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Deformed middle finger advice

Orion Kerensky

Orion Kerensky

Guest
Nov 30, 2015
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#1
So I have a middle finger that was chopped off as a kid on my plucking hand. The corrective surgery has created a nail that looks like a snail shell over the top of my finger tip. Naturally, this doesn't work well for plucking, as it tends to chip at the string like a pick and sounds inconsistent. I can't clip it any further due to the way its healed.

Any pointers on getting around this? I tried to find tip covers but haven't seen anything that really caught my eye. The other option I was looking for was lesson on plucking without the use of the middle finger, and without the use of a pick. I don't, in any way, like the sound of pick plucking.

Thanks in advance!
 
#4
Hmm I like how creative that style is, and might have to consider that with my index. The problem with my middle, and trying to do this with my middle finger, is the nail is more of a curved ice cream cone then it is a pick.
 
#5
You can try felt picks they sound different than hard plastic ones.
You can learn the Wooten double thumb technique.
You can do what amputees do.

Really man there is no way to play bass wrong. Any technique is gonna take a million hours to master. Try a few.

BTW i also had my middle fingertip reattached also(fret hand). My fretting technique changed to accommodate. Just takes practice.

Good luck and have fun!
 
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#7
Orion Kerensky said:
That amputee video made my issue seem extremely pathetic and small....
Click to expand...
There is no end of technique discussion here and elsewhere. It is important.
Having said that lots of pros do things "wrong" and still sound great. What is important, is what you can do that is comfortable for you and sounds good to you.
Don't get hung up in exacting someone else's solution.
Your technique might end up being the YouTube video that makes someone else seem extremely pathetic and small.:thumbsup:
 
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#8
Yeah, do what works. Each time you learn a new part your technique will adapt to accommodate it.

Thumbing (double or single), Geddy's thing (which I recently started messing with a bit myself),
Mike Watt's "flipper" (using the index and middle fingers together like a giant flatpick), any of these things can be used, combined or adapted.

You can also try resting your thumb at the base of the fingerboard and sweeping your fingers back toward the bridge the way upright players do so that you're playing more with the fleshy sides of your fingers and less with the ends of them. You'll see Tony Levin play that way sometimes.

Just keep trying things and adapting.
 
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#9
That happened to me as a kid - same finger, same hand. I have been going index, ring fingers for over 20 years now. I remember asking my mom if I could have the nail removed when it started growing like that, but no that didn't happen. I did consider the Tony Iommi route with rubbers, but the finger was too tender at the time. I am pleased to report, last year I've started to use "stubby" as a picking finger and love the flat pick sound - it's a whole new world now!

-good luck!
 
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#10
I really appreciate all the replied. I've been messing around with just my index finger only, and find it oddly comfortable, even on fast strums.

Ill start seeing if first and ring finger work for me.

EDIT: I'd have to again, say thanks guys. I posted the same thing on a different online community, and it got down voted and I got some pretty toxic answers. I'm staying on here for all my Bass needs exclusively.
 
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#11
I am missing the middle finger of my plucking hand (left in my case). I use index, pinky and thumb.
If you have your ring finger you could utilize that too.
If this is just a matter of using you middle finger but damping the sound of your fingernail you might be able to put together something like Tony Iommi uses to cover his amputated fingertips on his fretting hand. He made his own and you might have to do something similar.
 
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#12
The bass is one of the most adaptable instruments for the user. There is no "right" way to play. There have been numerous examples of players here on TB that have taken injuries and birth defects and turned them into a positive. Try a thumb/ forefinger combo, I often use it like flamenco guitar players do and you can work out some interesting patterns. Good luck and keep plugging away.

PS Tony Iomni uses pieces of a leather jacket that he's been cutting up since the '60's. Imagine, one English leather jacket being responsible for a whole genre of music.
 
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#13
Experiment with different techniques, people like Geddy Lee, and Tony Iommi have unique, and even amazing sound, and both have a style that won't be found in a textbook. Either of those guys could most likely play any style of music, and sound great doing it. I spent a weekend once, in the mountains in Northern N.Y., there was a band playing rock covers at a local bar, they were very good, the bass player had only an index finger on his left fretboard hand, he was not only good, considering the handicap, he was just plain good (a lot of right hand fingerboard tapping), he played quite a few different bar chords, ones I'd never heard. There's nothing in your way, if you want to play bass.
 
#16
Tony's been mentioned a couple times. I'd read or watch stuff about him and use him as an inspiration if you don't know what happened to him.
Django was his inspiration.

Sometimes I feel I struggle cause my fretting pinky is small. That's really nothing compared to people that are missing digits. But like jjmuck mentioned above... the bass is about how YOU play it.

So just play and have fun. I salute you my soul brotha.
 
#18
Two things come to mind:

*Office supply stores may still stock thumb and rubber finger caps which cashiers use while counting paper currency. Here's an example: OfficeMax Rubber Finger Tips Size 14 Box Of 12 by Office Depot & OfficeMax

*Sting uses a thumb and forefinger technique which, to my eyes, conserves energy and covers a lot of territory. Watch this video and, yes, I like the tune:



Riis
 
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