Re: Way OT: EM fingers!

["Stephen Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Richard Sales
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Sent: Tuesday, 13 June, 2006 16:12 PM
Subject: Re: Way OT: EM fingers!


>The woman who's husband I am... (PC anyone?!) crushed her finger with a 
>sledge hammer a few years ago. Lost all the feeling in the finger. She 
>smashed it much worse than you, I can guarantee it - the whole finger was 
>wide open - gruesome.

Yep, I had to clean up the blood before we left for the hospital, it was 
all 
over the new stone tiles and they hadn't been sealed yet!

>Anyhow, after a year or so of trying everything else, the feeling and a 
>lot 
>of the motion was restored with acupuncture.

I'll ask my acupuncturist about this.  She's done wonders for blood 
pressure 
and circulation around injured bits before!

>I think the carpenter might be close to right as far as healing time. But 
>the rest of your fingers work, eh? Remember Django Reinhart?

Er, while I've been tempted by a very fast right hand with the idea of 
re-learning to play Jimi-style, such is a hurdle I'll deal with only if I 
have to.  The middle finger's my main/center point (self-taught, played by 
ear since '71).  I'll tell ya it's a real temptation just to play after 
going to see Fripp today.  I knew it would be a little painful thinking 
about playing after coming home but I really don't want to screw up what 
could be healing interior-wise just by mistakenly using that finger.

>Time to learn how to play slide guitar?

Too late.  Started using a slide in the early 80s, long before learning 
anything about Blues music.  Been thinking about it, frankly.

>My own take on money, after having spent huge piles of it, is that TIME 
>is 
>more important than equipment.

Ah yes, but having had no disposable income - much less income - for over 
six years, and seeing my 50th birthday coming up in December, I've decided 
that time is something that's, as Riff Raff put it, "fleeting".

In preparation for unleashing myself on the public again, I need to find a 
good, inexpensive guitar repair person to fix a grounding error in ol' 
Cthulhu.  In London, someone I can see face-to-face and trust with my 
beloved tool.  After several years of dealing with workmen in London I 
only 
use good personal references.

> Some of the most riveting, entertaining, soul stirring and wonderful 
> guitarists I've ever known just used a Tele and amp... or, even simpler, 
> one acoustic guitar. Just my $.02

I'll try to keep the bar high then, as all I've got is my ol' strat and an 
Oscar Schmidt acoustic. :)  Yes, here's to working within limitations to 
achieve a lovely result!

Thx!


>Good luck

richard sales
glassWing farm and studio
vancouver island, b.c.
800.545.6846
250.752.4816
www.glassWing.com
www.richardsales.com
www.hayleysales.com
www.blueberryfieldsfarm.com
On 13-Jun-06, at 1:41 AM, Stephen Goodman wrote:


Okay, I knew I'd ask about this but now have no choice from context 
alone...

The rig has been down for several months given massive works on the house. 
On a weekend three or so weeks ago when I'd just had it and wanted to play 
no matter what, I stupidly crushed the end of my left middle finger 
between 
two big flagstones around 3 weeks ago, splitting the end like a melon. 
Didn't break anything (x-ray check) and it wasn't a center-on hit so I 
kept 
the nail. I can however feel the hard bit inside where the scar tissue is 
forming. I massage the tip most of the time, gently, and the feeling in 
the 
tip still hasn't come back. I've been told by a carpenter who says he did 
something similar that it won't come back for as much as three months. 
Obviously this effects playing - and even if one excludes the nuances one 
obtains through good feeling-control, the hazard of not feeling the 
fingertip becomes one of finger damage through sense ignorance.

I was itching to play before this happened, and have been having lucid 
dreams about playing since a week after the accident. Needless to say here 
is an illustration as to why one should not hesitate before going at it. 
I'm 
going to come into just a little bit of money via my late mum-in-law 
sometime in the next month or so, and have decided that [a] life is 
frigging 
short, and [b] I'm going to get a small, efficient amp system for 
performance purposes and rent a couple of halls in the London area when 
this 
damned finger gets better.

So, guitarists on the list: How long will it take for this to come back? 
Thx 
in advance.

S.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeff Shirkey" 
<jcshirke@midway.uchicago.edu>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 13 June, 2006 02:04 AM
Subject: Re: Way OT: EM fingers!






... but can you imagine how you could use this to feel your way around a 
keyboard, or a guitar.... your house?


Actually, no. :) How would this help someone make music?

I currently treat a fractured bone in my foot with EM waves 10 hours a 
day. 
I'm not sure that's something I'd want to feel.

Jeff