My fingers are killing me!

O.K. - I love playing the guitar, but my fingers are killing me! I have a crappy guitar, and I am currently saving up to buy a new one. I already know which one I want to buy, and I have already played it several times at the store. It doesn't hurt my fingers at all! Anyways, my current guitar strings feel like razor wire tearing away at my fingers. I have bought new softer, better strings three times and brought the strings as close to the fret board as my guitar will allow. Are there is suggestions of what else I can do? I want to play, but my fingers are weary!

When your fingers start to hurt just take a break and then play some more. Eventually you'll end up getting calluses on your fingers which harden your fingers then it won't hurt so much anymore. The main point is to just stop playing when it hurts and don't practice beyond the pain.

I hear ya. I'm at that place, too. I'm noticing my index finger is getting a bit numbed now. Sometimes I just sit with my guitar on my lap and press my fingers into the strings without playing just to try to progress these calluses that are to form.

It just takes time to build up those calluses on the finger tips. A week or two should help and maybe take a break of two days just to let them heal. I can remember playing until the skin actually came off my fingers many times when I first started. It's normal. One thing that makes it easier though is to lower the action on your strings and even downtune your entire guitar a full step (eg E to D). This will make the strings easier to bend and having lower action will mean you dont have to press so far to get them to the fretboard. Also, make sure you arent squeezing the strings too hard. That was something I used to do, if you look a t most shredders and advanced players you will see that their fingers barely move, they also don't squeeze very hard.
Hope that helps!
Dave

Your current guitar may not be setup properly. I had the same thing happent to me. The string action was too high and hurt my fingers. But as soon as I learned how to adjust the neck and string action, fingers didn't hurt and its easier to play.