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CALLOUSES

gjooro

gjooro

Mar 27, 2006
671
32
Croatia
#1
Every bass player have callouses so I do. They are formed after playing bass for some time.
Sometimes when I play longer or play hard(Especially pull-offs) my left hand fingertips hurt even though i have hard callauses.
So does anybody have any suggestions how to help your fingertips to heal faster?
:bassist: :bassist: :bassist:
 
#4
i dunno if this is good for your fingers....but i've been brought into a compitition among guitar players before. there were 10 of us (bass and guitar) and a space heater. Whoever could keep the tips of his fingers on the heater the longest won 10 bucks. and of course..i won, being a bass player..my right hand finger calouses helping me.......the next couple days i noticed that the tips of my fingers were much harder and it was easier to play bass
 
#6
I get callouses only when I play guitar - and it's been years since I played regularly. But almost never by playing bass - which I do play regularly...

Those skinny guitar strings have a way of really digging into one's fingertips, but not so with the bass. So my fingers are virtually callous-free...

MM
 
#9
When I swithced from guitar to bass, the first thing I noticed was that the callouses are in different places. For guitar they're more in the tips of the fingers. Callouses come from playing time, but playing until you do damage (blisters) is counter-productive. Play 'til it hurts, but then give your fingers a break and a chance to heal. If they hurt during a gig, suck it up and heal another day.
 
#10
Unless my definition of 'callous' is wrong...

I greatly-avoid what I've considered to be callouses! I work ointment into my finger-tips every day! Lately it's been 'Aquaphor' brand (my wife suggested it), but for years before it's been a Mary Kay product - I can't remember the full name, but it's "night"-something; it looks like orange axle grease.

As far as I understand, a 'callous' is like 'hard skin' or 'thick skin'; like a skin-thig! The skin on my finger tips is pretty-much baby-soft, but the tissue behind it is tough like tire rubber or something. ..Now for the first year-or-two of playing bass I got definate callouses - like the kind that would show-up on a finger print; now-days I pluck with much-more refinement and finesse (I'd like to think!), and if I had callouses like that NOW, I'm sure it would screw-up my playing a little.

The only place I have what I'd consider a 'true callous' is on my thumping-thumb. This makes sense, as I haven't been thumping that much (working on it, but still most of the band-songs that I play and practice are finger-funk style).

Is my definition wrong? Is soft skin with uh.. 'hard meat'... (well - you know what I mean) considered a "callous"?

Joe
 
#11
Callouses I've noticed will wear off and then you will have tougher skin to play, but it won't be hard and dry. But still slightly "soft"

This IMO is ideal. Keep in mind that everybody's body/ skin type are different.
 
#12
I always had callouses since I worked in carpentry even before I started the bass and all the work I had to do, digging, hammering and sanding under my father in his business built them up big time, so when I started when I was 10 I didn't have to form any.

To help them heal, I've never had that problem, mine tend to peel back and I usually just pick the dead skin off and they feel like nothing happened, even on the plucking hand since I can't feel my left hand.
 
#13
I've been playing for awhile but really don't have any outstanding callouses. I would shy away from trying to burn or superglue your fingers. I'm no doctor but it certainly sounds like something could go awry. +1 on play more. Try turning up your amp and playing more lightly if you find yourself hurting.
 

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