Retired Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 I was wondering why I keep hitting other strings and muting them? Seems I cant play chords anymore without muting certain higher strings? Most all my guitars are narrow 60 necks. Looked it up on my cell phone. Older people do get fingers and knuckles swelled up plus I have arthritis. So now what? Exchange them all for wider necks? I might consider trading the Casino for a wide neck Casino. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted June 24 Share Posted June 24 Have you consulted with an arthritis specialist or rheumatologist? You might be able to do some sort of home therapy, and keep playing those narrow 60's necks. Me, I have tried the classical guitars with the wide necks and nylon strings. They are fun, but it's hard to rock on those damned things. 🤔 PS See if you can find a used Gibson Firebird Zero. I own one, and the neck and fingerboard is comfortably wide. And it rocks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 The 2015 USA (Nashville) models had that extra .1" wide necks. Lots of them have changed out the G-Force for conventional tuners. Ric 650 and 660 models have 1.75" wide necks. These models are the exception to their usually narrow necks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 2 hours ago, merciful-evans said: The 2015 USA (Nashville) models had that extra .1" wide necks. Lots of them have changed out the G-Force for conventional tuners. Heck yes. My 2015 double-cut had a really wide-feeling neck. Loved it. Can't remember why I sold it. Must've needed the money, I reckon. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 You can get a new nut and new bridge saddles and regroove/space the strings accordingly. I remembered when I got up to 235 lbs I started to have this issue a little. I lost 25 lbs and the sausage fingers went away and no more issue. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 I second doing a medical check in. It might be your arthritis flaring, or it could be something else that might be addressable. Some conditions, like heart issues, or meds can cause edema and swelling. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 Hi Retired, just a point which may not be relevant so please ignore this if I have it wrong: Whilst necks on 60s Gibsons can indeed be narrow across the neck (my 69 Epi built at Kalamazoo is very narrow) when modern specs are given for 60s style models it tends to refer to the depth of the neck (not the width) . If this is the case I am no doctor but my brain visually would think that would make it easier for someone with less hand mobility to make chord shapes as you have more ‘air space’ to manoeuvre in as less of you hand is touching the neck. In that case even a narrower neck might actually provide you more angle of attack to avoid fingers laying across strings. if it is more a case that you have wide/fat finger tips(which have developed recently) and this is more the issue than flexibility, then a wider neck may indeed help, though that doesn’t necessarily gel with arthritis and may be more a case of the issues Duane and prairie dog mentioned. again, I may be wrong on this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 I’ve experienced the same thing over the years. Moderate to severe osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Daily NSAIDS and monthly Cosentyx injections just to function. Back in early 2023, I changed my diet/eating habits. Seriously cut my carb intake and intake of so called healthy “vegetable” (seed) oils significantly, both of which are highly inflammatory. I consume predominantly monounsaturated fats (Extra Virgin Olive Oil and/Avocado oil) and some saturated fats. I try to keep polyunsaturated fats (seed oils) to an absolute minimum. I have reduced my pain/inflammation by about 80%. Very rarely need to take an NSAID and off the Cosentyx. And hopefully I will be seeing my rheumatologist for the last time next Wednesday. I don’t think his services will be needed in the future. It might be worth a try. YMMV, but it could help. It can be a challenge since most processed “food” sold in supermarkets is loaded with seed oils. However, there are more manufacturers making foods with olive or avocado oil, but they aren’t cheap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 18 hours ago, duane v said: You can get a new nut and new bridge saddles and regroove/space the strings accordingly. I've done this, though in my case the reduce string spacing rather than increase it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 19 hours ago, sparquelito said: Heck yes. My 2015 double-cut had a really wide-feeling neck. Loved it. Can't remember why I sold it. Must've needed the money, I reckon. 🙂 I played a few of those, eventually settling for one of these 2015s. The extra width is a boon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/24/2024 at 5:23 PM, sparquelito said: Have you consulted with an arthritis specialist or rheumatologist? You might be able to do some sort of home therapy, and keep playing those narrow 60's necks. Me, I have tried the classical guitars with the wide necks and nylon strings. They are fun, but it's hard to rock on those damned things. 