Has anybody done this on guitar ?

Question:I have seen them sell these grip gadgits in the music store.

four springs etc, I would buy one from a music store for 20 dollars, what a rip.

My question is I strung a old electric with heavy 60 bottom and 13 top.

does this help at all ? I usually play with .09 s

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have seen them sell these grip gadgits in the music store.

four springs etc, I would buy one from a music store for 20 dollars, what a rip.

My question is I strung a old electric with heavy 60 bottom and 13 top.

does this help at all ? I usually play with .09 s

If you string up a guitar with heavier strings, there are a few adjustments that need to be made to the neck and bridge in order for it to play in tune. The truss rod will need to be adjusted to compensate for the additional tension provided by the heavier strings. The bridge saddles will need to be adjusted to intonate the guitar or else it won't play in tune. My opinion is that practicing two or three hours a day on .009's will make your hands plenty strong, with the added benefit of making you a better player. If you must, move up to .010's. That's my humble opinion. If you move up even one string gauge heavier, the guitar MUST be set up differently as I described above. Also, I wouldn't recommend moving up more than one one-hundredth at a time; say from .009's to.010's. Tendinitis is a serious injury that can result from too much too soon. Better to lay a foundation of practice first and slowly move to heavier strings as your wrist and forearm muscles develop. Remember: Practice, not string gauge, will enable you to play like Stevie Ray.

Help with what? Are you talking about capos?

If you're talking about capos -- the function of a capo is to allow you to play more easily in different keys. If you put a capo on the third fret, for instance, and played key of G open chord shapes and scales (G, C, D major chords for example), you would come out sounding in the key of Bb (Bb, Eb, F major chords) but without having to use barre chords. In essence, what the capo does is shorten the guitar fretboard and raise the tuning of the entire instrument by (in this case) 3 frets or 1 1/2 steps.

I'm not clear how putting heavier gauge strings on a guitar has anything to do with using a capo or playing in different keys?

I'm guessing you're talking about a grip-strengthener. Unless you're playing jazz you probably aren't going to be happy with that heavy of a guage. I tried .13's myself back in the day when I read that SRV used them. If you try to do any string bending, you'll tear your fingertips up in no time. Using .11's would a nice compromise. You can also get hybrid sets that are bottom heavy. The thinner strings are fairly normal but the low E, A and D strings are relatively heavier guage so you can do drop D or C tuning and it'll sound better.

Back in the good old days guys used to strengthen their hands and fingers using an old ball--tennis ball, hand ball etc. So, rather than spending $20 on a "grip master" or similar gadget pick up an old tennis ball and squeeze it several minutes every day.