Picture this: You’re playing for a sold-out crowd of shrieking fans, and as your band pounds its way toward oblivion, you near the climax of your guitar solo. You go into a crouch, ready to launch yourself into a well-rehearsed backscratcher punctuated by a window-shattering power chord. Unfortunately, you’re stepping on your guitar cable. You leap, the plug rips out of your guitar jack, and when you land to strum that final chord, you might as well be playing air guitar.
Even if the only person in the audience is your husband’s pet schnauzer, self-inflicted unplugging is humiliating. Here’s a simple way to prevent it:
Before plugging in, thread your guitar cable between your guitar strap and the body of the guitar, right above the rear strap peg, from back to front. Now, instead of ripping out your cable, you’ll rip a back muscle. Problem solved.
Oh, and update your stage antics. Backscratchers are so 80’s.
Comments 8
Hi Rob,
Thanks for visiting my site and much more thanks for inviting me here. I guess I will be visiting you more and if you will not mind I might ask some questions from time to time. I have started reading some of your entries and I find it really helpful and should I say giving some hope to an aspiring “learner” like me.
I’m glad you found some helpful information! Ask away–we’re all learners here, but I’ll do what I can to help.
I’m too old for those back scratchers,I’d end up in traction if I tried it. Oh woe is me! Where has my lost youth gone? I’m thinking of getting an adaptor for my zimmer frame to hold my guitar.
Hey, thanks for the link. I’ll be sure to check it frequently. Thanks again.
Cory
Rob.. Thanks for taking the time to actually read my blog. I thought for sure, that I was the only person who ever read it. I have to say it took me be surprise. I had to stop my lessons for now, due to money, but hope to start again soon. On the bright side, I did pick up some very valuable information that I will be abel to use and apply for a long time. I have been playing for about 18 years, but have felt for the last several, that my music has grown stale, and it seemed that I could not progress any further. But my teacher did push me over the hump that I could not get over myself. I have not had to much time to check out your blog yet, since I just go back from Mexico on vacation. But I intend to spend a lot of time putting it all together. One of the things that I have done, is to subscribe to “Guitar World” magizine. I hope to pick up more tips, along with new material. Do you have any suggestions, as to how someone can teach themselves to read music? That is something that I really want to do. Anyway, I will be looking over your blog, and I hope you can check mine out from time to time.. Thanks again. Clay
You know, I was thinking about turning my mop into a huge mullet, wearing some torn up jeans and t-shirt while screeching into a microphone about wanting “to be with you.” Bad idea, huh? Ok, I’ll scratch it off…*murmur*
Rob, somehow I missed your blog before. It’s very good. I’ll redcommend it to my students and I’ll wish I lived closer. Always something new to learn!
I have one better(and more humiliating)…
Several years ago I had the opportunity to play the local 17,000 seat amphitheater as a substitute for a guitarist who had quit his band… this was a venue I grew up seeing my heroes in as a teenager, so it was really a big deal for me. The very first song started on a B5 chord, so I jump in the air and hit the chord as hard as I can…and the strap BREAKS at the bottom, leaving me holding my guitar in the air feeding back with one hand and no way to get back into the song….
I had to slink backstage and change guitars, missing out on about half of the first song…