Leaderboard

OK for the photo; thanks. It looks fine. The Bert Weedon method was (and still is...) excellent; I recommend it. 'Play in a Day' was maybe a tad over-optimistic, but it's Good Stuff in there, nicely paced. I say this a lot when these questions come up, and I'll say it again. With guitar, and many other skills, the fastest way to get results is to go slowly..! It cannot be rushed, and it's a Good Idea to obtain, at the same time as the instrument, a big bucket of Patience. As a beginner, it's counter-productive to exercise for hours at a time. Little, often and, most importantly, regularly are the keys. Better two or three 15-minute session per day, every day, than three hours, twice a week. Little and often (but not too often...). Take on board the simple exercises at first; don't go straining for barre chords on Day One. Give yourself time to get the muscles and movements working; they will give of their best if you allow them to get the hang of it all. When you learned to read, you didn't start on Shakespeare, you did Janet and John. 'Tis much the same with music. Don't go on a step further until you've mastered the preceding step. That's the secret to obtaining your goals the fastest.

I think I may have fixed this issue. While other strings are on order, I decided to try a bit more honing. With a mixture of diamond tips bullet and ball shaped, finishing with cutting paste on the end of a cotton bud. I didn't want re profile the block so just the minimum. I played it continuously for a couple of hours giving the trem a bit of a beating, my conclusion is that the sharp edge inside could have been the problem. After saying this it may break tomorrow but it appeared a definite improvement. I couldn't do the double spacer idea because it protruded too far out of the back of the trem block and would foul the body.

Over doing it in any new pastime is a rite of passage. You’re excited and want to give it your best and with stringed instruments, this means discomfort. I remember using all sorts of things to try and toughen my fingers up quicker, but nothing beats playing and little and often, as @Dad3353 says above, the way forward. It’ll come, but not in days, in fact you’ll probably not notice the improvement until you go to do something that was impossible seemingly the day before and is now achievable (it wasn’t the day before, it was weeks previous). I had Bert’s Play in a Day, I think everyone did back then. My nephew, who is a formidable player and left me in his wake once I showed him the blues scale, once played in a backing band for Bert.

Scratch plate template Pretty much done. It’s amazing how much time goes into something that looks very simple.

No, you will not notice any difference; it's too early for you for that. Just a few checks... Are you sure that you're tuned correctly to concert pitch (A = 440 Hz...)..? Are you playing for too long at a time..? Are you trying to 'cut corners' and play above your pay grade..? Can you post a photo of your guitar, please..? Most beginners, of any age, find the first few days a bit uncomfortable, even with nylon strings, but I've not come across anyone having their 'fingers killed'. There is something quite wrong somewhere, which needs to be addressed before you either do yourself some damage, or give up, or both. Let's see your guitar, first, and in the meantime, restrict your practicing to 5 or 10 minute sessions, once or twice a day. For the anecdote : my first guitar was a Russian-made, very cheap, classical guitar, strung with steel strings. I knew nothing, and bought, with the guitar, a method book, by Mickey Baker. Page Two was full of jazz chords; in my ignorance I started to learn them, with great difficulty and much pain. That, though was steel strings, and complex jazz chords. What method or instruction system are you using..? A book..? You-tube..? A guitar tutor would be of great help, of course; is that an option, at least to get you started..? Over to you... Douglas

Well, I am looking for the "holy grail", Hugh, .... a right-handed strumming arm ... . Not very helpful I'm afraid, but will give your quest some thought and come back if I have a - moment. Good luck with the project.