If anybody has the five minutes to take this survey if appreciate it. This is market research for a business class about a potential new product geared towards bass players. The concept is a work glove that is thin enough to play your instrument while still prevent damage to your hand. Any and all feedback is welcome. There are only seven questions. Bass Glove Survey
They use to have these WAY back in the day. You can read about it in Paul Brun's "A History of the Double Bass" (Paul Brun Double Bass History Book Back then they used them (and they didn't work very well) because of the huge gut strings. But.. why would we need gloves? What do you mean "damaging" our hand? Blisters? Need those to build up callouses. I can't think of a reason why we'd need these when there are many good teachers around. Do they somehow prevent carpal tunnel syndrome?
Welcome to TB Mr Dukes. I hope you are successful in your endeavour. Alas, Question #6 cannot be effectively answered, so I couldn't complete the survey. I'll present my responses here. 1. How often do you play your instrument? Often, but lately not often enough. Generally, daily. *2. What do you use to protect your hand while playing? Tape Glove Nothing >Other (please specify)< Good technique, try to keep it dry (semi-tropical here makes that difficult) *3. If applicable, give a brief description of your hand protection of choice. I haven't had a blister in years, and never from straight pizz, but when I first started out and was learning to slap I would sometimes get blisters and use medical tape. *4. What would improve your hand protection experience? More practice, build up the calouses more for those times when it's hot'n'humid and the fingers are sticking to the strings 'causing friction... 5. Please give us any suggestions to make our glove as good as possible. Have many "in-between" sizes, not just S, M, L. There are many different sizes to peoples' hands than that — Don't forget petite ladies, and large long-skinny fingered fellas like me. Durable, but thin, snug but not constricting. A loose-fitting glove finger will just get in the way or get caught on the string when plucking. *6. How willing would you be to purchase such a product at a price point of $30? 1 2 3 4 5 Well, question 6 depends entirely on which end of the scale is what. To be honest, while I don't mind filling out surveys this type of oversight by surveyors is a pet-peeve of mine. Does choosing "1" mean "very willing to buy at $30", or does "1" mean "least willing to purchase a $30 glove". I've seen scales presented in either way, so it's not like there's a standard out there that a small denominator is better than a larger one, or vice versa. Regards, FF
I'm retired now but spent my whole life working with my hands. Boat builder, delivery route driver, copier repair & general handyman. As far as I'm concerned, playing bass is a pretty safe pastime for my hands. My hands are pretty tough already.
That is a fascinating section in Brun's book. However, the bass glove in the survey is for pizz playing. Perhaps the topic starter can update the original post or thread title with this info?
I did the survey, but I can't say I understand the need for this product. My thought for the OP - if this effects tone even in the slightest bit, then it will be a hindrance. We are very particular creatures when it comes to how our hands produce sound, especially on upright bass. I'll stick to bareback!