OWWWWWWWWWWW!

OK so yesterday I had band practice and then a bass lesson immediatly after. halfway through practice I realize I can no longer feel my right index finger, other than the feint sensation of somthing tugging at my skin. I look and see a massive blister forming on the tip of my finger. As you can imagine, my lesson was very, very painful. So when I get home, I pop the blister. Now I can barely type and won't be able to play bass for a few days... owwwwww...

I'm just hoping this makes it heal faster

Oh crap, man. How'd you get it?

You know I'm not really sure. I've never gotten a blister from playing bass before.

Sometimes my callouses will get a little tender, around my fingernails especially, but I haven't gotten a blister in a long time. Maybe since the first time I tried flatwounds.

There's nothing more aggravating than not being able to play when you want...but do exercises with your other fingers and then when you can use that appendage again, you'll breathe in the bass. I love the feeling of taking a new approach to my playing or playing old stuff in a weird/different way because I haven't played in a while. I think that keeps you healthy. It's like mental pruning for me. I realize what I want to hear and I imagine it so vividly that when I can play again, I'm already one foot back into the game.

I heard there was a virtuoso pianist who became a political prisoner for quite a while and when he was released, he was back to touring within a couple months. The reason that he retained his grasp on the instrument in spite of the fact that he wasn't able to practice for such a long time was that while he was locked away, he practiced what he knew every day--just the motion of striking the notes--and it helped him keep his muscle memory and shed new light on his playing.

Excellent advice, Martin.

It's just helped me in a lot of ways...concentrating really hard on what I want to create when I'm not playing makes the time I'm playing a lot more fruitful. I guess it's the way I prepare myself for playing.

Ouch dude, I feel for ya, while I've never had blisters, I have had finger injurys that prevent playing, sucks the big one.

I almost broke my left ring finger and I smashed my left middle finger a couple weeks after that about a year ago. That blew.

Actually I have a ton of homework to do, so not being able to play for a few days might be a good thing,

Sometimes it's nice to have a breather if you are feeling stale or burnt out.

Kugelspot wrote:

Actually I have a ton of homework to do, so not being able to play for a few days might be a good thing,

But what will distract you now?!

Darkstrike wrote:

Kugelspot wrote:

Actually I have a ton of homework to do, so not being able to play for a few days might be a good thing,

But what will distract you now?!

You guys!

Kugelspot wrote:

Darkstrike wrote:

Kugelspot wrote:

Actually I have a ton of homework to do, so not being able to play for a few days might be a good thing,

But what will distract you now?!

You guys!

Deal!

For some reason I've got tomorrow off. This weekend has been really relaxing for me. Lots of time with my basses.

Darkstrike wrote:

Kugelspot wrote:

Darkstrike wrote:

Kugelspot wrote:

Actually I have a ton of homework to do, so not being able to play for a few days might be a good thing,

But what will distract you now?!

You guys!

Deal!

I second that!

I broke the fifth metacarpal my right hand while at work back in 1992, and the doctor took pity on me, and wrapped only the ring and pinky fingers up, since I told him that I had a gig to do two days later. That way, I was able to still play using my pointer and index fingers. I had wrist bands covering my cast (which made my right wrist look like some swollen, multi-colored thing), and I did manage to pull off the show, although I was in a lot of pain for most of it.

I hope you heal up soon, Kugelspot! Hang in there, Buddy!

What group were you with then, Eric?

The pains mostly died down. I'm going to put a band aid on it and hope its healed up by Tuesday afternoon. I won't be able to play my bass until then anyway. I won't be getting home tomorrow until after midnight, then I have school the next day, and I get home around 4:30 or 4:45, so I have over a day and a half to heal. I'll be fine

Kugelspot wrote:

The pains mostly died down. I'm going to put a band aid on it and hope its healed up by Tuesday afternoon. I won't be able to play my bass until then anyway. I won't be getting home tomorrow until after midnight, then I have school the next day, and I get home around 4:30 or 4:45, so I have over a day and a half to heal. I'll be fine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPLWBhNW3FM ?

After reading your post, I went from listening to Electric Wizard to that...a bit of a switch. But I love both bands so much...

Cool beans, dude. Out of your basses, which one do you play the most?

I used to play the Kramer the most. Then I went back to my Spector. Then that went to a luthier to fix the strap button, the dodgy input jack, and install a Kahler. During that time I started using my headless more. I got the Spector back a month later. The guy did everything but the Kahler. He didn't have the right router template and refused to free hand it on such a nice bass. So I had it back for 2 weeks, then took it to another guy last friday. Should have it back in 2-3 weeks. After that, I can't see myself playing anything else, especially at home .

Until then I'm mostly using the headless. I'd probably play the Kramer a lot more if I got around to getting new strings for it. Its a great bass for taking around places because it cost me much less than the Spector and is built like a tank. Seriously. I was taking it off it the stand and it slipped out of my hand. I caught it before it completely fell over, but the bottom still took a nasty fall. There wasn't a scratch on the bass, but a little dent in my wood floor.

How long have you had your Spector? I thought it was a pretty recent acquisition.

You must be dying of anticipation, man! That'll be killer when you have it back.

Hahaha gotta love basses like that. Those Kramers were built to last. I've only seen the aluminum necked basses in some kinda seedy shops and while all the other basses look kinda funky, the Kramers tend to look in great shape...but they always make me think of a wood-paneled station wagon. And I'm the sort of person who'd drive a wood-paneled station wagon.

I've had the Spector a little over a year, 15 months or so. I've had the Kramer for about 9 (it was a completely unnecessary impulse buy, though I'm not regretting it too much), and the Hohner Headless for about 2 1/2 years. When I was talking about whuch bass I played most, I was really only talking about since I got the Kramer.

And yes, I'm DYING of anticipation. I guys its going to take so long because it has to be countersunk. Its also going to cost me $300. Luckily, my birthday is in 2 weeks, so my parents offered to pay for it. I'm not going to get much else for my birthday though. At least I'm not going to have to pay for it myself (BTW I couldn't think of a better smiley than that oen. EH, could you find a shrug smiley? And a headbanging one while your at it?)

Yeah that's what I meant...as of late.

You had better take plenty of pictures. A Kahler recessed into a carved top Spector....mmhhh

Don't worry man, I will

did someone here say Kramer?


anyway let me jump in here and say:

don't beat up on the strings Kugel use the amp
I have no callouses, I have soft tender fingerpads that also have nice long soft flexible nails that don't break (usually)...
if I beat up on any of my guitars, I'd be in a "world of hurting" after the first 15 minutes...

(been there-done that )



but I will say, I feel for ya dude, cause I get blisters, just not from playing bass, mostly from yardwork and excersize, and they do hurt and are very annoying

I also have very soft fingers in spite of how I play bass. I don't get it.

never saw you play so I wouldn't know but seriously, muscle density and skin depth do play a large part in this.

Peoples muscle density can be measured in deflection from a gauge. Some people have "harder" fingers and thicker skin.

you put a pretty large amount of pressure on your fingertips when your beating on the strings especially with rounds, and if your muscle density is lower on subject#1 than on #2, then that person would receive pressure generated blood vessel rupturing under the skin quicker ( black-eye syndrome), meaning some people bruise more easily than others.

skin blisters are no different the friction and pressure causes the skin to produce more fluid to compensate, and that hurts because now the fluid is pressing against the nerves on the tip of your fingers under pressure ( as slight as it may seem when you needle it )

I concur.

And to answer your earlier question Martin, I was with a really rippin' cover band called Wildfire.

Huh. Sounds crazy!