Bear, again, you are right, & my bad. Don't scallop your guitar Tom. There are better ideas, like trying nylon strings. I have played a scalloped guitar and it definitely was easier to barre but with my normal pressure it stretched the strings out of tune. My thought was if you were not pressing down with normal power scalloping might work but I was wrong. Just trying to think of anything to try to keep you from giving up Tom. Lots of good suggestions so far, mine wasn't one of them. Good luck. Gary
Gary- I hate to say it but I think Tom is long gone. I haven't seen a post from him in months. Geez, I hate to see a guy give up this wonderful instrument due to frustration! I suck and I still can't wait to get home from work to play again. I'm only two days post surgery and I'm going nuts waiting to play again. I'm like a damned little kid! That's how much joy I get from music and the guitar. Don't know what it is but when I'm playing all my troubles go away, at least for awhile.
Maybe Tom will come back if he was truly bitten by the guitar bug! But I doubt it because people truly bitten don't give up easy. And most newbies understand that it is going to take a very long time to get good on any musical instrument. :cheer: