Good to know this, working towards the fretless. Still have a few brand new sets of flats looking for a bass
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Activities that make bass more difficult
- Thread starter cyclopsbookworm
- Start date
Luckily I don't have bad arthritis in my hands. About the only place I don't have it. Just the carpal tunnel.
I got a fretless just to try it out, never intending to be a fretless player. Tried a fender fretless first but it was too different from what I'm used to to learn fretless on. Then I got a Warwick Streamer fretless, which is the specs I'm used to, and ended up loving it so much that fretless now gets 90% of my playing time.
Work.
When you have a job where your constantly using your hands 8-10 hours a day it feels like your hands are 2 swollen to Play it sucks hard.
When you have a job where your constantly using your hands 8-10 hours a day it feels like your hands are 2 swollen to Play it sucks hard.
Breaking mu left arm in 3 places, plus dislocated shoulder from coming off my motorbike certainly put a damper on things for the last 8-odd weeks! Fortunately the technique still seems there when I played it last night - first band practice tonight so will check out my stamina...
Surprised that no-one else has mentioned back or shoulder trouble yet.
Chronic low back pain has been my nemesis for decades. Influences my gear choices, as well as my stage presence (I sometimes have to have a stool onstage for periodic "slouch breaks", and pogoing is a no-no).
I had to trade off my beautiful handmade singlecut a little over a year ago, and seek out lighter alternatives.
Chronic low back pain has been my nemesis for decades. Influences my gear choices, as well as my stage presence (I sometimes have to have a stool onstage for periodic "slouch breaks", and pogoing is a no-no).
I had to trade off my beautiful handmade singlecut a little over a year ago, and seek out lighter alternatives.
I suffer(not really) from chronic masturbation. I try to sleep with my hands above the covers but that dog won't hunt. I'm just sayin
Big Hoss
Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
- Sep 5, 2014
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Not sure why, but SPECIFIC tasks while woodworking messes me up. Power sanding with palm / detail sanders is particularly hard on my coordination. And I have been doing a lot of that lately. Auto repair work with Pnuematic tools like impact wrenches, or detail work where I am manipulating small pieces for long periods (Electrical / wiring harness work / soldering for example) is REALLY hard on the hands particularly speed wise.
I am CDO when dealing with any equipment that could potentially damage my hands. I make my living with them and kind of need to keep them nimble and all digits attached...
Funny, I've done a lot of stuff over the years that could potentially cause trouble, and never noticed any negative effects on my playing. Dirt biking, woodworking, auto and motorcycle repair, plumbing, electrical, etc.
Mind you, it probably helps that I am chronically lazy, and rarely do any of these things to the extent that I start to feel pain or discomfort!
I spent 35 years rock climbing before getting semi-serious with my bass. Those years of trying to cram my finger tips together in the tiniest possible space and loading them up while twisted into a crack in a rock have made opening my hand and spanning frets a challenge. No arthritis, but all the connective tissues have been trained to pack the fingertips together, not allow maximum spread. So I move around on the fret board a lot!
Oddly enough I don't have trouble with the jackhammer aside from my carpal tunnel. Its all leverage and technique. Its the shovel that kills me tho. Arthritis in my knees and plantar fasciitis in my feet.
If I use a gas-powered weed eater for much longer than 10-15 minutes, it will set my hands to shaking so bad I can't play for hours, sometimes for the rest of the day!
I dug 135ft of trench by hand through clay in 1 week. I cancelled all gigs for that weekend as I could not open my hands. Plumbing sucks
I'd look at some simple Carpal stretching exercises ... and when your playing vids , take frequent breaks and shake out and stretch your hands a bit ... and when it flares up maybe apply some ice and a compression wrap ... warm up before use , shake out stretch after ... just like proper lifting weights or any workout routine ... seems the same principles apply , even though you're using much smaller muscles .. !! there's just a crapload of nerve info that comes to/from our hands ... those pathways can get pinched in many areas from our neck , shoulder , elbow , wrist ... tendons ... muscles .. joints ... all play a part ... at 57 , I have a hard time opening the bottle of arthritis meds ,... but I still play piano , bass or gtr every single day .. !
