Hi everyone, I’m John from Edmonton Canada, Go Oilers! I turned 50 this year. Have always had an interest in music and instruments of some sort from keyboards, to harmonica and have always had a couple of guitars although I never studied enough to get very good, mostly noodling the same things over and over. In 2014 I went down on my motorcycle and crushed my left middle finger beyond repair, lucky to not lose it. (I’m right handed) For the following 8-9 years I figured I’d never play guitar again. I decided last year to see a surgeon again and see if anything could be done. I had surgery in January to fuse the distal joint (closest to the fingernail) and it went well. So I can’t bend that joint but decided to try playing guitar again and surprisingly I can still play chords fairly well just adapting position as needed. It’s also been great physio for my finger. This got me excited so I found Justin Guitar on YouTube and started watching videos. Then I signed up on the website and went through level one fairly easily but it was a good refresher. I have almost always played around only on acoustic but with my new excitement I bought a Squier Tele to try out electric and I’m loving it. Going to keep working through the courses and see what I can finally learn properly. I just discovered the community today so I hope to learn what I can from everyone here too. Glad to meet you!
Welcome to the community, John! It sounds as if, between the wonders of modern medicine and modern communications, you’re on your way again with guitar. Looking forward to hearing from you as you continue your journey.
Hi John - welcome to the group! I love a Blackguard tele (although my wife has a strict ‘one in, one out’ policy on guitars now, so I’ll just look at yours!)
Paul.
Hi John and welcome.
As a fellow bike the story of that crash made me shudder but glad the surgery turned out ok and enough to start playing again. You’ve certainly found the right place to get you back on track, so just holler when you need advice. Nice Tele 
Hi John, welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about your injury but glad to read, that surgery made things a little better. I also have to deal with an ole hand injury and so far I mostly could find some workarounds for my fretting, not always elegant, but it works. Saw your dog on the SUP, our dog likes that a lot too, nice picture! I wish you lots of fun - nice guitar btw!
Welcome to the group John.
R
Hello John 
A very warm welcome to the forum 
Great that you’ve picked up your guitar again after such bad luck with your finger. And you are right: playing guitar is a great physio - and lots of fun.
You Tele is beautiful and will surely help to stay motivated 
Wishing you all the very best for your musical journey!
Cheers from Germany
Gunhild 
Welcome John glad you managed to get your finger fixed so you can play again, good luck.
Hi John, welcome to the JG Community, and congratulations on recovering enough from your injury to play again - I know what it’s like as I have a metal plate in my left wrist (also a motorcycle injury), so now I have to play with the neck at a steep angle, almost like a classical guitar position!
Welcome, John, glad you persevered and found a good surgeon! Guitar is fun! (when it isn’t driving you mad!) 
Thanks Helen er Andrea 
Danke!
We just have to adapt to keep moving forward!
Hi John, welcome to the community forum. Glad that you were able to get your injured finger usable again and found that you can play guitar. The more you learn about guitar, then the more you will be able to find ways to play the way that is easiest for you. Have fun learning to play on your new Tele.
We won’t hold that against you. Welcome to the forum John.
Welcome John. I am a lifelong Bruins fan. I still consider ice hockey the best sport to watch live. I live in the desert now so don’t follow it anymore, but I have a lot of good memories of hockey games in Boston.
haha thanks! #battleofalberta both teams struggling tho 
I’d love to see a game in Boston
Hello John and welcome to our community. 
It’s great to read that your accident hasn’t stopped you playing guitar. Nice looking Tele too.
Hello John,
Welcome and I wish you a lot of fun here
Greetings,Rogier