🤔 PS See if you can find a used Gibson Firebird Zero. I own one, and the neck and fingerboard is comfortably wide. And it rocks. Sorry I haven't been on here in a while . Just had half my ear cut away from cancer. No, I haven't saught anything on the Arthritis yet. Just learned this skin cancer is a result of the radiation treatments I went through in 88. So that has me upset. I did play wide neck guitars as a teen though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/25/2024 at 5:09 AM, merciful-evans said: The 2015 USA (Nashville) models had that extra .1" wide necks. Lots of them have changed out the G-Force for conventional tuners. Ric 650 and 660 models have 1.75" wide necks. These models are the exception to their usually narrow necks. Thanks. I'm leaning toward wide neck verses 60's narrow. Just hate thinking about getting rid of what I have? Im keeping the Gold Top no matter what! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/25/2024 at 7:59 AM, duane v said: You can get a new nut and new bridge saddles and regroove/space the strings accordingly. I remembered when I got up to 235 lbs I started to have this issue a little. I lost 25 lbs and the sausage fingers went away and no more issue. My fingers are wider. I can't fit them in the Dobermans ears to clean them with ear wipes. Deb does that with her tiny fingers. He loves it. I could lose 10 pounds? No more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/25/2024 at 3:49 PM, 'Scales said: Hi Retired, just a point which may not be relevant so please ignore this if I have it wrong: Whilst necks on 60s Gibsons can indeed be narrow across the neck (my 69 Epi built at Kalamazoo is very narrow) when modern specs are given for 60s style models it tends to refer to the depth of the neck (not the width) . If this is the case I am no doctor but my brain visually would think that would make it easier for someone with less hand mobility to make chord shapes as you have more ‘air space’ to manoeuvre in as less of you hand is touching the neck. In that case even a narrower neck might actually provide you more angle of attack to avoid fingers laying across strings. if it is more a case that you have wide/fat finger tips(which have developed recently) and this is more the issue than flexibility, then a wider neck may indeed help, though that doesn’t necessarily gel with arthritis and may be more a case of the issues Duane and prairie dog mentioned. again, I may be wrong on this. I used to play 60 thin necks great. All the strings were clear. Lately the middle and last two fingers muff the last G,B &E strings. Sometimes the D. I try putting the strings right at the finger nail? Still mutes those last 3 strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/25/2024 at 6:22 PM, tx-ogre said: I’ve experienced the same thing over the years. Moderate to severe osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Daily NSAIDS and monthly Cosentyx injections just to function. Back in early 2023, I changed my diet/eating habits. Seriously cut my carb intake and intake of so called healthy “vegetable” (seed) oils significantly, both of which are highly inflammatory. I consume predominantly monounsaturated fats (Extra Virgin Olive Oil and/Avocado oil) and some saturated fats. I try to keep polyunsaturated fats (seed oils) to an absolute minimum. I have reduced my pain/inflammation by about 80%. Very rarely need to take an NSAID and off the Cosentyx. And hopefully I will be seeing my rheumatologist for the last time next Wednesday. I don’t think his services will be needed in the future. It might be worth a try. YMMV, but it could help. It can be a challenge since most processed “food” sold in supermarkets is loaded with seed oils. However, there are more manufacturers making foods with olive or avocado oil, but they aren’t cheap. The wife has went on a diet and lost 50 ponds. I decided to do so also. Not 50 lbs Lol. I was at 145, and went to eating salads and chicken. I lost 5 pounds overnight. Decided to get to 185. I lose weight fast. I'm going through Skin cancer as they did Radiation treatments on me in 88. Depressing as they cut out spots here and there a lot. The Dermatologist says its from the radiation treatment I went through in 88? Who knows what else? They pumped a bunch of chemo drugs in me back then. Im getting spots on the head and back where they treated me from my eyebrows to the tail bone and behind my ears. They didn't expect me to live this long. Said I was an experiment in 88 and was expected to die then. So I'm thinking of trading the Casino for a wide neck one to try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 On 6/26/2024 at 2:52 AM, merciful-evans said: I've done this, though in my case the reduce string spacing rather than increase it. Really? Actually my fingers just barely touch the other strings. 3 that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 3 minutes ago, Retired said: Really? Actually my fingers just barely touch the other strings. 3 that is. Yes I hate having the e strings too close to the edge. It makes me push them off the fingerboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 2 hours ago, merciful-evans said: Yes I hate having the e strings too close to the edge. It makes me push them off the fingerboard. 2 hours ago, merciful-evans said: Yes I hate having the e strings too close to the edge. It makes me push them off the fingerboard. I had that problem with the Jaguar. The Doberman I had at the time never let me play it. He barked loudly at the shiny metal flashing on the walls. Eventualy I replaced the bridge and that fixed it. Our granddaughter has the guitar now. She's 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 I plan on visiting Guitar Center sometime and looking around. I'll try a couple wide neck guitars. Actually I can play solos fine. It's chords on the first few frats. So all I need to do is play a few chords. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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