getting my Fender 12-fret parlor set up with a taller nut and saddle to make for easier slide work. Is this what you would do?

Hi SF

First of all, bummer!

I don't know what I'd do…I'm not you! But it encourages me that you are going to put the time to good use and add/improve skills during the healing time.

[zombywoof]

I figure the way my hands are going it won't be long before I am playing nothing but slide. But I just went through this. While I never figured out what I did, I managed to traumatize my right hand. It was swollen up like a balloon and the tips of my fingers felt like they were covered with paper cuts. Because it was my right hand and I only play with my fingers (I never got the hang of fingerpicks but began a renewed attempt) a slide was not going to do me much good. It took about four months for everything to calm down enough to play again.

[lar]

Shortfinger, Sorry to hear. Was this a table saw accident? If so let me know -I have some suggestions that might be beneficial.

[Shortfinger]

No table saw thing. It was a Festool Domino 500, basically a side-slide plunge router. I was working cutting mortises edgewise and face-wise in 3/4" material and thought I had the depth set to 15mm but was set to 20. So 1/2 of a mm came through and bit my fingertip.

[ii Cybershot ii]

Darn that sounds really rough. I have been battling thumb tendinitis recently and it really gets me down sometimes. I couldn't imagine having something like your injury occur, it would be devastating!

[GHS]

I'm getting over a burn to the index and middle finger of my left hand. Went to close the lid on my grill and slipped off the handle and grabbed the lid...not somethig I would want to do again. Immediate ice and trip to the ER with treatment of SSD ointment ( wonder stuff!!) and I'm doing much better. Be careful during BBQ season, one second of brain fade and.............

[Paraclete]

Sorry to hear about that! I nearly took off the top of my left ring finger a year ago. Slide guitar was something that a few people recommended. The slice on my finger only went partially into the pad though. I played two finger bass for a couple months. After three months I could play violin and a bit of classical guitar. After a year, I can almost play A-shaped barre chords without pain.

One day at a time. I was amazed at how quickly I learned to compensate, doing a lot more with my pinky finger.

Oh, and I wear Kevlar gloves now when doing dangerous things with power saws and hedge trimmers!