D’Addario Varigrip Hand Exerciser–Improve
D’Addario Varigrip Hand Exerciser–Improve Dexterity and Strength in Fingers, Hands, Forearms- Adjust Tension Per Finger– Simulated Strings Help Develop Calluses- Comfortable Conditioning
| Weight: | 72.6 g |
| Size: | 1 Pack |
| Dimensions: | 6 x 7 x 2 cm; 72.57 Grams |
| Model: | PW-VG-01 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Manufacture: | D'Addario Ltd |
| Department: | unisex-adult |
| Dimensions: | 6 x 7 x 2 cm; 72.57 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
| Size: | 1 Pack |
It has a great ergonomic design, fits well into the palm of the hand and is very comfortable to use.
I take mine on holiday with me when I can’t get to my guitar, the ridged underside helps keep the callouses on your fingers ( replicating strings )
This has helped my finger placement greatly snd also my finger strength.
Note that it doesn’t happen over night, it does dale some weeks of constant use but I’d say it’s certainly worth the time money and effort.
It works good but after weeks of use, the springs to not stay in position for long but I think it’s okay.
I’ll buy it again if I need anther one.
Depending on how it’s used, it is not always comfortable but it does get the job done.
Good value for money
It does also seem to be helping with finger independence (another problem I’ve got, particularly with my ringfinger and pinkie) and the general mobility of all of them.
Would definitely recommend.
Excellent piece of kit for training your finger muscles and make skin toughe
Eamo
Good item – can just sit doing exercises on it when doing other stuff. Good idea to also be able to take the grey cover off and mimic guitar strings used the other way round.
I needed to build strength up in my fingers for learning to play guitar and I noticed an improvement in my finger strength after only a few days! Really easy to use and good for helping build the fingertip callouses too. In a very short time the strings no longer hurt at all! I think this is a fantastic tool for any beginner guitarists.
I bought this with little real expectation of it being much use but it has been very helpful. I’ve been struggling to improve stamina for barre chords. This has improved my hand strength and I can play for longer as a result.
Just a few things to note: I have small hands and I’m only just able to reach the buttons. It’s clearly designed for larger hands. The plastic initially added friction when in use. It took a while for the contact surfaces to smooth out. Now it has, it’s much more pleasant to use. The pressure required to depress the buttons is significant, even on the lowest tension. I couldn’t fully depress the little finger button at first but it gets better with use!
This has proven perfect to do just this. Physiotherapy is all about very subtle movements that bring back the use of hands, and any other limbs for that matter, and the D’Addario hand exerciser has really helped me to bring back the deterity that I need to continue with my guitars.
It can be used in either hand, with the grey cushioned part against your palm and your fingers on the pressure pads in either orientation, a bit like ambidextrous trumpet keys. Exercising is something you can do while waiting for something else to happen, such as a kettle boiling or a WAV file to be rendered in your DAW! Just pick it up, spend a minute on each hand every day, and you should keep hand function going for a long time.
It takes me all my strength to press some of the keys, but that;s not really what it’s about so much as flexure of the joints and a building up of musculature that does so much to protect joints and even reverse the symptoms of arthritis (as happened several years ago with one of my knees – I managed to get back to walking miles from barely being able to walk at all).
Used little and often, this is a great aid to hand function and deterity. This is one gadget that really needed an extra 6th star for the rating.
I’ve been playing guitar for nearly 40 years, but never particularly well. More strumming than widdling. Anyway, decided that 2021 is the year I learn to play ‘properly’, so obviously had to buy new toys. After telling myself that my sloppy solos must be down to lack of finger strength (as opposed to lack of practice) I bought this.
I love it! I’ve even noticed a difference after a few weeks. At first I struggled to compress the ‘little finger’ button at all, but can now. One thing I’ve really found it useful for is finger isolation. Again, at first I couldn’t press my third and little fingers down independently, they sort of teamed up together, but after a little practice (mostly mental!) I’ve got four separate working fingers. Result!
The packaging suggests about 6 ways to hold/use the thing, which seems a bit rich. A bit like saying there are 8 ways to use a skipping rope. There probably are for all I know, but you’re only going to use it one way really. Removing one of the cushion grips also reveals raised bumps which are supposed to replicate strings for you to improve your callouses on. Again, a bit daft if you already have a guitar for this purpose!
All in all though, well worth the money. Mine lives on my office desk, where it works well as a stress toy too!
The shape isn’t particularly like playing guitar, and the positioning means that fingers 3 and 4 have a lot more work to do. Usually these fingers require more stretch or dexterity and speed than strength, so not ideal. The design makes it easy to pinch your finger pad between the buttons and the device, which is a little painful.
Nonetheless, I have been using it instead of a stress ball at work and it is pretty good. Even the lowest settings are a challenge for experienced guitarists.
I’ve been using this for a few weeks now and have found it to really help.
I would prefer if the index finger could be harder as I find it a little easy to depress, even on its hardest setting. The little finger however could do with being made easier as it is hard to depress it fully even on its lightest setting.
I’m not sure how beneficial the mock guitar strings will be for me as I play regularly so I can’t really comment too much on their effectiveness, however if ever there is a point that I am unable to play for a while then I will definitely try this out. I’ve lost my finger callouses a couple of times in the past so know how painful it is to build them back up again and if this can prevent that then it’s definitely worth a try!
