dreadnought jr and rotator cuff issue

[Carol-3M-Stillhand]

Hiya @Dirk_R sorry you are having rotator cuff issues!! I can identify with that, unfortunately.

I would see what their return policy is- it might be soon enough that you could return it and/or exchange it? If you’re stuck with it, you could always try selling it…..

Also if you decide to keep it and try to make it work, try placing the guitar on your left knee when you play, like the classical style. That will automatically place the lower bout of the guitar that much lower and will decrease the strain on your shoulder.

Also… Physical Therapy Rocks!!!! Good luck and I hope your shoulder improves!!

[Loraine]

Sweetwater has a 30 day no hassle return policy, but it can’t hurt to call them and see if they’ll exchange it. I would stop playing it if your rotator cuff is bothering you. Your old tear may have healed and now retorn or you might have tendonitis. Suggest you go to your doctor for follow up if it is that bothersome.

[N-lightMike]

I would return the guitar and get a smaller body. There are a number of options. Alvarez makes a very good guitar and much less expensive than Martin. They make models based on popular guitars like Martins. Then there are Ibanez, Epiphone, Breedlove… and others of course. But you could get a thinner body and/or a smaller body in the same price range. But you have to make a decision right away and contact Sweetwater before time runs out.

Buy a new one outright and keep the Martin Dread Jr or trade it in.

MG 😀

[Bill_Brown]

Hey @Dirk_R , I don’t know what your financial situation is, but just a thought, maybe you could keep the D10 Jr and use it for alternating tunings (like today’s challenge) and get a thinner (or smaller) body guitar for everyday playing. Kind of along the lines of what @MikeGaurnier is saying. I resisted having more than one guitar for the longest time, but because of all the alternate tuning challenges that have come up in the past few months, I recently broke down and bought a used guitar just for that purpose. Just a thought!

[N-lightMike]

👍

[Dirk_R]

You know it is funny I have not had the shoulder problem with my new fender Newporter. That I got earlier this year. But I did not play it near as much as I have the dreadnought