Hand cramping up during gigs

Andyjr1515

All the normal things apply (hydration, etc) but age also has a factor!  I used to be fine with skinny Ibanez necks and now I can't play more than a few numbers without cramping - particularly if there are a lot of barre chords.  I am fine with thicker necks cramp-wise but HATE clubby ones to actually play

Soooooo - for me, the revelation was 'V' profile necks.  You have the extra depth that you need for barre chords without cramping up, but for thumb wraparound and lead, you don't even notice there is anything different.  I have no idea why they went out of fashion.  All my own guitars now have V necks.  It is pretty straightforward to reshape a soft V from a conventional C neck, too, which I do routinely if I get a new Fender or Squier.

Find a guitar shop that has one in stock and just try it...I think you will be surprised just how good they are.

citizen68

I think that's why I love my Tele so much now Andy - has a nice soft V & is a pretty good handful - mind you I gigged my old RG a while back & still love it but weird going back to that wizard neck

citizen68

mudslide73;969647" said:

I had this a few years ago. I put it down to dehydration and also because I was playing 11s on my Strat at home. (My gigging guitar has 9s). My hand was aching throughout the gig but locked during the encore.. the second half was 1h10m + and it was the middle of summer.

I warm up now with some major scales and make sure I have a drink for the second set. I get the odd twinge but I recognise the signs more now.

I've gone back to 10's (from 11's) too - apart from the LP, since this started happening - think it's helped a bit - have to be careful not to overbend now!

Yes the locking up thing happens usually at very inopportune times!

Andyjr1515

citizen68 said:

I think that's why I love my Tele so much now Andy - has a nice soft V & is a pretty good handful - mind you I gigged my old RG a while back & still love it but weird going back to that wizard neck

I actually find the 'soft V' still a bit chunky.  I slim mine further to halfway between a soft V and a tradition straight-sided V.

Jimbro66

citizen68 said:

.......I just don't wanna be a Mark King style player with top of guitar stuck under armpit - I could mebbe get away with raising it up a bit, but I've a gut to try & hide too.............

Perhaps more BB King than Mark King then if it's resting on a paunch?  How often did you see BB play barre chords?

There's got to be a market for guitars with 'reverse contouring'  -  rear contour at the bottom of the guitar to fit nicely over an ample gut

p.s. no sign of a gut in your vid so no worries

citizen68

Well I've raised the straps on my guitars for tonight so here's hoping - yeah I hide it well don't I lol

StageStruck

I get this from time to time, usually towards the end of a 2+ hour pub gig. It's usually down to dehydration, but occasionally it's down to the weight of the guitar pressing on my shoulder. I combated it by getting the widest strap I could find which alleviated the problem to an extent. I also give my shoulder a bit of a massage before I play which also eases it a bit. On the odd time that i feel cramp coming on, I tend to either swap the strap to my opposite shoulder or behind my neck which helps enough to get me through the gig.

Rowby1

Rowby1

What!!

I was trying to say, dehydration is usually the thing to blame. For me though it's my thumb that locks up.

Don't know why I've posted a blank quote just there. 

citizen68

No signs of it on the gig tonight - I'll keep my guitars strapped that little bit higher & would add that I must've drank the equivalent of me X 15 in water two days before the gig - been pissing like an Irish summer all night but I'm a happier camper

viz

I wonder if it's exacerbated by your thumb-over technique. You're doing some pretty huge major third bends which might be easier on the hand and wrist with a looser technique. Thumb-over forces my hand into a ball and makes it tighten up.

citizen68

Cheers Viz - don't know if I could play with thumb behind - esp for the bigger bends but I made a conscious decision to try & keep my fretting hand free of tension last night - thankfully no cramps so I'll keep making the extra effort not to tense up.

All the suggestions have been really helpful - gotta love this place

Apart from the 'classified's which has nearly ruined me several times (& many more hopefully!)

mudslide73

Great stuff.. at least you know the signs now. There's nothing you can do once you've locked up.

Jimbro66

/\  Brilliant!

citizen68

mudslide73;971180" said:

Great stuff.. at least you know the signs now. There's nothing you can do once you've locked up.

mudslide73;971180" said:

Great stuff.. at least you know the signs now. There's nothing you can do once you've locked up.

Apart from a faux hand shandy - wurx for me

citizen68

Jimbro66;971293" said:

/\  Brilliant!

Cheers man! Onwards & sidewards
[-X

thomasw88

Definitely the thumb over me thinks. Had something similar a few years ago. Physio gave me čouple exercises which help. Hold your arms straight down to your sides and then pull your wrists up 90 degrees up. Hold tfur 10 count then flip them the other way. Repeat a couple times.

citizen68

Maybe I'll try thumb up, but not over if I can. Doug Aldrich's strict thumb behind style has always fascinated me - must have great right hand damping - from around 1:18 here

MikeDearing

I get it at really hot gigs, dehydration and a few other issues that occurred to me a few years back.. pints of water and anti inflammatory tablets, and keeping alcohol intake down...  wide strap, move the guitar higher, flatter fingerboard, lower string tension, lower gauge, bend less strings and exercise fingers more often concentrating on fluid movement rather than those spring things that strengthen  fingers for climbing..

ChrisMusic

A lot of good advice so far.

If you check that video of Doug Aldrich at around 4 mins in where he does one of the solos, he is doing quite a lot of "thumb over", presumably to get the leverage and reduce the hand tension on a lot of the bends.  IIRC he often also holds the guitar around 45°, to semi-vertically, when playing live, almost cello like sometimes.  That changes the relationship between guitar/strap height and wrist angle, to keep it straighter.  He does that later in the video whilst seated for the fast solo, see around 5:25.

A lot of thumb over for the bends, and then thumb behind for the intricate bits in this short clip

Duration 1:09

Relaxation and hand strength make a lot of difference IMO.  To that end, check out the PowerBall hand and arm exerciser, Argos sell them.  Careful use is also good for rehabilitation exercises.  And the one with lights in even looks pretty in a darkened room, what more could you want !

On the subject of dehydration and electrolyte balance, during the winter, I occasionally get cramps in my feet and calf muscles, which can be a bit of a shock when rolling over in the middle of the night, wake up very fast when that happens !   Very occasionally I have had severe cramp in my inner thigh muscle, and that is so painful that I have nearly passed out.  The thing that seems to have worked for me is along the dehydration lines, not only do you need water but also electrolytes.  I have found that simply adding a bit of salt to meals has made a world of difference, for me at least.