How do you deal with very...

[playas]

For any gigging musicians here, how do you deal with very warm and cold temperatures?

I find my fingers much more inclined to slide around in hot conditions due to sweat and with the one outdoor gig I had in cold temperatures I made more mistakes than normal with my fingers being so stiff.

Of the two, cold is more difficult to deal with - at least psychologically - for me.

 

[beaubrummels]

WIth cold, I keep my hands in my pockets whenever I'm not playing.
With heat, I wipe my hands on a towel, or my shirt, or pants, before touching the guitar.

 

[Securb]

I wear knit shorty (fingerless) gloves until I hit the stage when it is cold. They allow me to be able to set up and get stuff done until I start playing. When it is hot, there is a lot of wiping my hand on my jeans and drying off my palm with baby powder. I wish I could be organized enough to bring a towel, but that is just not me.

 

[Mincer]

Warm is easy. I have an industrial fan in front of me, and I am used to playing in the heat in Florida, so it isn't a big deal. Cold is a different story. Fingerless gloves, those little Hot Pocket warming things for your pockets (and in the front and back of the gloves) with 3 layers of clothing. I also have to dumb down what I play because my fingers won't follow my brain, since I can't feel them, and they are slow. So I have to edit what I do in real time, which results in me hating everything I played and generally feeling miserable about the gig. We just did 3 outdoor gigs over the holidays, all outside in windy sub-40 degree temps. Ouch.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Yeah, cold is the worst. Not much you can do about it. It's great when they have a heater for you but that's not always the case. I always used to keep a towel to wipe my hands when it was warm. I'd wrap it over my belt buckle to keep it handy. It also protected the back of my guitars from buckle rash. Two birds....

 

[Securb]

I'd wrap it over my belt buckle to keep it handy. It also protected the back of my guitars from buckle rash. Two birds....

I do not wear a lot of belts, but when I do playing guitar I wear a scratchless mechanic's belt.

 

[GuitarStv]

In cold, as long as my chest is warm enough my fingers will be fine. If my core gets cold, then my fingers start to freeze and won't move properly. So as counter-intuitive as it seems - wear a vest to keep your fingers warm.

 

[Securb]

.

 

[Clint 55]

 

[GuitarStv]

 

[Mincer]

I am also not above wearing a hat with ear flaps.

 

[playas]

Good stuff, so a warm core, fingerless gloves and a hat.

...and a cloth for the heat.

...and if you're Jimmy, Eric or Jeff a (flashy) waistcoat and a strat.

 

[Demanic]

In cold, as long as my chest is warm enough my fingers will be fine. If my core gets cold, then my fingers start to freeze and won't move properly. So as counter-intuitive as it seems - wear a vest to keep your fingers warm.

+1

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[Mincer]

I looked if there were any kind of specialty gloves for musicians that need to use their fingers...other than fingerless gloves, there isn't much out there. But my bassist used a glove on his fretting hand for 2 sets (playing very dumbed down versions of the basslines) and it seemed to work.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Good stuff, so a warm core, fingerless gloves and a hat.

...and a cloth for the heat.

...and if you're Jimmy, Eric or Jeff a (flashy) waistcoat and a strat.

A Strat keeps your hands warm. It's all you need.

 

[Aceman]

Don't know about cold. Hot....

Hydrate before the show
- Gatorade, electrolytes etc.

Hydrate during the show
- Water

Stage fan


And, just to spin it back to pickups, the sun here is hot enough to melt the wax in pickups, so no leaving in a car without AC on or sitting in the sun for extended periods.

 

[Demanic]

Don't know about cold. Hot....

Hydrate before the show
- Gatorade, electrolytes etc.

Hydrate during the show
- Water

Stage fan


And, just to spin it back to pickups, the sun here is hot enough to melt the wax in pickups, so no leaving in a car without AC on or sitting in the sun for extended periods.

That goes for southern AZ too.

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