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Any advice for a wounded player?

P

professor_bills

May 17, 2006
452
3
ST Pete Florida
#1
A couple of months ago I got hurt at my day job and tore my left shoulder up. I am right handed and this injury makes it hard to play particularly down below the 6th fret. Unfortunately I am a deep player and the 5th fret tends to be my home bass. My band does alot of jamming in A. I've been jamming with my one band playing harp and singing alot more than I used to. The other band which was supposed to be the serious project just shut down and the guitar player (leader) is taking a wait and see attitude. That's cool I totally understand. Recently I've been playing a very limited amount because my shoulder doesn't feel too bad but I feel the pain the next day.
Well in a couple weeks I go under the knife and I wont be able to even play harp for about a month. Then it will be about 6 months before I am 100% (if all goes well). I stopped by Sam Ash and picked up a lefty bass and that was like making love to another guy (and I'm not gay) Very awkward is what I'm trying to get at.
HAs any one gone through this. I'm already goin crazy and I may just go completely nuts.
Any thoughts out there?
 
#3
I had a serious problem with tendinitis in both my hands a few year ago. My right hand woulld get numb and it was almost impossible to play. I stopped playing for about a month and things gradually got better. Your situation is different. It will very difficult to teach yourself to play left handed but think about how difficult it was to learn right handed. It won't happen over night and it will probably keep you interested. Who know's if you actually pull it off you might be the only ambidextrous bass player in the world. It would be cool to see play right handed and then pick up another bass and play left handed. Other than that, you might have to stop until you recover from your surgery.
 
#5
I had a sprained left wrist a couple months ago, and after a couple of weeks of not being able to play anything at all, I still could not play the lower frets of my long-scale basses for a period while it was healing. My short-scale basses were easier, but I still had to adjust the position of the bass from what I was normally comfortable with. Regular guitar was not a problem.

I would suggest trying out a small-bodied short-scale bass, and see if any playing position gives you the ability to reach those lower frets. You can put on heavier strings if you find the tension too low or the sound not as deep as you are accustomed to.
 
#9
professor_bills said:
HAs any one gone through this. I'm already goin crazy and I may just go completely nuts.
Any thoughts out there?
Click to expand...

I am battling Multiple Myeloma. A chronic illness and it has taken many months before I could hold a bass in my lap & play...sitting down, much less standing.

My battle began a year ago, I am auditioning now...I have a band drama story as well. You heal up, you get on with it.

Life ain't easy and it ain't over...is it?
 
#10
I'm there. At one point a few years ago, all of my old injuries started coming back to haunt me from bike wrecks, fights, etc. I couldn't play bass for more than 20 minutes before cramping up.

I measured the width of the curve my left thumb and forefinger make when relaxed, and the contour, and had a P-style neck blank made to fit: 1.67 nut, .875 "C" contour, 10 inch radius, 2.375 heel. Then I had Sheldon Dingwall fan fret it with a square conventional nut, 33.25 G string and 34 E string scale. I put Hipshot ultralight tuners on it so it wouldn't neck dive (which also made the bass a full 1/2 pound lighter than when using traditional "elephant ear" tuners), and had pickup routings made for a Rick HB-1 in the G segment P position and a neck version (for narrowed string spacing) DiMarzio Ultra Jazz in the bridge. This allows my elbow and wrist to flex naturally and avoid pronation, especially on the upper frets, so that I am fluid and free from physical stress on my left arm, elbow, wrist, hand and fingers.

And then, a couple of years after that, I had blood clots hit my brain and totally wiped out my fretting ability for awhile. I even had to pencil in the chord tabs on chords on songs I have literally played for decades to remind myself how to play the chords when playing guitar gigs.

After doing my own rehab of my left arm, I was again able to play full gigs without cramping up, and after re-teaching myself to fret after the blood clots, I found ironically that my right hand technique had improved greatly through work to make up for the lack of a good left hand in the meantime, so now overall I am a better player.

More recently, I had to have some dental surgery. I also play tuba in a concert band, and that put me out for a county fair gig this summer. So I called a couple of friends to cover my part, grabbed the flute folder and a glockenspiel, and covered the flute parts for the gig instead until my mouth healed and I could go back to tuba. Where you will, you will find a way to continue making music.

So hang in there. Find, or have made, the right gear for your circumstance, be patient with yourself, and you'll be an even better player in the long run.
 
#11
Take the time to heal, play anyway you can to keep your chops up, bu DO NOT injure your body further. Rehab, workout, therapy, and listen to your orthopedist, they know what will allow you to get back to where you were. You can be whiny and selfish for what you have, but are willing to throw away, or you can look long term at what can be in front of you if you heal properly. I broke my left hand 4 times, healed properly and played professionally for 14 years before waking away, healing is a future, selfishness will end your ability to play. Your choice.
 
#13
iiipopes you must be a bigger die hard than me. I can't imagine going through all those trials and tribulations. Kudos to you man. I would have jumped in my sailboat and gone to Costa Rica by now.
But thanks for the tips

Sad news is I saw the Doc today for one last presurgery talk and now he is saying 6 weeks before I can even take the brace off probably. My wife is a real stickler to listening to doctors and making me do PT so I am sure she will make me stick to the plan and heal up right.
 

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