12 Fingers for Six Strings

Reviving the subject of guitarists' hands, not only were Hound Dog Taylor's fingers long and slim (for the most part), he was born with six on each hand. The extras weren't all that long and slim, though, as the picture shows. Supposedly he downsized to 11 fingers one night when, in the midst of some fancy drinking, he used a straight razor to cut off the spare on his right hand. I wonder if he ever used that sixth finger on the fretboard.

Here's a video of the Dog in all his sloppy glory at a music festival in Michigan in 1973. It has lots of close-up views of his fretwork but the quality is so bad you can't quite see that sixth finger. The video does show why Taylor once said that when he died, people would say he couldn't play worth a damn ... but that it sure sounded good.

If it was long enough and dexterous enough, having an extra finger would be pretty useful. So would having another arm.