Not sure how helpful this would actually be in maintaining hand strength. You would definitely be better off finding some sort of travel instrument (maybe a ukulele) and using that fretboard to keep your hand dexterity. This is definitely a cheaper option, and does feel like a quality bit of kit, and will help to keep calluses. Can feel a little awkward at times, but if you’re really strict about your hand strength you can use this.
Not sure how much it helped personally, there’s nothing like touching a real fretboard.
Perhaps a bit of novelty.
I bought this to strengthen the fingers on my fretting hand, on first use I thought it was quite tough to push the paddles down but I’ve quickly built up the strength and speed in my fingers to make this quite easy, even the little finger. I use it multiple times each day, following the instructions included on the packaging. I gave not increased the tension (makes it harder to push down) I’ve no need. I find it comfortable to use and I would recommend it, but perseverance is the key, but I would understand if some were unable to press the paddles down even on the easiest setting,so perhaps not suitable for everyone.
My fretting fingers have benefitted, they are a lot stronger. I also use it to stretch my ring finger by pushing this finger down on the fourth paddle rather than the usual 3rd paddle.
This is a really neat and well made piece of kit. I’ve been using quite a bit since I got it and can already sense an improvement in physical ability, which has improved my confidence playing as well. I play the violin and was surprised at the difference in physical ability in my right and left hands, evidenced by the downforce that I can apply on the unit, particularly in my little finger. I also have two young children so practice time is at a premium, I have been using the unit around the house in short bursts and also outdoors. I’m intending to keep on practicing with it in the hope of further improvements.
Pretty good product. Good size to fit even my small hands with a comfortable removable grip. The callous builder is a useful touch.
Couple of reasons for a 4 star review stopping it being a 5 star one.
1.) The pistons don’t appear to always have the same tension. Some of the, even though they’re on the same settings, can see to be a different tension to an adjacent piston which can put you off your balance slightly.
2.) When you remove the grip to access the callous builder it could fit the pistons better as its reasonably loose meaning when trying to use the callous builder it moves around
The moulded base that is supposed to simulate strings is not much use, as it doesn’t simulate the feel of real guitar stings as you would press them on a guitar fretboard. You won’t develop the toughness in the tips of your fingers, which you will get from real guitar practice, from using this item.
Also, the adjustment cogs do not make any real difference to the tension in my experience.
Overall, I recommend this product for the basic tension and comfort in using. However, I cannot give full marks to a product that doesn’t deliver on all its stated claims.
The packaging it comes in (a card with the exerciser affixed to it) has a list on the back of all the different exercises you could essentially incorporate, ranging from building finger calluses to strengthening muscles and training them for bar chords.
I started using this every day, playing around with it and giving the muscles a good flexing which I began to reap the benefits of. I could hold chords for longer and the fingers felt more agile when finger-picking. The callus builder (located underneath the grey strip seen in the picture) I was initially skeptical of, since it’s “string simulator” is three lines that somewhat represent the thinner strings, but they’re more raised groves in the plastic body as opposed to real guitar strings which I feel would have been better, or metal at the least.
Nevertheless, they do show promise, and the fingertips feel toughened. The ability to change the tension on each finger press (via turning the small dials for each) allows me to slowly improve the strength in the little fingers while stepping it up for the main three which are much stronger (of course, as they said too, favouring certain fingers isn’t ideal.)
It fits into the pocket nicely and works great as a warm up before an intense session, or in your spare time when you know there’s something you need to work on. It’s versatile, strong and definitely serves me well. Highly recommended, espcially for a tenner.
If you want to toughen your finger tips against the impact of strings, I suggest you practice your instrument of choice more, this product won’t do that for you!
This product will strengthen your fingers and tendons, that’s why you should buy it.
Make no bones, this is a quality product. I have tried the similar priced Gripmasters and they don’t hold a candle to this. The pistons remain stable right through their full activation, the strength of resistance being variable is perfect and probably provides about 7 to 9 lbs pressure in comparison with the Gripmasters.
If I had one gripe it would be that the shallow on the top of each piston is perpendicular with the device. When using this my fingers usually settle at a more accute angle, probably around 45 degrees but don’t let this put you off.
To strengthen your fingers and tendons, this does exactly as advertised and does it well.
these issues aside it does work and you’ll notice the differences in your wrists and fingers after not too long at all.
It looks and feels well made. It performs quite well in a number of configurations, and it all depends on what you expect from it.
I was a bit disappointed that the tension was as strong as it is at it’s weakest setting – this makes it difficult to use as a practise aid for finger co-ordination – for example for finger picking guitar or trumpet etc. Weaker springs would have made this much easier, and tension could be increased if desired. I bought the varigrip mainly to exercise my fingers at the onset of arthritis, and I’m not sure that it will actually help. This is mainly because it is difficult to use the grip to bend specific finger joints enough, and I now also have my doubts about strength exercises actually easing the symptoms of arthritis anyway. No doubt the grip will improve the strength of fingers, hand and wrist, if that’s what you want.
I quite like the Planet Waves brand, have purchased strap locks and other things previously and have never been let down – and havent with this. This is a great item to keep with you at all times and use before/after playing or when you’re just sitting around. Ive been playing for around 13 years and have always found that my little finger on my fretting hand wasnt always that strong, no matter how much i practiced. But when i started using this i found after a few days the strength and speed in all fingers had improved alot.
The thing that attracted me to this, rather than just a typical hand excerciser, was the string-like side. Even with playing for years, it helps to harden the finger tips to reduces pain and deep grooves when playing.
This was designed for guitarists, so if you’re looking to keep your hands/fingers in shape for better playing, I recommend getting this one purely for that reason.