For all those with fretting hand technique problems

[rainbownorth]

Just a quick thought on my experiences over the last week.

My bass playing has been somewhat frustrating of late. Every practice with my band, I would finish with an aching hand. And these are like 2 hour long sessions, so I was riding a lot of the pain out.

Well I thought about it last week, and thought well hell I've been playing 6, 7 years now, is it really my technique? So I decided to investigate a little further. Both of my basses I've been having trouble getting the action as low as I want it. And thought to myself, well maybe I need to look at getting my basses set up properly, as it's been awhile since the last adjustments for either one.

So I heads on over to the hardware setup and repair forum and open the first sticky thread there. I take the time to adjust the truss rod, set the intonation, and lower the action in line with the curvature of the fingerboard, and then head over to the jam for Friday night.

I could not believe the difference it made. My Cort action bass with flats is no high end bass obviously. But my god, it was like butter baby. Not only was it achieving tones I've never been able to dial, I played for a solid 3 hours and felt great afterwards. Hands were tired sure, but no aches or nothing.

Now this cost me nothing. Most of the tools required I already had and it took 45 minutes tops.

So moral of the story is, setup is important. Don't assume cause your hands hurt it's your fault, especially if it's been a while or you have just assumed your bass is setup for you right out of the store. All it takes is a little time and effort to make sure your bass is the way you want it, and it's so worth the effort.

Just my $.02

[fearceol]

Glad you sorted out your problem. Though from reading this forum, while the set up of the bass is very important, I'd say that the vast majority of people who post here with fretting hand problems find that it is their actual technique that is giving trouble and pain. Also, a lot of people like higher action, and because their technique is good, they don't have problems. No harm in highlighting the importance of a good set up though.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by fearceol

Glad you sorted out your problem. Though from reading this forum, while the set up of the bass is very important, I'd say that the vast majority of people who post here with fretting hand problems find that it is their actual technique that is giving trouble and pain. Also, a lot of people like higher action, and because their technique is good, they don't have problems. No harm in highlighting the importance of a good set up though.

Well yeah that's why I highlight it. I thought my technique was sloppy for a long time despite paying a lot of attention to it. It's not necessarily about having lower action either, more that I was highlighting the fact that having your bass set the way YOU like it is super important and getting it right can make a huge improvement to many areas of your performance.

Granted a lot of people here have genuine problems such as carpal tunnel and tendinitis. But there's probably also a lot of people out there who have pain of some kind, and haven't ruled this out before blaming their technique.

[turbo chicken]

Originally Posted by rainbownorth

Well yeah that's why I highlight it. I thought my technique was sloppy for a long time despite paying a lot of attention to it. It's not necessarily about having lower action either, more that I was highlighting the fact that having your bass set the way YOU like it is super important and getting it right can make a huge improvement to many areas of your performance.

Granted a lot of people here have genuine problems such as carpal tunnel and tendinitis. But there's probably also a lot of people out there who have pain of some kind, and haven't ruled this out before blaming their technique.

i started posting a long winded post ... that pretty much said the same thing

have to admit... an out of wack bass does make it easier to play. A lot has to be said for playability

Recently i traded in my cheap dean and got a new bass ... it's an older yamaha model. Talk about night and day playability wise ... that being said... my hand cramps stopped also...

my technique though... still needs some work but wasn't as bad as I feared... I full heartedly believe that having a bass that is easier to play lets you focus on playing with proper technique

[maxgrant]

I had this problem with my old Hondo. It is really not that bad of a bass. I actually used it to cut a track on my band's last CD because I wanted that boomy P sound.

But before I could record with it, I was sitting there trying it out and thinking DAMN this bass is hard to play. How did I ever tolerate it?

So I started taking it apart to look at the truss rod and right away I found a few things that made me crack up.

#1, I realized that I had shimmed the bejezus out of the neck after reading an ignorant article by Billy Sheehan back in the late 1980's that everyone should shim their neck or some other absurd thing. Removing those shims immediately fixed the major problems with the bass. I broke the D string tightening it back up (it was probably an early 1990's Ken Smith compression wound string, if I had to guess) so I replaced that. Then I had to re-adjust the saddles on the bridge. This is your typical no-frills P-bass bridge.

I had the height screws of the saddles poking so far out that one of them was hanging on by a thread, literally. The saddle was essentially resting on the tailpiece plate, and the screw could have been removed and thrown away for all the good it was doing. So it was lovely to put all that back the way it was supposed to be.

What is funny about this is I do tolerate pretty high action. My hand/pain issues almost exclusively stem from the right side, not the left (as I am a lefty playing righty). I guess the hand strength helps me out. I have never done any setup on my Rickenbacker 4001, and it's only been to a guitar tech twice in the 25 years I've owned it. It just seems to be nice and stable where it is. The same with my 11-year-old Spector NS20004. And I have two Squier Jazzes that I took as is out of the store, one a rent-to-own, the other bought brand new off the wall. I think I have just been particularly lucky with these things, as the only bass whose setup I have ever messed with was my Hondo. And I caused all my own problems by listening to the absolute wrong person about how to maintain my bass.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by turbo chicken

my technique though... still needs some work but wasn't as bad as I feared... I full heartedly believe that having a bass that is easier to play lets you focus on playing with proper technique

This is my point. A lot of people assume that your bass is good to go and set up to your specs straight out the shop, and I believed it too for a while. But it's not the case. Taking the time to check it out or even getting a luthier to check it out and set it up with proper intonation, decent truss rod arc set up for string height where YOU want it, and bridge and saddles setup where you want them also, all make a remarkable difference to the way you can play your bass.

[Jay2U]

I totally agree! The bass should be set up properly and to your preferences. Playability is everything!

[rainbownorth]

Besides which, all the info is right here on talkbass, stickied at the top of the setup forum. Costs you nothing, and you learn something new.

[chaosMK]

At least you realized this only 6-7 years into it.

[rainbownorth]

Originally Posted by chaosMK

At least you realized this only 6-7 years into it.

Haha yeah....coulda been worse I guess...coulda been better though. Hell at least I realized eventually!