Thumb Disintegrating from Slapping

[chaosMK]

I slap a lot and use heavy gauge strings. It seems like my thumb is being whittled away, bit by bit. Anyone have experience of this kind of phenomena, or advice?

[trasser]

Nope...not really, my blisters sometimes bleed, but thats only from popping...sure you are hittin' the right spot with your thumb?

[The_Hat_Guy]

If you have just recently started playing alot of heavy slap, you can expect your thumb to start hurting and seemingly start disintegrating. It's just part of the callusing process. I started playing heavy slap about 4 years ago when I was introduced to bass players like Victor Wooten and Marcus miller. I spent hours and hours slapping and plucking away to try to teach myself how to replicate the sounds I was listening to.

The little piece of bone that protrudes from the outside of my thumb was worn raw, as was the top trying to do Victor's double-thumb technique. After months of regular practicing and many hours of continuing to play, despite the pain, i can now slap and double thumb for hours on end without a single problem.

It all boils down to building calluses, which just simply takes time. The bleeding and the pain will eventually stop if you practice regularly, lol. You'll also develop an ear for using the right part of your thumb to hit the string so you get the tone that you want. Again, practice and time, and I can't stress the practice part enough.

[the_fonz]

Originally Posted by The_Hat_Guy

The little piece of bone that protrudes from the outside of my thumb was worn raw

if you have bone sticking out of your thumb, i think you have more problems than skin wearing down.

[Bassic83]

If you are in serious pain, do what Mark King does- four wraps of electrical tape. It may also increase your attack...the wraps should go right over the last joint of your thumb, which is where you should be hitting.

He originally did this in 1980 during a show when he split his callous open onstage. He had stitches, and couldn't play his slap style because of it...so, to protect his stitches from being torn asunder, he wrapped them first with BandAids (not enough adhesion, came off), then paper surgical tape with a square of gauze (not durable, came apart within a few measures) then gaffer's tape (not too durable, prone to getting adhesive all in the windings of the strings, killing them). Last chance, electrical tape. It worked, and he continues to use it to this day.

[jazzbasser535]

This kind of thing is strange to me... when I first started playing slap, I never got a blister on my thumb. Even after I slap for hours, I can walk away with relatively little pain and be able to play easily the next day. Even when I first started playing bass, fingerstyle, I only ever got a blister once (which was the first time I had ever touched a bass guitar).

[iplaybassguitar]

PICTURES?!?!?!?

ive always wanted to know what a disentigrating thumb looks like

[The_Hat_Guy]

Originally Posted by the_fonz

if you have bone sticking out of your thumb, i think you have more problems than skin wearing down.

It's not actually a bone that sticks out very far per se, but I can't think of a better way to explain it. There is a bone in your thumb, and there is a part on the side of my thumb where the skin is thinner, and the bone is wider, so it sort of protrudes out a little more just in front of the joint. I personally slap using that little bit of bone to get a much more solid attach on the string, and get cleaner hits so I can play faster and harder, all while maintaining some cleanliness about the lick I am playing.

[Bassic83]

Do what I said, get some 3M electrical tape...I've tried "off-brands" before, and they suck. It's only about a buck for a roll...let me know how you like it.

[fryBASS]

for me, the bone doesnt really stick out at all, so I hit more at the end of the fingernail. This makes double thumping easier, I think.

[MichaelScott]

Originally Posted by iplaybassguitar

PICTURES?!?!?!?

ive always wanted to know what a disentigrating thumb looks like

Someone should have told this guy to stay off the Steel Rotosounds.

[Poop-Loops]

Originally Posted by The_Hat_Guy

It's not actually a bone that sticks out very far per se, but I can't think of a better way to explain it. There is a bone in your thumb, and there is a part on the side of my thumb where the skin is thinner, and the bone is wider, so it sort of protrudes out a little more just in front of the joint. I personally slap using that little bit of bone to get a much more solid attach on the string, and get cleaner hits so I can play faster and harder, all while maintaining some cleanliness about the lick I am playing.

You mean the knuckle? That's where I slap when I dink around (God knows I can't call what I do "playing".). The "meat" part in between the end of the thumb and the knuckle is a lot thinner than the knuckle itself.

[The_Hat_Guy]

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

You mean the knuckle? That's where I slap when I dink around (God knows I can't call what I do "playing".). The "meat" part in between the end of the thumb and the knuckle is a lot thinner than the knuckle itself.

I guess you can call it the side of the knuckle...for lack of a better description...anatomy and physiology have never been strong suits of mine, lol. But either way, that is what I use to thump with, and it gives me a nice solid hit, and I can get good bounce to do some clean double and tripple thumping with

[Bassist4Life]

This is not a direct response to your situation; however, there are many examples of slapping played with great style and technique.

The Slap Bass Welcome Center

Joe

[Joe P]

My thoughts -

When you first start, you kind of have to over-do it; once you do it for a while, you might be amazed at how lightly you really need to bounce or brush a string to get a solid thump-sound.
One problem I had when I started (I don't want to sound like a slap expert - I still fairly suck at it...) is that my thumb callous started to turn into.. like a CORN - that's not what you want! As far as I understand, a 'proper callous' is NOT supposed to be a dry, flaking hard-thing. It's s'post'a be more like leather than like rawhide, if you know what I mean.

I have great callouses now - and you can't see them! They're not dry at all. Since having that 'corn'-problem, I started putting this grease-stuff on my hands. At first it was every day, and now maybe three times a week (Unless I do something that's hard on my hands - work with harsh soap or with masonry or somthing like that - then I make sure to slather-up with it as soon as I can after doing the work). The BEST stuff for this is... ahem.. OK - it's "Mary Kay Extra Emollient night... something" It looks like orange axle grease, and it's pretty expensive - but it works great.

"Thanks for the advice, Mom"!

Joe