- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
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V8 project
- Thread starter JIO
- Start date
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Thanks - apparently I had it for years but it was dormant. Dr/surgeon said if it was addressed sooner it would have a better outcome, but I had no symptoms/no way of knowing there was a problem. A recent wrist fracture (last April) brought it to the forefront. Dr said my right hand also has it. (no symptoms) Ain't life grand?
To quote the Stones " what a drag it is getting old"
My arthritis is beginning to affect my grip strength, and my knuckles are swelling and painful most days. My mom and grandmother on my father's side have (had) finger twisting
I'm still past the age where theirs showed the onset, but it IS my future....
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
To quote the Stones " what a drag it is getting old"
My arthritis is beginning to affect my grip strength, and my knuckles are swelling and painful most days. My mom and grandmother on my father's side have (had) finger twisting
I'm still past the age where theirs showed the onset, but it IS my future....
Can't 'like' that, but definitely identify with it. We all do what we can with the cards we were dealt. I've 'suffered' though it (carpal tunnel) for months and hope a bit of relief soon. Regardless - it won't stop me.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Stopping won't improve the situation.
word
I stopped playing in three bands at the same time because of carpal tunnel and arthritis combined. The lesser action did help me to attend to the music I wanted to play for myself as opposed to the audience.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
We all are dealing with one thing or another. Best to make the best of it.
I've avoided carpal tunnel thankfully, but now I'm facing another family affliction, dupuytren's contracture, which is a progressive hand deformity. Yay aging and health issues!
I had trigger release surgery last summer on my right hand middle finger. Before the surgery I was having a very hard time playing; among other things my finger would seize up during gigs. After the surgery and several months of P.T., I'm in good shape. The finger has a slight permanent curve but it works just fine. So there can be good outcomes! Hope it goes well... just make sure to follow doctor's orders on the recovery phase.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Last edited:
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Yes - restricted use of my left hand for a month. I'm right handed, but no bass playing for a month ~ hard, but I want to come out on the other side better than now so I'll tow the line.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Checked off most all the fine-tuning to-do's today. Routed the bridge cavity lower, shifted the B pu over to center it, added black abalone dots to the (faux) pearl fb blocks, and intoned the bridge saddles. Much easier to play now. I still need to address the hs back/sides and possibly shaving the neck down to make it less of a log... but later.
To quote the Stones " what a drag it is getting old"
My arthritis is beginning to affect my grip strength, and my knuckles are swelling and painful most days. My mom and grandmother on my father's side have (had) finger twisting
I'm still past the age where theirs showed the onset, but it IS my future....
Off topic, but a note about arthritis in the fingers: By chance, does your Doctor have you on one of the Statins-class drugs for cholesterol?
About three years ago, I started getting arthritis in my fingers. A couple of joints got quite swollen, mis-shapen and painful. By no coincidence, it was around that time that my Doctor put me on statins, even though my cholesterol wasn't bad at all. Only slightly above the recommended level. And I started getting arthritis in my fingers. Which really bothered me, because I'm a craftsman. I need my hands!
In 2020, I had heart surgery, and had to be on heart-controlling drugs after that. And they kept me on the statins. During the recovery, I was having trouble with my muscles. They were painful, and wouldn't recover after exercise. And the big wounds in my chest were also slow in healing up. It really slowed down my recovery, and limited my energy to work in my shop.
I did some of my own reading about these problems, and I found a lot of papers suggesting these were common side-effects of....statins. And that, if you are having these side effects, you should not be taking statins. I confronted my General Doctor about this, and she said that the info she worked from said that these side effects were minimal, and that I really should stay on the statins to control my cholesterol. Over the next year, she switched me to several different variants of statins, but the muscle pain and arthritis kept getting worse.
Finally, in the spring of 2022, I simply stopped taking the statins on my own decision. I'm not exaggerating....within two weeks, the arthritis was almost gone! The joints in my fingers still have mis-shapen lumps, but now they move through their full range of motion, with no pain at all. After suffering for three years, my hands are back and fully functional again!
