callouses?? better technique?

[fivesevenoh]

okay I slap and pop a lot, and my middle finger (finger I use to pop strings) has a very huge callous on the tip of it. Am I using an improper technique? am I supposed to have a callous? it gets painful after long usage. should I rip it off? or is having a callous a playing advantage and just unsightly to the eye?

thanks. also do any other players here have callouses? and are they something one should have or no?

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by fivesevenoh

okay I slap and pop a lot, and my middle finger (finger I use to pop strings) has a very huge callous on the tip of it. Am I using an improper technique? am I supposed to have a callous? it gets painful after long usage. should I rip it off? or is having a callous a playing advantage and just unsightly to the eye?

thanks. also do any other players here have callouses? and are they something one should have or no?

i have callouses on all my fretting fingers and my middle and index finger on my plucking hand. they are good to have as they let you play longer without your fingers hurting

lowsound

[Skeletomania]

I just started so i've only been playing for around 5 months. I play at least 2 hours a day, but I dont have 1 single callous.

[Kronos]

Callouses are natural. It's just a hardening of the skin. I have them on both of my hands on the fingertips. I don't think you're doing anything wrong at all. They'll actually help with slides and the like.

Also, are you sure you're not talking about a blister? Blister's are fluid filled pockets under the skin where the skin actually separates from the layers and fills with a liquid. This can happen from over usage and usually will be very painful. Once they're popped, they dry up and the skin falls off. You definitely want callouses because callouses help avoid these from happening.

[lemur821]

Eventually your calluses will probably become invisible. You'll just have tough, leathery fingertips.

[ignignok]

Originally Posted by lemur821

Eventually your calluses will probably become invisible. You'll just have tough, leathery fingertips.

Just let your callous be and it will disappear into just normal, hard skin. I have callouses on every finger cept my fretting thumb and picking pinky.

[jamescalvin]

Originally Posted by Skeletomania

I just started so i've only been playing for around 5 months. I play at least 2 hours a day, but I dont have 1 single callous.

Play harder... No but really, when I first started playing bass a little less than a year ago, I didn't really have callouses. Soon as I hooked up with a band, the callouses came. I played a lot harder when I played with a band and my fingers did a lot of sliding up and down the fret board.

[Suckbird]

I play up to 7hours a day and i cant say that i have any callouses either, in the beginning all my fingers were hard as steel but the more i play the softer they get.. weird...

[ii7-V7]

I used to have the problem of getting blisters when I would play out. I would practice with a certain level of intensity and then when playing live I would turn it up a notch and shredd my fingertips. I learned two things....Don't ever pop a blister intentionally....and....turn up the amp if you can't hear, but keep your cool when playing live.....I'll let you know how it turns out...I haven't figured out exactly how to do that yet.

[temple_of_boom]

any one else get a deformed looking thumb from slapping? my knuckles about a 1/4 in wider than the other

[Kroy]

Originally Posted by temple_of_boom

any one else get a deformed looking thumb from slapping? my knuckles about a 1/4 in wider than the other

Whoa, mine slapping thumb knuckle is wider too. It makes sense but I never noticed. Freak show.