Shoulder / Back Cramp

seaner

I have to get myself a padded strap....

Was playing the other night, well it was 2 nights in a row, for about 2 hours each nite...and after the last gig my left shoulder / back completely cramped up on me. I thought I was going to have to head to the doctors in the morning. I was driving home and it was so bad I struggled to change gears. Anyway after a good night's sleep it wasn't too bad in the morning.

So my conclusion is i need to buy myself a well padded strap. Just wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences and if the padded strap did the trick?

In fairness I play an American Vintage ‘62 Stratocaster, which isn't exactly heavy...i must be getting old.

Rigsby

As well as being padded, a strap should be wide, in order to spread the weight. My bass weighs 9 lbs approx. I have a 4" wide strap and I have no shoulder problems. Try to have the strap across the outer boney part of the shoulder, rather than close to your neck. It's also a good idea to do gentle shoulder exercises before and after a gig or practice session. There are some clips of yoga shoulder exercises on You Tube which I do from time to time, and find helpful.

ArthurGuinness

Was happening to me all the time I was doing 5 nights a week or so and my back and neck would be killing me so I bought myself a few of these bad boys failing that invest in a nice cumfy stool

http://www.eldoradostraps.com/

chancer60

Go Rickenbacker and bid goodbye to your back problems. Following years of Strat induced back abuse I got a Rick 620. The semi solid models are even lighter. Expensive but not compared to a back specialist. And the jangle is free.

Dord

I use 4" and 2.5" leather wide straps from http://www.italiastraps.com. They have a buy one get one free sale on now actually.

Quality straps and very comfortable. The 4" strap spreads the weight across my shoulder very well and is soft enough that it won't cut in.

Paolo_M

Don't want to sound like your mother but be sure that your problem is just the strap first and not something else.

When I started to get of my ass a learn metal guitar properly and I got pretty bad shoulder cramps which I put down to straps and the weight of my Les Paul. It got real bad bad to the point where I ended up in the Osteopath(sp?) twice and out of action for a month.
Turns out I hadn't quite got my picking action down which was putting excessive strain across my shoulder. Being a bit of a sports jock I figured that I should work through the pain and stop being a wussy, which made a bad problem worse!
Nowadays I make sure to do a decent set of should stretching/warm up excersises before I do any guitar playing sessions.
I also re-learned to pick properly, which helped a lot too!!

Rigsby

Paolo_M wrote: »

Don't want to sound like your mother but be sure that your problem is just the strap first and not something else.

When I started to get of my ass a learn metal guitar properly and I got pretty bad shoulder cramps which I put down to straps and the weight of my Les Paul. It got real bad bad to the point where I ended up in the Osteopath(sp?) twice and out of action for a month.
Turns out I hadn't quite got my picking action down which was putting excessive strain across my shoulder. Being a bit of a sports jock I figured that I should work through the pain and stop being a wussy, which made a bad problem worse!
Nowadays I make sure to do a decent set of should stretching/warm up excersises before I do any guitar playing sessions.
I also re-learned to pick properly, which helped a lot too!!

All good advice above. Good technique can pay dividends not just sound wise, but also physically.

Another thing I found that helped me was to try and breathe deeply when playing. A lot of the time our bodies are unconsciously tense, because we are concentrating on the music. Breathing deeply helps the body to relax and release tension.

seaner

yeah, i've noticed I actually get all tense come to think of it..i need to kind of learn to relax my shoulders more. I'm also looking out for a nice padded strap. thanks for all the advice. Will let ye know what i decide to go with.

Demeyes

I find my shoulder gets a bit sore from playing standing up, I usually use a wide enough strap but I might pick up some good wide ones for use from now on. I've always put it down to using heavy enough guitars but even after adjusting my strap around I still get a bit of an ache after a long practice session.

Organeer

Have you seen the strap that goes over both shoulders like a harness to spread the weight evenly? I can't remember who makes them but they seem like a very good idea. Try googling "guitar harness". If you can't find them leave a post & I will see if I can trace the company.

Dord

I've seen them but it makes you look like that plonker shredder Michael Angelo.

Paolo_M

Dord wrote: »

I've seen them but it makes you look like that plonker shredder Michael Angelo.

You take that back.
Can you play two guitars at once while looking as cool as this?
Eh...., didn't think so!!