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Nerve Damage - Please help

bassic_camel

bassic_camel

May 15, 2009
30
4
Warrensburg, MO
#1
I have loved bass and bass guitar since I was 12. I spent a great deal of learning jazz, rock, etc basslines, and I felt established and proud. And then, one day, my thumb didn't quite work right. Enter: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
I am not ashamed of all the basslines that I will never learn - my talent only reaches as far as it will. I am simply sad that my disability restricts me more than I would like.

I want to be a good bassist - not a great one. I can move all of the fingers on my right hand except my thumb. Also, I can move my left hand except for my pinkie and my ring finger. I have been a member here for a long time - can anyone help me?
 
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#4
Are you right handed? Your right hand picks strings, and your left frets?
If so, I don't think your right hand is problem, you don't need thumb for typical index and middle finger picking.
But left hand... Index and middle finger are barely enough for fretting, although it can be done (Django guitar style).
I would suggest getting shortscale bass guitar and thinner strings, than practising a little at a time, not to injure your left hand with overstretching.
 
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#5
Given the predilection for sufferers to tear cartilage, ligaments, etc, I think that were I you, I’d be talking to a doctor/physical therapist team as to whether playing anything is a good idea or not. Playing bass (or any stringed instrument) is repetitive and requires a fair amount of muscular effort. Neither of which is particularly good for your hands. My arthritis testifies to that every damn day.

And as I always say: this is not the place for medical advice. Talk to an actual doctor. I’m just some know-nothing jerk on a website.
 
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#8
adjustments and compensations and maybe even inventing 'new techniques' would help to keep you in the game, but i'm solidly behind the advice to seek out resources (medical/otherwise) who can help you to continue to play --- if that's what you want to do. good luck! :thumbsup:
 
#9
Hello everyone, and thanks for the advice. It's actually both thumbs. I am right-handed, and I play right-handed. I have major issues with playing nowadays, but I was once a pretty good jazz dude. I was feeling a bit down so I posted here, and the advice from all you folks made me feel a bit better. I actually picked up ukulele to help pick up the slack, and as a result I'm learning more, and it's helping me be better. I'll probably never feel quite right playing with a pick, but I greatly appreciate the advice, and I want to thank everyone for trying to help me out
 
#10
bassic_camel said:
I have loved bass and bass guitar since I was 12. I spent a great deal of learning jazz, rock, etc basslines, and I felt established and proud. And then, one day, my thumb didn't quite work right. Enter: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
I am not ashamed of all the basslines that I will never learn - my talent only reaches as far as it will. I am simply sad that my disability restricts me more than I would like.

I want to be a good bassist - not a great one. I can move all of the fingers on my right hand except my thumb. Also, I can move my left hand except for my pinkie and my ring finger. I have been a member here for a long time - can anyone help me?
Click to expand...
Hey man I feel you. I was a pro bass player until a stroke 4 years ago. I still practice and I published some vids on stuff I practice to get better at it.

Here is a link for the channel. It might help you.

BASS RECOVERY 101
 
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#11
Hey, I have Ehlers-Danlos III too! My fretting pinky locks up and subluxes constantly, so I have what’s called a “swan neck” splint. It prevents the joint from hyperextending. Both thumbs also collapse at the MCP joint so I have MCP braces for them and that keeps me steady.

Right now ZebraSplints.org is having a 50% off sale so I ordered some splints there, super affordable (like $10-$30 per splint depending). I ordered the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for my pinky and the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

Don’t give up hope! We zebras (people with EDS are called Zebras) just have to find work-arounds, but don’t think you have to give up!
 
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#12
Hey, a fellow zebra. I understand that. Thanks everyone for the support, once again. I still am feeling down, so I decided to try a chance at singing and uke instead of just playing bass for satisfaction. I hope that no one is dissatisfied with that. I have a high tenor voice, scratched from years of singing along with hardcore and east coast punk bands, so I feel at home as an accompanying voaclist instead of the lead part.

Thanks everyone. It made me feel quite a part of the community despite my relative inactive posture here. I won't soon give up on double bass or electric bass, at all, but I always have wished to perform as part of an ensemble and as a featured part of that same ensemble. I just felt super down and sad that I have only select appendages available to make good on that.

I used to play exclusively 6-string basses because I loved the chord availabilty at a low fret count as a result, but now I rejoice that I may be able once again to just play what I want. I won't be Davie504 anytime soon, but who really will?

My love for the low end won't end soon I assure you. I can always play classic rock ballads with only two fretting fingers. I just wanted to be amazing, and I think that I finally have realized that I only will ever be "good enough." That's not a bad thing, just the end of my own dream. I walk with a cane, can't write with my good hand, but I can walk, and I can write, so I can't be all that sad. Many of my friends are just mobile enough to drive and pay with a credit card. I can also write what I want for a tip. So I can't be all that mad.

Thanks once again everyone for supporting me through me difficult, depressed journey. I am trying to be better as a person, not just as a musician, and everyone here is a realist in that way, so thank you once again.
 
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#13
This is not my wheel house (at leas yet anyhow) and I sympathize with you and Chroma_Actual. this kind of thing would put me in the dumps too. I am a gamer as well in my spare time, and type a great deal for my job.

OT

have you tried to lay the bass on your lap like a steel guitar? it would mean some finangling (creativity, not the swindling type) but it may be worth checking into. there was a rather popular bassits on YT that would slap upside down while he was playing.


Disclaimer.. don't do this! this is only to demonstrate! just noting; its different and he has adjusted the "normal" playing style and it works FOR THIS DUDE.

also, for your right hand thumb... does it allow you to mute the upper strings ala 'floating thumb tech' ? that may be another way to work with what you have...
 
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