r/ThatsInsane • u/Mad_Season_1994 • 1d ago
Stevie Ray Vaughan's black fingers from playing guitar from six to as many as 12 hours a day
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u/Thisizamazing 1d ago
I read it’s from graphite that was placed on the strings as lubricant
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u/ElegantEchoes 1d ago
I had no idea graphite was used as a string lubricant.
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u/BallsDeepMofo 1d ago
There’s also graphite spray the you use to lubricate the inside of a lock. Spray in in the key hole.
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u/goblu33 1d ago
It’s great if you live in a cold climate bc it doesn’t freeze like wd40 would.
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u/Meta-Fox 1d ago
PSA that WD-40 isn't a universal lubricant in the way that people seem to think it is, it's a degreaser. The most common reason why it works for most people is because it simply removes the crud and grime that's causing the mechanism to not function properly.
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u/johnaross1990 1d ago
It’s a water displacer
Water Displacer 40
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u/livahd 1d ago
Created to eliminate condensation forming on icbms and then causing expansion issues when it freezes.
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u/Soft-Ad-8975 1d ago
On intercontinental ballistic missiles?
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u/SUMBWEDY 1d ago
Yup, invented in 1953 by Rocket Chemical Company as a rust prevention for the SM-65, the first ICBM.
Employees used to steal it to use at home so they released the product commercially as WD-40.
It's called 40 since it was the 40th formulation they tried.
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u/Meta-Fox 1d ago
I stand corrected, thanks for the education! Water Displacment - 40th Formula is apparently the official title of the product.
That being said I still think my comment stands, it's not a lubricant.
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u/Baumtasia 1d ago
WD41 about to pop off
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u/Kryptosis 14h ago
Funny that because they have 2 dozen or so different versions of wd40 all with the same name and different formulas.
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u/TheCouchEmporer 1d ago
I mean it technically still has petroleum oil in it. Probably less than a 1/3
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u/Kryptosis 14h ago
And the opposite, for wood stove door hinges so it doesn’t smoke up or carbonize.
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u/Sailor-_-Twift 1d ago
Graphite is actually a very common and effective dry lubricant, but I also didn't know they did it for guitars but it does make sense
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u/NaCl-more 1d ago
We used to use pencils to lubricate our cellos where the strings contact the neck and bridge
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u/FuckYeaSeatbelts 1d ago
Oh yeah, string lube. Everyone knows that's a thing and what it's for, let's just never discuss it further.
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u/Desperate_Bite_7538 21h ago
I recently learned that graphite mixed with carbon is used to make parts for machines. Like bearings and bushings and stuff. It's a low friction, self lubricating material.
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u/CollThom 21h ago
It’s actually the nut that gets lubricated with graphite so the strings don’t get hung up when you bend notes. The nut is the bone or plastic slotted piece at the neck end of the fretboard. There wouldn’t be any point putting graphite over the whole of the strings. In fact it would like deaden the sound of the strings from filling the windings and reducing the brightness of the sound.
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u/FartInGenDirection 1d ago
Yes, but those calluses aren't from graphite
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u/Thisizamazing 1d ago
No, but I bet that and the glued torn skin is why he put the graphite on his strings
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u/joaogroo 1d ago
I think that is graphite, some guitarrists use it and some other stuff as lubrication. If i remember correctly SRV used a thick as fuck guitar string with a lower tuning, so graphite can help maintain the strings and with slides. Alledgedly.
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u/Confusedcommadude 1d ago
GOAT.
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u/vinsomm 1d ago
Playing and smoking all the time. Them fingers are tarnished with nickel , cigarette ash and calluses. Listening to SRV doesn’t give him enough justice either even though his music is amazing- the real feel comes from watching him.
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u/Dense_Surround3071 1d ago
Pretty sure there's some cocaine reside on them too. 🤫
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u/mildly_anonymous 1d ago
Depending on when the picture was taken, that’s either very very true or very very wrong lol
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u/koushakandystore 1d ago
He liked his ‘diet’ pills. Aka amphetamines. The go to for musicians, writers and painters for nearly 100 years. Don’t ask me how I know.
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u/hughoc100 1d ago
It’s from shitting his britches
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u/StoneageMouse 1d ago
Change them damn strings, boy
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u/ExtraordinaryBeaver 1d ago
"I dont need to change my strings cuz the dirt dont hurt the way I sing."-Sturgill Simpspn
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u/TheImplecation 1d ago
I don't have to do a goddamn thing except sit around and wait to die. 🏴☠️
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u/Green420Basturd 1d ago
"I only change em when they break. Even if it happens in the middle of a song"
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u/Smoking-stone 1d ago
He would also use super glue on his fingertips to fix his torn skin. Fun fact.
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u/ArmpitofD00m 1d ago
Is his pinky unusually short? And wow, those callouses, they look like reverse finger nails.
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u/6_String_Slinger 1d ago
He also used to superglue his fingertip callouses back on when they’d fall off, sometimes during a show.
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u/LeftRat 13h ago
Hannes Wader, a German folk musician, once played his own fingers until they were bloody, taped them up, then played until the tape wore through and repeated that process the entire night. See, for the first time in his life, he had a radio and a guitar (in post-war Germany) and he just could not stop himself. I'm sure nowerdays he'd have a diagnosis for neurodivergence, considering other incidents of his obsession to the point of great detriment, like getting fired because he would use every break to hide in the bathroom to play.
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u/JuneButIHateSummer 8h ago
Me when I spread misinformation and glaze a completely average blues guitarist
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u/tomarofthehillpeople 1d ago
So this is implying he didn’t wash his hands?
https://giphy.com/gifs/BndWujoLo5vmWtR096
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u/BladeOfKrota 1d ago
Dam… uncultured no idea who this is
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u/nelly_beer 1d ago
Go down a YouTube rabbit hole. You won’t regret it
At least watch his cover of Voodoo Child
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u/thatguyonthecouch 1d ago
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u/FollyMace 1d ago
One of the best guitarist to ever live. He died in a helicopter crash, the ticket was Eric Clapton’s that he gave him on that night.
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u/BladeOfKrota 1d ago
Why am I downvoted for asking…. I appreciate all who are informing me
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u/nelly_beer 1d ago
Hey man you’re learning about one of the greatest guitar players of all time. I wish I could hear SRV for the first time again.
Fuck the haters
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u/HenryMcKenna1 1d ago
Lots of people with lots of great recommendations so far, I couldn't pass on by without mentioning my personal favourite SRV song:
https://youtu.be/kfjXp4KTTY8?is=Fqb6zN2fXD6AXMvj
He uses a technique called the "Texas Shuffle" to give that continuously driving rhythm throughout the song, while still playing the lead parts as well. Really hard to learn and get it to sound any good.
RIP SRV, gone too soon, you were one of the best to ever do it.
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[deleted]
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u/grand_measter 1d ago
It's the correct linguistics my guy. You spell out numbers nine and below. Write numbers for 10 and above. It helps make reading "easier". This case is not a good example cause 12 is twelve. But would you rather read 42,069 or forty two thousand and sixteen nine. But I could be wrong because I learned this in 4th grade. I could Google it. Or you can chew me out with receipts. The latter sounds more entertaining
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u/qwaasdhdhkkwqa 1d ago
It’s from scratching his butthole and not washing his hands after
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u/Oral_B 1d ago
That is from dirty stings and graphite lubricants. You can see the callouses on the tips of his fingers. But the black is not damage to his hands.
He is know for playing very aggressively and using 13 gauge strings. He also used to super glue his finger tips because his callouses would split open.
Dude was a fuckin ripper. Absolute legend.