Double Bass Rosin on pizz fingers???

[Don Hergert]

I just had an interesting experience.

I used the rubbing alcohol method to soften my Pop's rosin last night, successfully softening my rosin. Just now while practicing arco I found the rosin a little too soft to apply directly to the bow (I didn't want gobs of it on my bow hair). So after washing my hands I carefully directly applied some rosin to my right index finger and then very carefully applied it to my bow. This all worked very nicely and the arco practice went very well...

It all worked very nicely except there was still some sticky rosin on my right index finger as I continued practicing pizz. In fact there is still enough sticky rosin on my index finger that it noticeably grabs the strings much better, creating excellent volume with very little pressure.

This makes me wonder if I should apply rosin to my fingers on a regular basis...

Did I just run into something new or is this normal practice for pizz players?

 

[BD Jones]

Actually, I know several classical DB players who use rosin on their fingers when they know they will have a lot of heavy pizz parts. They don't use Pops, but rather cello rosin. A couple also tell me it helps to grip the bow a little better.

 

[jasonrp]

I've noticed this too when I overdid the alcohol rosin trick. It worked nicely and I think it'd be a help for slapping except for the fact that I cant stand sticky stuff.... Like really bad.... you could rob me with a wet lollipop. Just swing it near me and I'd throw my wallet at you and run away screaming.

 

[Don Hergert]

Hmmm, we'll have to remember that...



The rosin is pretty pernicious. It took a few hours for my finger to feel normal. But the strings sure sounded good!

 

[Don Hergert]

Ok, I just did an intentional test of this...

A little background:

• For pizz, most of the time I play with my right hand in a slap position over the lower fingerboard, using three fingers in somewhat of a claw shape, grabbing the string with the fingers and if desired, palming a light slap on the E string and then potentially adding a tap with the fingertips on the fingerboard just before grabbing the next string.

• I'm using Superior Bassworks Deluxe Dirty Gut strings, which I really love the feel of. For pizz the A and E strings are normally acoustically a little quiet (muddy), but when plugged in direct they pick up very evenly and clearly and are a great match with the G and D strings (which are really pretty respectable sounding). But interestingly these strings are excellent acoustically for arco, the A and E strings sound loudly and clearly and match the G and D strings very nicely.

• My bass is an Alcoa aluminum bass that has been rescued/restored, powder-coated and fitted with a Deuce1 bridge, a custom Deuce tailpiece and Vic's Pickups Model C piezos. It's got a driver-side trap door and inside it has acoustic baffling material painted onto the back and a custom Virzi-like sound post/platform supporting the bass's repaired top. So it's been hot-rodded pretty much.

• With the current strings and setup, most of the time with light to medium pizz touch this bass acoustically sounds pretty woody and normal. But with a very heavy touch it can sound boomy and somewhat metallic. My touch is pretty light so it works out very well for me with the music I like to play. With arco, although my bowing is amateurish and nowhere near perfected, the tone is very nice, a woody, normal bass sound.

• It's worth mentioning that at this time my Pop's rosin is pretty sticky from the rubbing alcohol treatment; it is still a little too sticky to directly apply to my bowhairs. It sticks and adheres to just about anything it touches, including my fingertips. *** The rosin does come off fingers and other solid items with rubbing alcohol though!!! *** (JasonP's wet lollipop description comes to mind.)

Sooo, over the last hour, I rosined up my three fingertips and went to work practicing pizz... There were noticeable differences:

1. Everything is louder, loud enough that I had to intentionally adjust my playing to meet my comfort level with the volume and with the metallic tone that this Alcoa bass can produce. I can easily play a lot louder with approximately the same comfortable pressure that I'm used to using when playing without rosin on my fingers.
   
2. The A and E strings are loud and clear acoustically, much more clear and easy to hear the note accurately than without rosin on the fingertips. This is a big difference, it's really like a different bass in this regard.
3. The G and D strings easily overpower my desire for a normal woody tone. I have to be careful with my touch while playing to moderate that; it can be done but it takes takes some thought at this time.
4. When it's this soft, rosin can get all over the strings, fingerboard and really anywhere else it touches... I really like clean instruments, so I have to be pretty careful not to make a mess with the rosin.
5. I'm left wondering if I should start always playing with rosin on my fingers... The difference is really noticeable and honestly makes it much easier to play.
6. In thinking about it, I wouldn't consider playing arco without rosin, so why not use it with fingertips for pizz?

I really hope this helps someone else out there with pizz... Especially if you're using synthetic strings, rosin on the fingers might make a big difference in your volume and lower string clarity.

Other thoughts and wisdom about this are more than welcomed!

 

[turf3]

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Blister City!!

I go exactly the opposite. I prefer to lubricate slightly my pizz fingers (usually just a swipe along the side of my nose, or some Chapstick).

