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  • Injured left index finger, trouble with cords.

    Posted by Stephen V on June 26, 2026 at 12:51 pm

    Several decades ago, about five if I’m being honest, I tip of my left index finger against a circular saw and lost a bit of the tip. The tip now is flatter and fatter and I’m having trouble with cords and not muting the neighbor string. I’ve ordered silicon tip covers to see if they will help. Any other suggestions? The tip is sensitive but not painful and I can practice quite a while at a time. Thanks for any help.

    Steve

    petelanger replied 1 day, 14 hours ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • petelanger

    Member
    June 26, 2026 at 1:05 pm

    I hope the tip covers help you. Did you ever have surgery to address the damage?

    Black Sabbath’s guitarist cut off the tips of his middle and ring fingers and he had a pretty good career.

  • Stephen V

    Member
    June 26, 2026 at 1:18 pm

    Yeah, I know about Iommi, my injury was nothing compared to his so I have hope for the silicon tips. I did not need any surgery, just a dressing and time to heal over. Even when I get the tip on the sting there just doesn’t seem to be enough room.

    Thanks for the reply.

    Steve

    • petelanger

      Member
      June 26, 2026 at 2:17 pm

      If you’re a beginner player, welcome to the club! Everyone who starts thinks their fingers don’t fit into the spaces they should or aren’t able to reach. This is all a part of the journey.

      Iommi also tuned down his guitar relieving tension on the strings – and heavy metal was born! You might experiment with some alternate tunings. Joni Mitchell invented hundreds of them as she was recovering from polio.

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