Bassist talk

[dbsfgyd1]

Flats

I’ve played flats in the 70’s and rounds exclusively round wounds for over years. I’ve had blisters from playing both types. Personally, I think string tension has more to do with it than how the string is wrapped.

However in the final analysis, one’s technique is 100% of the reason bassists get blisters.

 

[KellyC]

I’ve never had to deal with full on blisters, just a little soreness before the callouses took over.
Are you sure you aren’t a drummer?

 

[bolophonic]

In 50 years of playing bass with rounds, I've never had a blister. I think it has to do with technique.

Must be. I have had 10,000 blisters from working, hiking, etc, but I've never gotten one from a bass guitar.

 

[HolmeBass]

Super glue and wait until it has dried on the tip of fingers before playing or you might get stuck in the middle of the first bar of the tune you will start right after having applied it...

Cyanoacrylate is used for wound closure. I had heard, maybe truthfully, that it was developed for/during the US conflict in Vietnam. It is also a general purpose adhesive.

Definitely don’t press on the glue with your other fingers, and don’t do anything with treated finger until the glue has cured. It cures fast. I would put it on before heading out for a gig, to even doing it about 5 minutes before I started playing anything on the bass, so before my line check.

The FDA approved product for medical use is Dermabond, but I’ve always trusted Krazy Glue.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

Wrap cloth bandaids around the distal phalanges of your plucking fingers. This will work with double bass or electric bass.

 

[wysiwyg248]

As Inspector Callahan pointed out, 'A man's got to know his limitations . . . . .'

 

[PhillipHolbrook]

That is hilarious. I'm a Hee Haw fan but I've never seen this before. Thanks for sharing.

 

[E Joe]

They’ll pop up every now and again!
Sometimes, at least in my own case, they’re a result of improper technique, but more often they happen when I have a lot of long gigs in a row.

I like a strong attack and will make a conscious effort to pull harder every so often and I’ll start to blister up again during this process until I get callouses and the pluck feels natural.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

They're part of the deal early on while you're building up the strength/endurance just to play the instrument. BUT - they shouldn't happen often once you have some years under your belt. I rarely got blisters from electric bass UNLESS - I was not able to hear myself and was digging in too hard, I was using heavier gauge stainless steel strings, or the action of the bass was uncomfortable and I was fighting the instrument. On double bass, it's a whole other world of building up calluses and endurance. I got them bad in my first few months - blood blisters even - but after a while it took a bass with (again) super high metal core strings (Spirocores mostly) to bring blisters on. Super high humidity on a gig can also make blisters happen a bit more easily. I eventually settled on synthetic core strings for double bass over the years (Obligatos, Kolstein Heritage, and D'Addario Zyex) and it alleviated a lot of the tendencies to get blisters, for the most part. Light gauges and more flexible core types are a big help.

I have NEVER done the Super Glue trick. It's toxic, and a burst blister is an open wound. It can/will get infected, and putting super glue in there is mainlining toxins into your body. Your best bet is to find as sturdy of a fabric (not plastic) bandage as you can, and wrap it in a way that you can still play even with the bandage on there (seams/wraps on the top part of your finger). Sometimes I even did 2 bandages for extra padding. The bandage will wear out, so have more on hand to replace them on a set break. In severe cases, you may have to take a break while they heal.

Bottom line - find the setup, string type, and amp settings that allow you to play without having to dig in too hard to be heard. Most of the time, that's the root of all blister problems. We're playing music - not in combat. Don't fight the instrument more than you have to.

This is really great post and thank you for posting. I would like suggest that purposefully damaging your body to prevent injury like “ it’s a necessary part of building callous” is not exactly true.

Blisters occur a skin a layer or two below the surface layer. Callouses usually involve the the layer under the first layer. You can irritate the first layer enough to develop a a callous without damaging the second. Although that might hurry things along on the short term, eventually the outer layer above the blister will eventually peal within weeks off and you will be left with toughening up another patch of new skin. JMO from a guy that has spent a life time of dealing with blisters.

 

[pie_man_25]

This. Blisters are just callouses in training.

and we're all compost in training

 

[JazznFunk]

This is really great post and thank you for posting. I would like suggest that purposefully damaging your body to prevent injury like “ it’s a necessary part of building callous” is not exactly true.

Blisters occur a skin a layer or two below the surface layer. Callouses usually involve the the layer under the first layer. You can irritate the first layer enough to develop a a callous without damaging the second. Although that might hurry things along on the short term, eventually the outer layer above the blister will eventually peal within weeks off and you will be left with toughening up another patch of new skin. JMO from a guy that has spent a life time of dealing with blisters.

This!

I'd also add that not everyone gets thick, heavy calluses, even after years or decades of playing. I see that others have mentioned this too. Having calluses of any sort doesn't prevent blisters for sure. It can help cushion and lengthen the time it takes to develop blisters, but if you're abusing the skin of the fingers enough, in the right conditions, blisters will happen.

