I haven't had many problems's with callouses (knock on wood) but I have been pondering the amazing resilience of the human body.

I started using a thumb pick about a month ago. I remember the first hour, after which my thumb hurt like hell, turned red, and swelled up a bit. Now, a mere 30 days later, I can wear the damn thing all day and not bat an eye. Go figure.

I also remember my first chord, also C. My hand cramped up like crazy. I thought it was impossible. That was a long time ago, but I remember it like yesterday.

Also, on the flatwound/roundwound topic...flatwounds rip up my fingers worse than roundwounds, probably because there's more string surface in contact with the fingers.

I heard Eric Clapton soaks his fingertips in Witch Hazel after performing to preserve his callouses. I tried it, but soon felt silly. My current theory is to simply keep my home humidified: I'm caring for my callouses the same way I care for my wooden guitars, i.e., I prevent the dryness that causes each to crack.

I just started doing a guitar workshop with two beginners in my department who recently got guitars. I see the pain in their faces from the struggle to make their fingers work, and recoil from the 'bite' of the strings.

I recall how it was the same when I first started playing many moons ago. The tenderness of my delicate digits, the finger cramps from trying to make a 'C,' 'B,' and 'F.' And wrist soreness from bad position technique.

My callouses are now sufficiently developed so that my fingertips rarely get tender, my fingers know 'more or less' where to go, and I'm concious enough of correct position to prevent/delay the advent of the dreaded 'repetitive injury syndrome.' Like Kurt, I experienced some tenderness when I first began using thumb and fingerpicks a couple years ago, but that has also vanished.

Dave is a great Oz Dobro player(in the non-missionary position)and is renowned for his love of pre/during/post love of liquid refreshments.

I asked Dave after the gig, over a few "Sherberts" how he got that sound from his Dobbie.

"Callouses" said Dave and put his cig out on his picking finger tips.

"Awwwright" I screamed.

Anyhow, my callouses are variable as I sweat like a wee dog.

However I have discovered a great cure for joints, namely my R first finger knuckle.
(sadly caused by one finger typing !).
There is a vitamin mix with fish oil called Seven Seas and it includes a cartilage repair amino acid called "glucosasamine".

Heh. I hear *that*. Used to play bass in an eight-person rock and roll band with a very small room, bad monitors, multiple competing vocalists and an extremely loud drummer.

I played with a big flatpick for a while and would play so hard I would break a BASS string every other rehearsal (every five hours of playing, in other words). Then I learned to play with fingers, and only broke one once a month. Most other bass players I know would say "you know, I don't think I've EVER broken a bass string...how do you do it?"

On a tastier note, I make my own tortillas. When I press them out I slap them flat on a very hot cast iron griddle, and flip them a couple of times. The clencher is that I dont have to use a spatula, as the callouses on my left hand save my fingers from the heat for just enough time that it takes to grab it off the hot griddle. I can literally press my fingertips (but not my thumb) on the hot surface for a split-second and suffer no more than warm fingers.
I have not, as of yet, been able to duplicate the feat with my right hand.

Thanks!!

What specific oils or other dietary supplements worked for you? My hands have been pretty good this summer, but I know colder weather will flare them up again. Not to mention that I'm goin on vacation tomorrow... the change from near-sea-level New Jersey to 7K plus feet in Colorado always does a job on the old skin. Yikes! I don't eat fish, but I'll get fish oil pills if it will help. Thanks for the suggestion.

"“Moisturizing isn’t enough,” says Dr. John A. Grossman, board certified aesthetic plastic surgeon, who incorporates wholistic medicine in his practice. He recommends essential fatty acids to his patients, including Dolly Parton and other celebrities. “For softer skin, get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. If you’re prone to dry skin, try supplementing with gama linolenic acid (GLA), as well. Take 500 mg capsules of either black currant oil or evening primrose oil twice a day and you should notice benefits within two months,” explains Grossman, a pioneer in plastic surgery procedures, such as the use of fibrin sealant.

Omega-3 fatty oil is found in flaxseed (58%), canola, pumpkin and walnut, and soybeans. Fish oils, such as salmon, cod and mackerel, contain the other important omega-3 oils, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapen-taenoic acid. The most therapeutic form of omega-6 oil is found in evening primrose, black currant and borage oils.

Recent studies* also indicate that there is less skin wrinkling with a higher intake of vegetables, olive oil, fish, and legumes. The consumption of butter, margarine, milk products, meat and sugar actually appear to have adverse effects on the skin according to the report.

I'm a new guitar player as well.

But I don't have any numbness or pain on my left hand, nor any cramps when playing the C chord.

If you do feel that, I think is very likely that you're holding your guitar wrong. It's possible to cause some irreversible injuries if you feel pain/numbness.

Again, I'm not an expert guitar player, but it's never good to feel pain/numbness.

You might want to try different positions.

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I don't have any callous related problems, yet.

Callouses are not a developmental asset to sax players and so I had none. In those days everyone played 'round-wound' strings and the effect these modest sized razor blades had on my neo-post-pubescent-sax-diddling finger tips was somewhat startling.

Moments after the down beat of the first tune there would be a little irratation from the tips of my first and second fingers on my right hand, followed by a a rubbery numbness. The rubbery numbness quickly progressed to a full-on juice-filled blister; the half life of which was determined by the current tunes tempo (aka Ska or Dub).

The two little dermal pillows eventually sloughed off greasily yielding a sushi-like sub-dermis that only lasted a verse or two before drying out and becoming a lot more like ground beef than anything else.

Just as an up tempo version of Too-Much Pressure was being counted off the enevitable gravy would begin to flow and I was wishing I had cattle prods attached to my huevos instead. I soon began to notice that the round winds of the strings were begining to stick to the now clotting pads of blood and the note would not sound until I had actually pried my finger off of the string by pulling it straight out and away from the bass' body causing the strings to smack on the frets.

This new percussiveness wildly excited the dancing mob and my screams of pain were carried off like farts in the wind by the roar of the crazed and gyrating throng.

For me, everything after all of that was a blur of bi-digital-mayhem, agony, and masochistic extacy. When I finally came-to several years later my fingers had healed and I was wearing a nice hat and mysteriously working in the printing trade in a city 2,500 miles away.

Like probably a lot of new guitar players; I confess, I gave in, I thought to hell with this and went back to the keys.

About a month later, I decided to give it another go, this time with a cunning plan;

Only play for 10-15 mins a night and only use the 3 wound strings to do my excercises on ( The theory being that callouses are caused by friction, the wound strings give plenty of friction, but not too much bite. I swear, I thought the solid strings were slicing my fingertips at times!, baby soft fingertips)

After a week of this; you have lovely callouses, no pain and can then start bending the solid strings to your hearts content, without feeling as though your fingers are being put through an egg slicer!.

To any real guitar player; this probably seems laughable, but it worked for me and its worth it.

Now, if I could only find a way of getting 10yrs worth of pratice in in 6 weeks I`d be laughing, am I any good?, hell no, but at least my wife can now understand what it is I`m trying to play.

I play guitar in the band but only in a few songs as I am usually on percussion.
In 24 hours I had to learn a full set of guitar parts to fill in for my broken friend and now have blisters just in time for tonights gig!

Too much extra practice before a gig, not always the best thing. Funny thing is that my skin has hardened on top of the blister so its strong now but holds a bubble underneath.