 

[Don Hergert]

Good thought... I only played with rosin on fingertips for about an hour, and the SBW Deluxe strings are low tension synthetics. But it's too easy to think calluses last forever. Thanks!

[Edit:] Just a day-after note. I took a moment yesterday to demonstrate the difference with rosin on my fingertips to my son, who is a good BG player... He noticed the difference right away. We both agreed, probably the best way of describing the sound difference is in the "attack" of the note...

I'm still weighing the benefits vs the side effects. I do have to say, there was more of a rosin mess than I had anticipated. While rubbing alcohol does cut the rosin, it takes a while to clean up and the bigger gobs of rosin don't come off easily, plus there are some things on a bass that might not do well with being cleaned with rubbing alcohol.

And one other note before I leave for my day job... Rosin doesn't stay soft for very long after the rubbing alcohol treatment... Yesterday when I showed my son what was going on, I noticed immediately that it was hard to find an area of the rosin that was still soft, that being the 3rd day after the treatment. By the time I get home from work today, I anticipate that it will be pretty hard again. So the practicality of applying rosin to the fingers may be related to how often a person wants to do the rubbing alcohol treatment.

 

[longfinger]

Yuck!
My pizzicato area is a strict rosin free zone. ;-) Rosin on the fingers, with metal wound strings, sounds like a plan to strip the skin off. Bye-bye skin, hello blisters, blood and pain.

 

[gnypp45]

I cant stand sticky stuff.... Like really bad.... you could rob me with a wet lollipop.

 

[Simon Toth]

Haha! When I was this thread I instantly had a throwback to my primary school days...
I put rosin dust on my fingers so I have a little more brightness (on a 1/2 sized bass actually). I don't do this now, I have calluses It works, give it a try!

 

[gerry grable]

Yuck!
My pizzicato area is a strict rosin free zone. ;-) Rosin on the fingers, with metal wound strings, sounds like a plan to strip the skin off. Bye-bye skin, hello blisters, blood and pain.

I don't understand the problems so many have with blisters. I haven't had one since I was in my twenties, just starting. Maybe I'm just lucky? Perhaps they have to suck it up and play more?
When I touch the tips of my little fingers together for comparison, my left hand finger is nearly twice the size of my right hand pinkie.

 

[longfinger]

I don't understand the problems so many have with blisters. I haven't had one since I was in my twenties, just starting. Maybe I'm just lucky? Perhaps they have to suck it up and play more?
When I touch the tips of my little fingers together for comparison, my left hand finger is nearly twice the size of my right hand pinkie.

I don't get blisters anymore either. In part because the pizzicato area is a rosin free zone. ;-) Haha.

 

[Don Hergert]

I've not tried the rosin on the fingers again, mostly because it took me about two weeks to get it off of everything else that I inadvertently touched with the rosin coated fingers... It was more of a mess than I realized.

That said, I didn't suffer any blisters with rosin on the fingers and I did play relatively hard for a couple of hours after the original test. I'm guessing that the lack of blisters is probably because I'm using synthetic gut-like strings AND because with rosin on the fingers you don't have to play so hard to get notes out. The attack-quality of the note was changed, and I liked the difference, but I don't consider it worth the mess.

What I have been doing lately is doing my pizz work at the end of the fingerboard (closer to the bridge), where the strings are all clearer and louder, even the E. In contrast, arco is fine for all of the strings.

 

[gerry grable]

I don't get blisters anymore either. In part because the pizzicato area is a rosin free zone. ;-) Haha.

I just can't stand sticky fingers. I sometimes rub my finger tips in my ear or on the side of my nose for the lubrication.

 

[bluefizz]

I’ve never heard of the Pops trick or putting rosin on your fingers. Pretty interesting. I use Kolstein rosin and try not to get any on my fingers. I usually play with the sides of my fingers (Ray brown single, Ron Carter two fingers) or my finger tips for faster things down near the end of the finger board. I went through the blister stage a long time ago and they healed and hasn’t hurt since. What would be the benefits of putting rosin on the fingers? Is it a gut/slap thing?

 

[Don Hergert]

Well, just like on a bow, rosin on fingertips makes the attack more aggressive. So rosin increases the volume and clarity of the pizz strokes. In my case, it also really helped bring out the E and A strings too. (I'm using SBW Deluxe strings.)

There are probably some situations where this sound difference is not appropriate. And, once you get this softened rosin on your fingers it doesn't come off easily except where you don't want it to be.

 

[gnypp45]

I sometimes rub my finger tips in my nose for the lubrication.

Mmkay.

Another option is the eyebrows. Surprisingly oily.

 

[turf3]

Old hippie backpackers (like me) know that what causes blisters is friction. Reduce friction and you reduce the chance of blisters. Rosin increases friction. Not what you want on your pizzing fingers. When I start to feel a hot spot developing, I add lubrication (either skin oil, or some Chapstick (since I always carry it)).