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Bass or my hands

#2
woody357 said:
I have problem when playing in hot humid weather. My bass or my hands get sticky. Does anyone else have this problem, and if so what helps
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If the neck of your bass is finished (glossy) - sand off the finish and oil/wax it. You get a smooth great feeling neck that is way less sticky.

This is how most Stingray necks are finished, and all of my basses that don’t have painted necks I do this to.
 
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#4
When I do outdoor gigs here in Florida, I use a glove I bought on Amazon last year. It's been surprisingly great. I always thought it was a gimmick for SBL wannabees, but it actually helps a great deal.

 
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#8
Possibly both.

My Ric 4001 has a gloss finished neck and it pretty much always seems sticky. It's worse than most. My Yamaha TRB6P also has a gloss finished neck, but it doesn't seem to have the problem. My Modulus Genesis 5 has a satin finished neck. Even better than the Yamaha....but for me the Yamaha is fine.

I have found that Softsoap (brand) seems to work really well for me. If I wash my hands with pretty much anything else, it seems to leave some sort of residue that feels sticky when I play. Perhaps Softsoap has something in it the helps mitigate the problem. I usually wash my hands with Softsoap before picking up a bass (I am retired though).

The type of hand soap you find in public dispenser makes my hands sticky :vomit:.
 
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#9
I’ll be playing my Fender Elite it doesn’t have a glossy finish. Someone once suggested I use lotion. The weather will be in the 90s this weekend, and some of my lines have quick runs. Make for a long night with sticky fingers
 
#13
Throw some Dude Wipes or Butt Wipes or whatever you wanna call 'em in your case, and wipe your hands as needed. Alternatively I usually have a small hand sanitizer bottle w/rubbing alcohol in it in my case (some of those Covid habits stick around for us germaphobes). A little of that and wipe with a bandana and you're good for a while at least.
 
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#15
I live in Japan, it is so hot and humid it's difficult to even live (for me anyway, a Brit).

If your hands stick to other things - then it's your hands.

If your hands only stick to your bass - then it's your bass.

My Fender ultra ii doesn't have this problem, but my Rickenbaker 4003 really does! Never bothered me too much but definitely notice it!
 
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#17
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#19
Bert’s bees wax makes a good talcum powder and it works great. Seriously. It also works great on a certain area of my body. It’s where the sun don’t shine. The Stones put out an album years ago referring to the same thing.
 
#20
Had this issue last Sunday. Super hot and humid. Fingers sticking to strings. Turbo fans provided by the club, one pointed straight at me. I found it was absolutely perfect to dry my fingers as I played. Unfortunately, I sing a lot, and found I had to decide between the lesser of two evils:
sticky fingers or dry throat.
Always a catch...
 

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