Blisters!

rubber_ritchie · #1 05-06-2008, 04:44 PM

Hey dudes,

I got a small blister on my popping finger from doing a lot of slap. I gave it a rest for a day but started again today and it's painful again. Any suggestions?

Spinal Tapper · #2 05-06-2008, 04:51 PM

Keep playing on it! It'll turn to a callus! Also, try super glue over it (or inside of it if it pops).

john keates · #3 05-06-2008, 04:52 PM

Learn to like pain!!

After your first few rounds of blisters, you stop getting them so much but they are pretty much a fact of life.

UnderwaterGuy · #4 05-06-2008, 06:22 PM

As long as the blister isn't dark in any way you can just prick it with a pin or whatever you want and keep playing. I went through this process with both my popping fingers when i started.

I just played until I had blisters so big I couldn't pop any more, then wait for a while as they heal.
It might take you a week or so but if you keep playing using blistered fingers they will not heal near as fast, BUT if you wait it out now you never have to deal with it again.

Take the oppertunity to work on your pick technique.

MarkTAW · #5 05-06-2008, 09:36 PM

I only get blisters if I don't play for a while, and even then it was only when I was younger and played harder. I have very light callouses now - I just have a lighter touch.

VinylRepairKit · #6 05-06-2008, 09:46 PM

Hasn't happened to me in a while, but what did you guys do if you got one during a long gig?

I would keep it unless it got so big that I couldn't play with it. It would be quite painful playing after popping a large blister though on that finger.

guy n. cognito · #7 05-06-2008, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubber_ritchie

Hey dudes,

I got a small blister on my popping finger from doing a lot of slap. I gave it a rest for a day but started again today and it's painful again. Any suggestions?

Wait another day?

BruisedOoze · #8 05-07-2008, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VinylRepairKit

Hasn't happened to me in a while, but what did you guys do if you got one during a long gig?

I would keep it unless it got so big that I couldn't play with it. It would be quite painful playing after popping a large blister though on that finger.

This hasn't happened in a long time, but I remember getting a blister in the middle of a long session but didn't notice until late into it. I find the sensation is quite numb and it only hurts the next day sort of thing.

**TheMutt** · #9 05-07-2008, 02:55 AM

I just play through the blisters that I get. They eventually pop on their own, and harden up into some great calluses. My problem is usually that my nails on my plucking hand (index and middle) get separated from the nail bed. (I've got extra strong nails, so they don't bend at all) The best remedy I have found for that is to stick some super glue or liquid bandage up between the nail bed and the nail. It's a quick fix, but works great every time.

JimmyM · #10 05-07-2008, 03:46 AM

You guys are crazy! Once you feel your fingers starting to feel like they want to form a blister, stop for a few hours. Come back to it later that day and play a few minutes more. Do this for 3 or 4 days, and you'll have a nice little callus formed without popping a blister. Then you can play all you want. Forming blisters works, but it's painful and unnecessary.

rubber_ritchie · #11 05-07-2008, 05:29 AM

Hey guys,

Thanks for the responses. I think I'll go for the rest option rather than the super glue one.

MarkTAW · #12 05-07-2008, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

You guys are crazy! Once you feel your fingers starting to feel like they want to form a blister, stop for a few hours. Come back to it later that day and play a few minutes more. Do this for 3 or 4 days, and you'll have a nice little callus formed without popping a blister. Then you can play all you want. Forming blisters works, but it's painful and unnecessary.

+1 Stop before you form a blister and you'll get a callous instead! Of course this depends on a lot of other factors - how often you play, how often you want to play, how hard you play, how old your strings are, if they're rounds or flats, the volume & tone of your amp (and if it's sufficient to make you not feel you have to dig in) etc.

51m0n · #13 05-07-2008, 09:30 AM

If you get blisters its because you havent got a decent callous.

IME & IMO they best way around this is as follows:-

1) Make a Bass Bhudda rope ( I used some of a towelling dressing gown's belt)
2) Do the simple Bass Bhudda exercises (they involve RH exercises and LH exercises with said rope playing very hard to build up strength, they also trash your fingers plenty). this is going to generate some really nice blisters
3) This is the important one, dont play for two days (not on the blisters), do not puncture the blister - it is there for a purpose and is integral to callous development. Instead allow it to empty itself and go really hard.
4) Repeat the above process, each time you do you will cause the skin in that area to harden until you develope a true callous far harder than you need, but perfect for a good tone. I've never needed to do this more than twice, and then over after a very extended absence form playing.

Anything less than this (the whole stopping before a blister approach) is OK , but I play 3 finger stylee, and my ring finger just never developed a decent callous, it would always be softer than the other two fingers, doing this has led to a much more similar callous on all three fingers, and subsequently a more even tone, now the reason I sometimes get a bit of a gallop going on is my naff technique, not the inherent tonal difference caused by a softer fingertip....

DudeistMonk · #14 05-07-2008, 11:54 AM

I got back into play recently after a long break, there was a good few days I could barely touch a bass, cause of my ring finger (I find that my index and ring take 80% of the abuse)

...After that my playing time went from 45 minutes before my fingers start burning like hell to 2 hours before my wrist starts burning like hell...damn instructor is crazy.... I don't even think its possible to memorize diatonic harmonies in all keys (essentially 3 different basic positions) and in 4 different up/down patterns. Learn a song and do a bunch of chord progression exercises in one week.

JimmyM · #15 05-07-2008, 12:27 PM

Dude, your wrists should never burn. I think you should get a second opinion about your technique, quite honestly.

DudeistMonk · #16 05-07-2008, 12:32 PM

I'm pretty sure my technique is fine, but I work on a computer all day...corporal tunnel is just an inevitability for me.

Also I'm kind of exaggerating it doesn't hurt that bad and its only if I'm doing a lot of intense stretchy stuff for a long time like scales and arpeggios in the low register.

crazyguy832 · #17 05-07-2008, 12:53 PM

Carpal tunnel, not corporal.

But, seriously, working at a computer does not mean getting carpal tunnel. Proper posture, good keyboards (not necessarily even ergonomic, hate those things) and GEL PADS for your wrists to rest on (whether using the mouse or the keyboard) are all great preventative measure.

JimmyM · #18 05-08-2008, 02:41 AM

Dudeist, if you have pain while playing the bass, then you are doing something wrong. Period. Maybe it's not on the bass, but you're doing something wrong somewhere, like doing the computer stuff at work. I would strongly suggest seeing a doctor that specializes in sports/repetitive task injuries who can straighten your computer skills out, because you're on the road to not being able to do either the computer or the bass. I strongly suggest taking it very seriously if you want to continue playing bass and working.

DudeistMonk · #19 05-08-2008, 02:35 PM

I can't spell for my life

if it becomes a consistent problem believe me I will, but it was just once the other day after playing for way longer than I usually do... I think a big part of it is just loosing a lot of my endurance to my long bass break. Also I gotta make them give me a keyboard tray at my new job (the one I should have is in like 7 pieces under my desk, but I'm a temp so what do they care)

D.Don · #20 05-24-2008, 06:39 AM

Kind of annoying when it happens when you need it the least...

Got a recording to do today for a friend, and stupid me tried playin the piece on a fretted bass (with rounds) that I have borrowed while practicing it yesterday (I have flats on my own fretless bass), and today, I spent 10 minutes warming up and I got ugly blisters on both index and middle fingers now thanks to the rounds yesterday I assume, sucky... Though I'll play it through, I need to finish that recording today.

D.Don