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Fingers NOT hurting after playing for a long time

Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up :( ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong :( Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?
I think this is much more common with guitar because of the 1st and 2nd strings which are unwound. Also, beginners tend to not know how to do a proper setup or consider getting one done for them, so the action is often too high which means more pressure on the strings to contact the frets. Good luck. If you don't have pain when you play, you are doing something right. Don't modify things to put yourself in pain when you play.
 
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I think this is much more common with guitar because of the 1st and 2nd strings which are unwound. Also, beginners tend to not know how to do a proper setup or consider getting one done for them, so the action is often too high which means more pressure on the strings to contact the frets. Good luck. If you don't have pain when you play, you are doing something right. Don't modify things to put yourself in pain when you play.

You can cite all the reasons you like, but the bottom line is that if you play enough, you get calluses.
 
If you don't have pain when you play, you are doing something right. Don't modify things to put yourself in pain when you play.

I don't think your conjecture makes sense, but please go on.

What does it feel like to form a callus at your fingertip? It's not comfortable as a rule, but that's how calluses work.

No pain in this case = no gain, and it sure sounds like you've a no pain approach to the instrument. I hope that's clear enough, and Merry Christmas! :thumbsup:
 
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What does it feel like to form a callus at your fingertip? It's not comfortable as a rule, but that's how calluses work.

No pain in this case = no gain, and it sure sounds like you've a no pain approach to the instrument. I hope that's clear enough, and Merry Christmas! :thumbsup:
The only calluses I have are across the metacarpal heads on my palm from routine yard and house labor. They are not painful and getting them was not painful. When I started playing guitar around 20 years ago, I had a Slammer by Hamer knock off Stratocaster with action about 1cm. Playing that was painful at first on my fingertips because of the poor setup and the unwound heavier gauge strings. Playing bass guitar has never been painful for me, other than hand or forearm cramps from practicing in the 5-6 hour time frame. No pain = No pain and Practice = Gains in my case. Again, you are welcome to your own technique, the same as I am.
 
I've always developed callouses when I play quite a bit. I wouldn't consider them heavy or thick, like feet callouses, but they are there from playing. I especially notice one in my pinky, where I have a very small but consistent spot that comes in contact with the string on my fretting hand. As I stated my fretting hand never gets sore, but my finger tips on my plucking hand do as I dig in hard to produce certain tones out of my rounds. The callouses feel the same on both hands though.
 
I HAMMER the strings and after 37 years, I still, once in awhile, get my fingers to the point where they are raw and hurting after several hours of intense playing.... and I have some major callouses. The tip of my right index finger and the bottom of my left index finger and left pinky are hurting today....to the point where I have to wait a couple of days to play again.
I remember early on, in 1984, my band got a three nighter at the local teen club...after the first night I played so hard that I gave myself a nice blood blister directly on the bottom part of my right index finger. At that point, air hurt it as it blew by. It was severe. I had to use a pick for the last two nights. That is the only time something like that ever happened.
 
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My worst callus is on my pinkie too. I also get splits and gouges (partly from carpentry) which I have to krazy glue. I can (and do) play soft, but I'll also dig into my rotos deep depending what is called for. But...not getting callused isn't anything to worry about.
 
I don't know why, but earlier in my bass playing career my fingers were VERY calloused on both hands. For whatever reason, as time went on they became less so. The pads of my fingers on mky plucking hand are a little thicker than the others but not really calloused anymore. I end up a little sore at the end of a whole night of playing, but that's about it. It probably has to do with how hard one is plucking, as others have said.
 
Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up :( ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong :( Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?


If you have a light touch and a low action you probably won't get any callouses.

I've got a light touch, but I also like to dig in and get aggressive, so as a result I've got some callouses.

As for sore fingers, never really had that, but I do get cramps in my fingers that result in me having to stop playing for a couple of seconds.
 
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Yeah, this probably sounds weird. Every beginner seems to be talking about having sore fingers when starting playing. I am about a month in and I feel NOTHING. My fingers are not hurting (nor toughening up :( ) even after long bass sessions. I feel like I'm doing something wrong :( Can anyone tell me why this is the way it is?

If you really can't feel "anything" you have a medical condition that needs attention. If you mean no discomfort, there is Nothing wrong. Keep playing. When you can play (8) 45 minutes sets in a 24 hour period for a week without discomfort, odds are you forgot to put strings on your bass.
 
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