Decreasing pressure on left thumb?

[iceron]

Well, so here is the problem, i got since a couple of years back after an accident a "rigid operated" (Or what it is called) thumb, i can't fully bend it as much as a normal thumb would, and after I've played a while i get cramps in it so that i have to rest for a minute or so.

Is there anything i can do to decrease the pressure on my left thumb without it having a negative effect on my playing?

[lemur821]

Just quit squeezing with it. It's only supposed to be there for moral support. You can practice playing with your thumb off the neck to get your fingers used to it.

[fretlessman71]

If you rest your right arm on the side of the bass when you play, and you push down a little, it takes the pressure off of your left thumb. Hope that helps a bit.

[Time Consumer]

Originally Posted by lemur821

Just quit squeezing with it. It's only supposed to be there for moral support. You can practice playing with your thumb off the neck to get your fingers used to it.

What he said, thats the only way i can think of, i get that too, but im just lazy. I take the pressure off by making a c with my hand, which transfers the pressure from my thumb to my forearm, but u can't bend ur thumb enough to do that can u?

[()smoke()]

i'd go along with the suggestions to try playing without the thumb pressing at all to develop a slightly different technique that will have you using the thumb to squeeze the neck less

coming from many years on 6-string guitar with a self-taught technique, my natural move is to wrap my thumb over the top of the neck like one would do when bending the heck out of guitar strings--so i've consciously attempted to get my thumb back behind the neck, especially with my 5-string--and it's actually less trouble adjusting than i'd thought

good luck

[iceron]

Originally Posted by lemur821

Just quit squeezing with it. It's only supposed to be there for moral support. You can practice playing with your thumb off the neck to get your fingers used to it.

Thank you for the tips, i've never taught of that
I think that i've developed the habit for pressing so hard with my thumb in the beginning when i started to play bass because i didn't have the strenght in my fingers to push the strings down properly, and because of that, it was etched into my spine

Big thanks! Already noticing improvement

[BruisedOoze]

I guess I'm a bit luckier in that I have a similar thing but it's in my right hand. When I anchor my thumb I had to be a bit more conscious about my arm angle when I sit and play, as the pressure translates to me wrist a lot easier.

More specifically my left hand, the thumb can go back back about 70 degrees from the knuckle where it connects to the wrest of the hand (or 70 degrees from a line drawn through the bone that is connected between the wrist and thumb). My right hand however, the thumb can't extend beyond this line at all. This has been a problem since 93 when I was 14 when I fractured the thumb and caused damage to the knuckle as well.