Why is my ES-339 giving me some serious hand/wrist fatigue that I don't seem to get so much on other guitars? All my guitars are strung with the same 10-46 strings and downtuned to E-flat. I thought that the shorter scale of the Gibson would put less stress on my hands compared to my strat guitars. Sometimes when playing the 339, my hand cramps up along the pinky finger side and my wrist aches quite a bit. It usually happens when barring chords for some reason.
I'm thinking it might be something to do with the scale length , the frets, or the fretboard radius. My strats both have 9.5 inch boards - one with vintage frets, and the other with medium jumbo. The medium jumbo fretted guitar is easily the most comfortable to play, yet it is by far the cheapest - a Chinese partscaster I threw together.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone else had similar issues, and how they dealt with it. Cheers.
Comments
Neck profile can be part of the story. There’s also distance from your body and angle from your chest. These may require you to have your guitar strap longer or shorter to put your fretting hand in a comfortable position.
Most people wear a Gibson higher than they wear a Fender. For example, PRS:
Telecaster:
I have the 'Traditional C' neck with a 12 inch radius. I'm not really sure how that compares to other Gibbys, but it's not very deep. It feels good for an hour or two, then the cramps start.