Actually since I posted this they have gotten better because i realized something after I posted.... sometimes I would get busy or whatever and just not have time and I wouldn't play for a couple of days.... and since I realized that and have made it a point to play every day no matter what and it has slackened up quite a bit. It still gets to the point where they hurt sometime but that is generally just my cue to quit playing. I got the KWSBand Live On songbook for Christmas and so I've been trying to learn that whole thing and have been playing up to 4 to 5 hours a day with no problems now because I do it every single day without fail.