razbo, I was wondering if it was different on the electric guitar. I've wanted to play the guitar forever - because I love the instrument, and in memory of my dad who loved to play. My husband said that he would buy me a guitar, and we hit the shop in search of a cheap-but-nice acoustic. I'll tell you, it took a lot of strength not to purchase an electric. They were all so beautiful and sexy - I had to literally force myself into the acoustic room in the back! But, now that I have my guitar, I absolutely love it, and wouldn't trade it - even with my poor battered fingers :)

gaspasser, Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely give that a try. I'm just using the strings that came with the guitar, but I'll go online and order the ones you suggest to see if they are easier on my hands.

2thankful, What types of finger exercises are you doing? I've just been following the exercises on GT - I'm in the second set of chord lessons in Fundamentals 1 (still trying to master that F major). I've been playing until my fingers are so dented that the strings stop ringing correctly, and then I break down and tape my finger tips so I can keep going. I just can't force myself to stop. Hopefully the taping won't keep my fingers from toughening up -- I do play without the tape until I can't stand it.

And thank you everyone else for your help also! JeffS65, I really appreciate the warning. I think I may have pushed myself into blisters if I hadn't read your post!

I'm on day 6 and they still hurt like heck -- but I'm going to keep at it and hopefully they will turn to stone soon!