bassses that are easy to play?

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by grunz7

no pain needed ... and I agree with all post going the "no pain" route. You may want to see a doctor or some professional bassplayer to get some advice.

Or simple adjust your technique - Jaco's one finger per fret worked great for him because he had huge hands. I for my part have really small hands, tried a long time (uups, I'm playing already for 30 or so years ...) the one finger per fret but can only sustain it for a couple of takes in the lower register - so there's the 1-2-4 upright bass approach that work just fine ...

and not to mention Rocco Prestia from TOP - he primarily just uses one finger at all (the rest of the left hand is used for muting) and he is everything but a slow player. So technique is what works for your musical goals.

Just my 2 cents

Another example is Jimi Hendrix using his thumb to fret notes on the lower strings-- I don't think THAT'S ever been in a Mel Bay guitar instruction book!
I think the key is to realize that there are multitudes of time-honored solutions to every "mechanical" obstacle. A good bass teacher, as well as a good doctor, might be the best answer. Having said that, I agree with the post about the different types of muscles and the factor of everyone's physical makeup. I remember reading about how the marathon runner Bill Rodgers (I think that's his name) was found to have been born with a freakish percentage of "endurance muscle" in his legs. I'd be willing to bet that Steve Harris, of Iron Maiden, has forearms and hands like that.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by dougjwray

I agree, partially. Every accomplished player has had to put in lots of EFFORT, but not pain. I think the person you were correcting meant "effort", not actual "pain." If something hurts, it's time to stop-- I agree.

Ok. I certainly hope so..

However, I believe that with proper technique, people with small hands can play wide necks, for example. When I was a kid, my parents started me out on a full-sized guitar, then bass, and I had no problem navigating them because I learned about good hand positioning, posture, etc. I don't believe it's helpful to spread the idea that everyone has that one perfect instrument out there, waiting for them. This, along with manufacturers' clever marketing, leads to the hilarious "help me select a bass which will play itself" TB noob mentality.

No, I agree with this also (if you inferred that I was advocating The One, I didn't mean to suggest that). Each person isn't _that_ unique either - even an off-the-shelf instrument, designed to be in an ergonomic ballpark, can certainly be right for a particular player.

In fact, I'm with you that this notion of The One True Bass can lead to the custom-bass obsession, where many $1000's end up being needlessly spent on a custom or boutique. The player often sounds just as bad on the $5000+ bass as he did on the $500 one and his arms may still hurt after the gig besides.

Somtimes the $5000 custom boutique is a requirement, but about as often it's not and the player can actually get away scott-free with a much kindlier whap to the checking account.

That's how it ended up for me with my L2K and the Bunny. Both are pretty boiler-plate instruments and I can play them generally without injury.

Unfortunately, my career was ended by injuries from a harmful instrument (for my anatomy) and now hearing damage, so it's too late for me. But had I found something like this L2K in, say, 1979, my life might have turned out dramatically different than it actually did.

So certainly, you're quite right that it can be excessive in the other direction to try to find The Bass if you put too many blinders on. Especially these days, when we know so much more about ergonomic issues than we did back in the Good Ol' Days.

LS

[Dbassmon]

Some excellent posts here.

I will emphasize what UncleJane and Grunz7 have stated.

If it hurts - Stop!
Fatigue from playing and muscle soreness is not what I am talking about.That is normal - pain in not.
Joint damage can be permanent.

Learn Proper Technique
Having correct hand posture and relaxed playing will allow your to enjoy you bass into old age. I personally find that really thin necks actually put more strain on your joints.
Get a pro teacher!!! Someone pointed out usintg 1,2 and 4th fingers ala double bass. That can help too.

Soft Touch and a Powerful Rig
Light gauge strings are softer to the touch, lower your action.
This keeps you from over playing because the string will easily bottom out and choke. An amplifier with a lot of power will allow you sound big and aggressive even if you aren't pounding the bass mercilessly. You will make a more beautiful tone by doing this.
I use 40, 60,80, 100, gauges and a 130 on my 5ers.

[boristhespider9]

Lots of good advice above. However, lets not pretend that neck specs don't make a difference. The right neck makes it much easier to execute proper technique and reduce pain and injuries. In addition to the right neck width and depth for your hands, also consider 34" basses with more than 20 frets help reduce the stretch for your fingers due to closer fret spacing.

[dougjwray]

Originally Posted by boristhespider9

Lots of good advice above. However, lets not pretend that neck specs don't make a difference. The right neck makes it much easier to execute proper technique and reduce pain and injuries. In addition to the right neck width and depth for your hands, also consider 34" basses with more than 20 frets help reduce the stretch for your fingers due to closer fret spacing.

Not sure about that. If the scale is still 34", wouldn't the distance between frets still be the same, even if you have additional ones at the end of the neck?

[Immigrant]

Originally Posted by dougjwray

Not sure about that. If the scale is still 34", wouldn't the distance between frets still be the same, even if you have additional ones at the end of the neck?

Yes. You are correct. The only way to change fret spacing is to change scale length.

OP:Try all neck profiles and scale lengths. A deeper (front to back) neck may actually help your pain issues.

[dougjwray]

I just remembered something:
A short time after I started beginning upright bass lessons with Richard Davis, 35 years ago (35 years?? ), I started feeling soreness in the thumb of my fingering hand. I asked him about it, and his response was, "That's good!!"
He was happy because it meant that I wasn't palming the bass neck, which favors your thumb but hampers your mobility and tone. As a previous poster mentioned, this was about muscle fatigue, not structural damage. I admit that there was a bit of "You're now paying your dues and will soon join the club, young apprentice... congratulations!" in Richard's attitude, but he was enough of a teacher to know that I wasn't really damaging myself. As far as I know, he's still educating, at the age of 82.
So... once again: Get a good teacher!

