Well, yeah... maybe that's a bit extreme But we could tap the fingers on something less sharp perhaps, like scissors?

Oh C'mon, scissors? Don't be such a coward

Even though I’ve been playing guitar for many years, I still sometimes have this problem that’s holding me back: Sore fingers

Think I read somewhere that SRV used to whip out his knife and cut a bit of hard skin from the heel of his foot and super glue that on his finger tip....apparently it improves ur tone .......................(last bit was a joke btw)

Harpist for Hire - Have Calluses, Will Travel

Monday, December 31, 2007 by Ariel

As delicate an instrument as the pedal harp seems to be, most people don’t realize that a harpist needs to have very tough fingertips to play one for any length of time. I’ve been working quite diligently on tone and technique lately, and the increase in practice time was giving me blisters on my fingertips, particularly on my left hand from plucking the heavy wire bass strings. In an attempt to get more practice in sooner, I’ve tried out some ideas that other players might find useful.

Taking a cue from the days when I needed to toughen up my feet for wildland fire season, I tried my old remedy of swabbing alcohol on areas that endure friction. The alcohol dehydrates and thickens the skin. It did help some, but not enough. It only extended my daily playing time between 10 and 20 percent. Another method of skin toughening suggested by a hiker friend, but which I did not try on my fingers, was to soak the blister-prone area in Epsom salts. I’d be curious to know if any harpists have tried this and what their results were.

Another technique I tried was to use a “liquid bandage” preparation on my fingertips. This allowed me to practice for between a quarter to a third longer before I got “hot spots” or blisters. The bandage layer does tend to wear out and peel off. This method could work well if someone had a moderate amount of time to build up to multiple hours playing per day, but I wanted faster results.

So, I VERY CAREFULLY smeared a thin layer of super glue on my fingertips where the skin contacts the strings. That worked extremely well and allowed me to play for several hours straight with no blistering at all. It more than tripled the amount of time that I could play at a sitting. I was amazed. I wore out before my fingertips did.

WARNING: Here’s the down side - pay close attention - this will only work if you are patient in preparing your fingers and let the glue dry thoroughly before touching your strings or anything else! Get impatient and you will have a mess, and could end up with your fingertips stuck together or any number of other problems. Consider yourself warned. Also, this is definitely not a use that the manufacturer would approve of…so do the above at your own risk.

I would use this method again if I needed to play for a long gig and my fingertip calluses were not properly conditioned, but I found that the glue does tend to crack and collect grime. Not particularly appealing, as the dried glue layer takes a number of days to wear off. In my opinion, your best bet is the traditional method of building up your calluses gradually and then maintaining them, but if you’re in a time squeeze the glue method does do wonders. Just be careful!

At this point, my harp calluses are built up to an acceptable level for most anything I want to do. The trick now will be maintaining them when I have to be away from the harp for an an extended period of time, as I am this week. I’m packing up my place in the Arizona high country in preparation for putting it up for sale. Next time I sit down to practice, I’ll see how my calluses held up to the time away.

mmm I think there is some liquid to put in the fingers used a lot by harp players, but I don't know what is its name...
Anyway I use Fast-Fret in my strings and I don't have his feeling.

here is an article about calluses explained by a harp player:

http://dangerousangel.wordpress.com/2007/1...es-will-travel/

Thanks Juan, that's a great article!
Hm... I think I will give the super glue a try

There are so many responses that this method could have already been advised.

What I used to do was buy some surgical spirit and dab the end of my fingertips. This harderns them up pretty good Just make sure you dry your fingers thoroughly, as I've no idea what nasty things that might do to your much loved guitars. heh.

- This might sound pretty scary and illadvised, but my Aunt is a Doctor and when she played guitar she used this method. It really does work!

What is exactly a "surgical spirit" ? Can you find me a link or something...Thanks

Great topic Marcus
Sore fingers are norlmal for begginners.The most imporatant thing is not to get discourage and not to stop playing for a long time.Time itself will solve the problem

I sure don't hope you'd classify Marcus as a beginner, 'cause then what the heck would us students be?

The most extreme one I remember is that he glued his fingers to a surface, and than PULLED, causing all his fingertip skin to tear and in a day or so he will have super tough colluses to deal with his 13's strings

Don't know how true it is, and I never want to find out.