sparquelito Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Hi gang, My band played a big, fun festival at a large park on the river yesterday. It was a drizzly-rainy outdoor event, and we played from under a large covered pavilion. We stayed dry overall because of the overhead cover, and our gear was safe, but the ambient moistness was a factor. The crowd was engaged in a variety of sports tournaments, and those who weren't playing sports were grilling, cooking, eating, and have an overall good time with friends. It never dumped rain, but rather there was a mildly-cool temperature, periods of dryness, and even more periods of a steady, drizzly precipitation coming down. We had to provide live music for six hours (from 09:00 am to 3:00 pm), so we traded sets with a good friend's band, and had them fall in on our PA, amps, bass rig, mic stands, and our drums. Quick, fairly seamless transitions for the alternating sets. Extra mic stands (with room for each guitarist's pedal boards) are a MUST, if you ever do a gig like this. I found my guitar work suffered from the humidity. Sliding power-chord transitions (on BOC's Godzilla, for instance) felt damp and clumsy. Normally crafty finger work (on Stevie Nicks' Landslide, etc) felt stumbly and dull. Don't get me wrong, both bands sounded great, and the audience probably never noticed the difference, but the moisture was a CHALLENGE. Here's the advice I ask of you, those of you with live outdoor performance experience; Aside from keeping dry cloths on hand to keep hands and strings somewhat dry, is there any other technique or product you can recommend when attempting to play with a high moisture content in the air? Tone Finger-ease in the little spray can? Graphite powder? Chicken grease, anything? Thanks in advance! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 You just described every gig in Florida 9 months of the year! I've yet to find a solution, though Finger Ease would likely help with the sticky hand feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glp2012 Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Air moisture is not much of a problem here in Southern California, but blistering heat (that causes you to sweat) is. As a bass player, I used to wear a wrist band to keep the sweat from running down to my fingers. On the other hand, like you said, nobody in the audience really notices or cares. So, don't sweat it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I was gonna say Finger Ease too. Not much else you can do. We recently played an outdoor gig and even though there was no rain, the humidity was terrible. I put a new set of strings on just before and even though I sprayed plenty of Finger Ease and wiped down my guitar and neck after the gig, I noticed today that my strings are already corroding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 mate, you know those steel floor fans drummers often put each side of the kit blowing cool air up at them? one of those next to the pedal board blasting up at your chest - feel cool (and dry), play cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 The guitarist of British Hendrix/ZZ Top covers band The Hamsters used to spray his guitar neck liberally with WD40 moisture repelling oil at the start of the set. Must have f***ed the neck up eventually..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromnabulax Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Oh Man, where I live now on the shores of Lake Erie we get very warm summer days with some mind blowing humidity. I do regular Saturday gigs all summer from 9am until 2pm. I do outdoor weddings, restaurants, funerals, parties, whatever. I do them all out of doors day and night. I relate to your having all sorts of issues with stuck fingers, immediately scratchy strings, and sun. Recommendations? None. The conditions can be ridiculously difficult, but hey. It's a living... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Friend, you are welcome here in Portland OR anytime! I guess my tip would be this: I use the finger ease to clean off the chicken grease. That's got nothing to do with the weather, just that I like chicken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvercrow Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 This is somewhat of a head scratcher.... I wonder-thinking 'out loud here'- would a light rosin like bowlers use, work? Perhaps a light dose of baby powder? Would it mess up a rosewood fretboard? D40??!! Good on guns (not on ammo) and sticky locks- I imagine it would do a numbr on the wood / frets. It's penetrating lubricant. Otherwise I'm pretty well stumped. I liked the fan idea...I'm a sweaty person anyway... Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody78 Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Ha! I read the topic title and thought you were going to be playing with the Vancouver based band Moist - big in Canada in the 90's and recently reformed. That would be a pretty cool gig... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 The guitarist of British Hendrix/ZZ Top covers band The Hamsters used to spray his guitar neck liberally with WD40 moisture repelling oil at the start of the set. Seen them in a pub in Old Oxted. He does indeed drench his neck in wd40. Must have f***ed the neck up eventually..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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