The muscles took a little longer to recover, maybe two months. But now I'm able to exercise, and build up muscle again. I'm getting stronger. And my chest wound from the heart surgery feels like it's finally healing up. Getting off statins was genuinely life-changing for me.
Let's not jam up this thread with discussions about drug companies and Doctors and declining trust. Let's discuss that somewhere else.
But, seriously, if you are having trouble with arthritis and you are on statins, go read up about statins and make your own decisions.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,588
- 221,963
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Thanks Bruce - it sounds like you've had quite a journey medically. I'm glad to hear you are better now. No, no drugs were prescribed and although arthritis is also part of what I'm dealing with it's more carpal tunnel. I'm hoping the CD release will help. (a week from tomorrow)
On a thread related note - how would you advise me regarding shaving the big-fat neck down to a more comfortable profile? I don't want to compromise its structural integrity as it is nice and straight now and needs to support 8 strings. It's a solid round C-shape 1.75" nut/2.75" heal / 0.959 deep at the 1st fret and throughout the length. How does one know how much can be removed, or conversely - how much is too much? (short of having an x-ray showing where the tr is) I mean, if it's best left as-is I will but it would be more comfortable to play if the neck was more stream-line. I've also become quite fond of a V profile at the first few frets, so possibly V to a less 'round' C or even a D-profile... or, like what is done on 5r's - a tapered 'airplane wing' profile where it dies toward the G string side. Your thought will be appreciated as always -
This is where I find smaller planes and spokeshaves to be essential tools. You can remove predictable amounts of wood, and keep everything relatively straight.
Good info, thanks. And very astute observations. Sorry for your strife.
Me: No meds at all. Occasional anti inflammatory.
Thanks Bruce - it sounds like you've had quite a journey medically. I'm glad to hear you are better now. No, no drugs were prescribed and although arthritis is also part of what I'm dealing with it's more carpal tunnel. I'm hoping the CD release will help. (a week from tomorrow)
On a thread related note - how would you advise me regarding shaving the big-fat neck down to a more comfortable profile? I don't want to compromise its structural integrity as it is nice and straight now and needs to support 8 strings. It's a solid round C-shape 1.75" nut/2.75" heal / 0.959 deep at the 1st fret and throughout the length. How does one know how much can be removed, or conversely - how much is too much? (short of having an x-ray showing where the tr is) I mean, if it's best left as-is I will but it would be more comfortable to play if the neck was more stream-line. I've also become quite fond of a V profile at the first few frets, so possibly V to a less 'round' C or even a D-profile... or, like what is done on 5r's - a tapered 'airplane wing' profile where it dies toward the G string side. Your thought will be appreciated as always -
Hey Geo;
The most important factor in the overall stiffness and strength of the neck is the overall thickness right down the centerline. The overall depth of the beam, structurally. A small amount trimmed off the back center will significantly weaken the neck.
Since you are concerned about the strength, because of the extra string load, you should leave the center alone. Trim wood off the two sides of the neck, what we call the "hips" of the shape. Taking off wood there will make the neck feel surprisingly smaller in size, a smaller circumference. You can trim the hips all the way to V shape if you like, or just flatten out the hips to shallower radiuses. And you can also trim them asymmetrical, if you like. But leave the center untouched.
Start by filing or shaving flat strips at about 45 degrees on either side. Make them maybe 3/8" wide, even in width, check for flat with a straightedge. Check for feel. Does that feel smaller? Work slowly, filing the flats gradually wider, but keeping them straight and flat. Keep going, making the flats wider until the overall circumference of the neck feels right to you.
Then, draw pencil lines down the center of each flat. Round off the ridges at the edges of the flat, but not touching the pencil lines. The classic Facet method of shaping necks. This helps you keep it all straight and even as you trim it.
I personally like to use large files to shape necks. I feel like I have the best control with them. But there are other choices of tools. There was a good thread on here a while back comparing different neck shaping tools.