The worst blisters I've gotten have been well under my well-developed calluses, deep under the skin. The worst of all are blood blisters. I got nasty ones one time from playing an unfamiliar upright bass un-amplified at an outdoor summer jam in very humid, hot conditions. I could barely hear myself and was digging in like crazy to keep up. I had to stop playing for 2 weeks to allow them to heal properly.

At no point has a blister ever developed into a thicker patch of skin than what was already there before it. In fact, a lot of times the scar tissue that fills in the area where the blister was eventually wears away itself.... at least in my experience. Blisters indeed do not turn into calluses.

 

[Honkey tonk]

Soak you fingers in warm salt water

 

[BarfanyShart]

When I got blisters - which was pretty much only after playing impromptu no-amp jams on DB with steel strings - I'd lance the thing on the side I'm not plucking on and just leave the skin. Ideally, the callous should develop enough underneath the dead blister skin while you play, before the dead skin comes off. It hurts and it ain't pretty, but that's the best I came up with.

 

[SkylineFiver]

Low action, lite touch, volume knob.

 

[BarfanyShart]

This!

I'd also add that not everyone gets thick, heavy calluses, even after years or decades of playing. I see that others have mentioned this too. Having calluses of any sort doesn't prevent blisters for sure. It can help cushion and lengthen the time it takes to develop blisters, but if you're abusing the skin of the fingers enough, in the right conditions, blisters will happen.

The worst blisters I've gotten have been well under my well-developed calluses, deep under the skin. The worst of all are blood blisters. I got nasty ones one time from playing an unfamiliar upright bass un-amplified at an outdoor summer jam in very humid, hot conditions. I could barely hear myself and was digging in like crazy to keep up. I had to stop playing for 2 weeks to allow them to heal properly.

At no point has a blister ever developed into a thicker patch of skin than what was already there before it. In fact, a lot of times the scar tissue that fills in the area where the blister was eventually wears away itself.... at least in my experience. Blisters indeed do not turn into calluses.

Yes, the blister removes whatever callus you have developed in that spot, you gotta start from scratch after that blister comes off.

 

[andruca]

I agree with some that regularly playing guitar helps. Still, I've only had blisters a few times, and just in my plucking middle finger. I think the cause is my hands being too dry. It's an advantage when you consider strings, mine last forever. OTOH, friction takes a toll. And for the last 15 years I've played a lot mote with a pick, for stylistic reasons (more into punk/HC/metal). So such situations happened always when practicing a couple 1.5hr fingerstyle intensive set lists for some 3 days straight. Palliative was always to not play bass for the last couple days before the gig.

Best preemptive for me is to lube my right index and middle fingers when im gona be playing fingerstyle for long. Almond oil is my fave oil, but it needs re-applying about every half hour. Now, silicone based lube, even tho' embarrassing to use onstage (unless disguised), is simply AWESOME. I can play for hours, my dry hands are not a problem, and it doesn't ruin strings

 

[bucephylus]

A bizarre thread about a reality for many bass players.

First, another OP, who disappears after the first post. Was this intended as a troll thread? Doesn’t seem like a troll topic.

Second, the references to guitar and violin playing just don’t sync up with my experience; because blistering with bass playing tends to happen on the plucking (right) hand using techniques not common with either guitar or violin. Mainly pizz, but slapping also. Generally NOT a left hand issue.

Blisters, as posted, indicate second degree burns. They form when some area of the skin (our fingers) are exposed to excessive heat. Once the blister forms, the best thing, also as posted, is to keep it drained, and not over expose the area further until the skin beneath can form the callus.

The heat generation occurs when sufficient plucking energy is required to get the bass voice into the mix. In an amplified ensemble, this SHOULD be addressable using the volume knob on the amplifier. But, it is often the case that guitar oriented ensembles will tell the bass player to turn down during sound check, making slotting into the mix more difficult; at which point overplaying occurs.

The upright bass is a monster in this respect. I’ve seen pro Jazz players with massive bunyans on their right index finger, as the result of years of playing. Even after building up considerable callus, it is still possible to burn the area beneath the callus - a particularly annoying wound when it happens, often resulting in loss of the callus.

Playing a lot helps, and is really the only solution.

 

[PrinceByTor]

Another finger exercise I just remembered that also builds callouses is one I learned in a YouTube video with “Buddha” Bill Dickens where he said he’d tightly roll toilet paper up under the strings by the bridge and the 12th fret to get the strings super tight. He would then sit and watch a movie or game on tv whilst playing 8th or 16th notes for 20 minutes per string. I can confirm that his exercise works very well.

Another I think might help is one that martial artists use for hand strength. Get a bucket of packed sand and keep pushing your hand in and out while keeping you hand flat.

Hope that adds to the discussion.

 

[PrinceByTor]

Here’s the video; he starts discussing it at the 28 minute mark. I misremembered some of it; he placed it on the last fret and it was 5 minutes per string. It has been a while since I saw the video, I apologize.

 

[Levent]

Blisters how do we beat them?

You don't beat blisters, you become blisters. Build them into strong calluses over time.