[ShowLow]

Pain is your body's way of telling you to back off. The wise listen and make changes. The not so wise, well...

+1 on pro teacher, pro setup and qualified physician. [Surgery of the Hand is a secondary board certification that can be obtained by fully-trained orthopedic, plastic or general surgeons. Another useful specialty for sore paws is Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.]

Changing basses could make a difference for good or for ill. The easiest-playing bass that I have found in my short bass-playing sojourn is the MIJ Fender Precision Lyte Deluxe with TI flats. One of these just sold in the Classifieds. They are rare but fairly inexpensive and well-loved basses. JMHO of course.

[thunderbyrd]

n't answer your question about rics, i've never played one for more than a few seconds in a store. but about the pain in your fret hand, you might need to raise it up. if you play with your bass hanging down low, it's putting your hand at a bad angle. try raising it up.

[39-Bassist]

3/4 scale will be a way to go. Ric is a heavy bass......better sit down....

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by kevteop

Not sure looking at a crab or a lobster is going to help bro.

Seriously though go see a specialist and say 'My hand hurts when I do this'. It will more than likely be fixable unless you've done yourself permanent nerve damage already.

Yeah, and he's going to say, "Don't do that. That'll be 240 bucks."

[azzyrazzy]

My advice: 1. Hold the bass neck a little more upright/vertically. Position the bass where your left wrist does not bend as much.
2. Slide more/ move with the left hand, don't keep it stationary and try to strech around to reach every fret.
3. Get a teacher.

With this you can use any bass you'd like, and no pain.

[Rockin Mike]

Originally Posted by Dbassmon

I personally find that really thin necks actually put more strain on your joints.

Joints aren't the only source of pain. OP said he had a stabbing pain in the center of his palm. That doesn't sound like joints to me.

There are some stickies in the Technique section that may be of interest:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ( CTS ) Info

Health Related Issues To Playing

Soft Touch and a Powerful Rig

+1

[millsbass5]

You need one of these:



http://littleguitarworks.com/torzal-natural-twist/

[Ewo]

+1 to the points already made about positioning the bass comfortably high on the body (so you're not maintaining the bass in position with either your fretting hand or your other forearm on the body), and about borrowing upright technique (both the thumb pivot and the 1-2-4 fingering) in first position when your line doesn't require one finger per fret.

Got one more thing to add. OP, is it possible you're pressing the strings down on the frets harder than you need to? IOW, squeezing too hard with your left hand? You don't need to use any more force than just enough to keep the string from buzzing or muting out when you fret.

Hat tip to Gary Willis for that point. He mentioned it in his 101 Tips book and described a practice exercise to develop a habit of using just enough pressure when fretting.

[johninmemphis]

Rest first. I'm no doctor, but I do know that it's not just the fingers and the hand involved in playing the bass, but also the wrist and forearm. Yoga has helped me, particularly working out in pushup type positions that bear weight on spread fingers and up through the forearms. I have small hands, but interesting enough it's easier for me to play on a double bass with a thicker neck than a thinner one - different instrument though. Do get a teacher though to work with you on your technique before you buy anything new.

[ksandvik]

I doubt switching a bass will help... Every time I've got similar pain, I stopped playing for a week and let the body heal itself. Post-mortem usually was that I either practiced crazy things I was not ready for, like crazy stretches, or that due to long stretches of no bass playing my fingers and hand muscles were weak.

[Kenzy]

Originally Posted by ksandvik

I doubt switching a bass will help... Every time I've got similar pain, I stopped playing for a week and let the body heal itself. Post-mortem usually was that I either practiced crazy things I was not ready for, like crazy stretches, or that due to long stretches of no bass playing my fingers and hand muscles were weak.

Crazy zombie bass playing

[Tvrtko]

Originally Posted by ShowLow

Pain is your body's way of telling you to back off. The wise listen and make changes. The not so wise, well...

+1 on pro teacher, pro setup and qualified physician. [Surgery of the Hand is a secondary board certification that can be obtained by fully-trained orthopedic, plastic or general surgeons. Another useful specialty for sore paws is Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.]

I would rather stop playing than do some sort of surgery. Actually, surgery is an "American thing" - "let's cut crap out", what is completely wrong. I worked so much about my hands, I can write book. There is sometimes genetic limitations and we have to understand it. There are some things that I cannot do with my hands. I can tighten and even brake screw with my fingers. But, I cannot play fast. i was practicing classic guitar (way back). When it came out to do fast triolas in http://youtu.be/OK263b3kD4k (Memories of Alhambra) I could not do it fast enough. I went for advice to my buddy, who is the owner of great classic Academy in Paris (Muhamed Klipic), who was trying to help me. Nothing worked... I did not know - WHY? 30 years later, I learned - I have dominant genetic muscles that they are strong, but not fast as some other people have... There is no surgery that can help me.

Lower strings can help, position of bass can help, lighter gauges can help, shorter scale can help - to avoid pain.

We all have out body limitations and it's nothing wrong with us. It's just nature of the body.

[Roadkill]

Originally Posted by Ewo

Got one more thing to add. OP, is it possible you're pressing the strings down on the frets harder than you need to?

Not having the nut slots cut deep enough will greatly increase the effort it takes to fret up near the nut. Almost all new basses have to have this work done.