blisters?

[Goose72]

hey guys, i have some gnarly blisters on both of my index fingers. Does this mean i am fretting and "picking" too hard? i cant get rid of buzzing unless i fret it hard. My bass has been properly set up, so is it just my POS Ibanez GSR200? or is it just a beginner bassist thing?

 

[Dave]

Are they blisters or callouses? Either one is fairly typical of a beginning player. Once your fingers are used to playing, you wont get blisters anymore.

 

[tjh]

dunno without playing the bass, but I have played an Ibanez 190 (I think it was) before and it was impossible to get the action close enough to finger lightly without all kinds of fret buzz ... look on the bright side, great time to be working on alternative fingering and picking with middle and ring finger ... are you by chance using flats on there?? flats burn my fingers up on the fretting hand ...

 

[905]

TBH I've only gotten one blister, that was on my right middle finger.
Been playing since May last year.

my point being:
Check your strings, recheck your set up, and if there's any way to reduce the force needed to get rid of the buzz then I think you should walk this way

talk this way

 

[Goose72]

will a better bass help this problem?(not having to fret as hard)

like say a fender j or p? will it be easier to plau fast because i wont be pushing so hard?

edit: ok, i guess what i am asking is, will the fenders allow me to set my action lower without getting fret buzz? it seems like all of the fenders i have played had really high action, whats up with that?
the guy that did my set up says he sets it as close to factory specs as possible, but i didnt really notice how hard i was having to fret when i played it upon picking it up. there is no buzz when i play open, just when i try to play fast and cant really squeeze on the string.

are there any solutions? i try to fret towards the fret itself, but not on it

 

[Brass Nut]

Lighter, lower tension strings?
I also agree with checking the set-up too.
Being in a small College community, we only have 3 really local shops, 2 of which don't have a clue about set up (or just don't bother to do it right).
Spoke with one of them that did a set up for a friend of mine,, their comment was they have a general set up procedure they follow and feel that most people are better off with a "medium-high action":scowl: .
I've one of their customers coming over this afternoon (During the Bears Game! ) to get me to have a "look-see".
The only way I'll do a set-up is if they watch and learn, so this guy better be bringing beerssssssss for the game!

 

[perfektspace6]

Your getting blisters because your a new player and it takes a little while to get some nice calouses (sp) on you fingers.

This also means that your are probably practicing a lot which is certainly a good thing.

Those baby soft fingertips will be hard as rocks in no time. Just wipe up the blood and keep playing!

Edit: a setup will make your bass easier to play but isn't going to help in the blister department and there is no reason to sacrifice string tension with lighter gauges unless you like the tone it produces. Play your POS Ibanez for awhile before dropping real money on a nicer bass.

 

[fryBASS]

funny, i just got a blister the other day from plucking too hard because I was playing thru an amp that was too quiet

Luckily, that finger is already caloused so it went away pretty fast

 

[buliwyfff]

I only got blisters when I started popping a lot but now that theyve healed my hands are tough as crap

 

[Lower-Than-Low]

I got em a lot.
Just like every other beginning player.
Now they are callouses and I absolutely love them.

I can go hardcore near the bridge playing fast 16ths and its all good. Just keep playing and they will turn into a bassists best friends (IMO) callouses.

Sorry if I needlessly repeated anything, I'm too lazy to read the entire thread

 

[scottice]

Turn up your volume?

 

[the_fonz]

don't worry about it, it's natural and happens to everybody. except hitler, but you don't wanna be like him.