I am forever asking certain guitar players “why don’t you wind up the excess string on the end of your guitar head? Someone is going to lose an eye!” This style of finishing is like a cowboy lasso. I always ask them if they have ever had the end of their string go into their finger or hand when restringing? Can you imagine what would happen if that nice little lasso thing ever untangled and hit someones eye? Well if that ever happened, you better get a lawyer, and fast!
When I was in high school, I had the honour of being in a band with the best theoretical guitar player/teacher I have ever known. These accomplished musicians, like most I played with in my early years, were much, much older then I was. We were in this band that played Beatles tunes and the like, only to make money and not a career of it. I was the only student that Chris P ever played in a band with to my knowledge. I recall with crystal clarity the day I learned this lesson about the excess string thing.
The bass player in the band was the best in our area. He was a big body builder as well. He was more like a fridge with legs, in all honestly. I was one of those idiots in my early years, who thought it was cool to have my strings tied up at the end of the guitar that looked like a lasso looking thing. The first practice we had, he stood up beside me and looked me in the eye, having to bend down really low to do so and said “I had a string like that almost pick my eye out by a guitar player once”. After having let the water that poured down my leg dry, I ran to find some pliers to cut off the excess. He was really a nice guy but …
Unless your perfect, and we all know someone like this, getting the end of a string in the finger is such a painful experience. I have had this experience a couple of times and believe me, you will pay much more attention when you restring your guitar in the future, if this ever happens to you. I actually nicked or pierced my finger while cleaning the head of my guitar once as well. There you go kids, cleaning is bad for your health, you heard it here first!
Always practice safe guitar maintenance.
Keep on Jammin’