Ouch! Any other pricks out there?

VegasGeorge

VegasGeorge

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My new Concert size Kamaka keeps hurting me when I play it. The "A" string (C6 tuning) has a little piece of the string sticking out from the tuning peg. Unfortunately, it's pointed right down at my left hand, so when I go to play on the first fret, it pricks me. Ouch! I trimmed it back to about a 32nd of an inch, but the little bugger still gets me all the time. Is there any problem with trimming it off flush with the peg? There's a lot of string wound on the peg. Or, is there a more elegant solution that's escaping me? I never had this problem with my Soprano or my larger Ukes.
 
VegasGeorge said:
The "A" string (C6 tuning) has a little piece of the string sticking out from the tuning peg. Unfortunately, it's pointed right down at my left hand, so when I go to play on the first fret, it pricks me.
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What is your left hand doing up above the nut, in the territory where a small amount of string sticking out from the tuning peg would be in your way?

If you keep your thumb behind the neck and your fingers over the frets on the neck, I don't see that there would be a problem.
 
VegasGeorge said:
My new Concert size Kamaka keeps hurting me when I play it. The "A" string (C6 tuning) has a little piece of the string sticking out from the tuning peg. Unfortunately, it's pointed right down at my left hand, so when I go to play on the first fret, it pricks me. Ouch! I trimmed it back to about a 32nd of an inch, but the little bugger still gets me all the time. Is there any problem with trimming it off flush with the peg? There's a lot of string wound on the peg. Or, is there a more elegant solution that's escaping me? I never had this problem with my Soprano or my larger Ukes.
Click to expand...
How in the heck do you hold your uke?
 
You can easily lower the tension, pull the string a bit further through the hole in the tuning peg. When you bring the string back up to tension, the little string end will be pointing in another direction. Just a guess, if you pulled it through about 3/16 of an inch, it would turn it about 180 degrees. Problem solved.
 
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What finger are you using to fret at the first fret? Your pointer finger?
 
trim it off flush!
 
Mr. P might be right: you may just have to bite the bucket, unwind it, and rewind starting with the tuner at a different point. Cutting it any shorter on an A string will likely just pull it through on you eventually, Vegas.

Btw, so that I may learn some new technique here: what's your hand doing up there, anyhow? :)
 
OK, you guys got me curious about the hand position thing. So, I pulled out the Ukulele and checked on what was going on. I do have big hands so that has to be taken into account. The problem of getting next to the offending string happens when I'm going for the diminished chord on the 1st, and or 1st and 2nd frets. I see now that I'm relaxing my elbow, arm just a bit and allowing my hand to come closer to the head, actually cradling it in the web space between my thumb and index finger. I shouldn't be allowing that to happen. If I simply tuck my elbow back down closer to my body, it pulls my hand back under the neck where it belongs. So, this little annoyance has identified a playing problem, which I have hopefully corrected. And, I'll burn the end of that sucker just for good measure! Thanks for all the help!!!
 
This is much worse with steel guitar strings . Ouch . It always drive me nuts when I see a guitar with strings sticking out at the headstock . I've been pricked many times with steel strings and I always trimmed them close . When I see a guitar with untrimmed strings I think to myself " I hope no one gets a string in the eye" .
 
I suggest you try wearing a welders glove on your fretting hand.
 
I strongly recommend not bringing your elbow in. Bad form and uncomfortable.
Pull a little bit more through the hole on the peg and you'll have no problem (and learn a little about good stringing technique).
 
Pukulele Pete said:
This is much worse with steel guitar strings . Ouch . It always drive me nuts when I see a guitar with strings sticking out at the headstock . I've been pricked many times with steel strings and I always trimmed them close . When I see a guitar with untrimmed strings I think to myself " I hope no one gets a string in the eye" .
Click to expand...
What is it with folks who leave string end hanging for inches off the pegs? I see accomplished players doing this, including famous ones that surely have tech help that must do their grunt work. You'd think that you'd only see perfectly wound and clipped strings. I can only guess that it might be a hipster thing.
 
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