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Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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04-07-2021 08:46 PM
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Well, my spine knee and shoulder injuries dictate how big (and more importantly how heavy) of a guitar I can comfortably play. I’ve learned to live with this limitation.
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I need everybody to send me their biggest American guitars so I can impartially review this matter.
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I play 17''+ guitars most of the time... although I'm noticing back pain and neck pain when I play seated for anything more than an hour or so.
Does anyone else have an issue like this? When standing, no issues.
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These days, pushing 64 years of age, I am experiencing fingertip pain no matter what size guitar I play. Light strings are now my friend.
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Speaking of big guitars:
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"We agree to abstain from all big archtop guitars of an intoxicating quality whether Gibson, Guild, Stromberg, Wolfrum or Farida,
except as medicine."
Adapted from Joseph Livesey, teetotaler and leader of the 'temperance movement'
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Originally Posted by entresz
It worked for me, and if I don't use these, my back and neck pain returns. This was explained as ulnar nerve related. When I do use a strap, I use one that has support over both shoulders so the strap doesn't concentrate on one spot. Planet Waves used to make the one I'm using now.
Good luck
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different bodies different requirements. At 50, I can't sit with my right arm out like that for extended periods. A 335 is as big/deep as I can manage.
It's all individual.
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I stand a little over 6'1" even with the beginnings of some height reduction due to aging.
17" guitars are pretty much a perfect fit for me sitting without a strap.
They just sit there and present themselves at exactly the right position to play.
But I also have a fondness for playing archaic small bodied archtops and flat tops like some of the early 13.5" Epiphones, and my old Gibson L-3 and L-0.
A few "friends" get some joy out of pointing out the visual mismatch with those and sometimes even with 16" guitars.
I shall not be deterred or shamed.
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Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
But she didn't dress like this back then, and she played a big blonde jazz box.
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The things some will do for stardom...
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I have no problems with big guitars. I have for many years played them at an angle on my lap like Freddie Green or (to a lesser degree) Wes Montgomery. That way the right arm doesn't have to curl around the guitar body but can rest relaxed on it. It gives a more relaxed position of the right hand. It's the perfect position for 4-to-the-bar rhythm. It also allows me to keep the left wrist straight. To avoid the guitar sliding further out the thigh, I put a piece of silicon rubber web between the thigh and the guitar (same kind of web used on ships in rough seas to avoid plates and cups sliding off the table). Having the guitar in a vertical position feels awkward and anything but relaxed to me.
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
I found it.
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Big guitar - powerful sound.
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One of the most flamboyant guitarists of all time, TBone Walker also had a unique way of holding and slinging his big bodied guitars...
And my all time favorite...
Don't try this move at home!!
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Then there was Jeff Healey
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Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
And in reference to an earlier comment, it's definitely not a no fun lifestyle or even a no fun diet. I've learned to bake all sorts of things and keep them healthy, including brownies and even fudge.
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Originally Posted by entresz
Just like desk workers, you have to get up and move around at least a few minutes an hour! Also, I use a strap even when seated, that way I can straighten my back and not hunch over the guitar. But it requires being mindful of your posture- not always easy when you are working on the same thin over and over!
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Yeah sometimes I wonder if my choice of guitar was quite right for me. (The hat came with it.)
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I would posit that Mary might have an even easier time if she didn't play a guitar that large. In any event, the wrong size guitar has been the cause of an awful lot of physical problems for a lot of players for a long time. To use her utilization of that guitar as an object lesson may be unwise. And anybody experiencing shoulder or back pain may want to experiment with different body sizes, shapes, depths and/or weights. I was very attached to my L5 until I played several smaller guitars that made the gigs much easier and less painful.
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I gained a lot of weight back in the early 80s when I quit smoking, then used snuff, and quit that, and had to have something in my mouth for a long time, and started sucking on hard mint candy. Peppermint oil also has the effect of increasing alertness, which I also needed, spending 10 hours or more per day in the seat of a helicopter flying across the Gulf of Mexico. I gained almost 40 pounds, and finally decided that had to go. I never lost all of it, but I lost most of it and I'm still not overweight. But spending all that time hunched in the seat watching the instruments wasn't good for my posture, and old age doesn't help either. I have a 17" guitar on the way, but only 2.75" deep. To me it's the depth, more than the width, that makes a guitar uncomfortable. I have both a 15" and a 16" thin guitar (2.5" deep) and they're both a little too small in breadth for comfort. I used to use a strap, but now I use a Mundo guitar support, and that works wonderfully. The guitar stays up as high as I want, and I can move around however I want. I'm not planning on playing standing up any more. Blame it on my (lack of) youth. I keep working on curing my permanent hunch, and the Mundo helps. It's not cheap, but not much more than a quality strap, and it was worth every penny to me.
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Originally Posted by sgosnell
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Originally Posted by Donplaysguitar
Why do you call it No Fun? I just love mine.
RIP Nick Gravenites
Today, 05:48 PM in The Players