Washing your hands before playing..

Definitely a good idea. I find it hard to play with grimy fingers.

 

GRIMY!

 

But necessary to bring up.

Yes, wash your hands. Often. And more often than just before you play your bass.

I sound like my mother, but you get sick from your hands more than anything else.

And...personal skin oils on a bass certainly don't do well for keeping finishes impeccable.

 

One of my friends does a lot with his hair. He tends not to wash his hands before playing, and his hair gunk ends up on his maple fingerboards. I don't allow that to happen with my instruments. GHS fast fret has become one of my best friends.

 

And I wash my hands with Dawn, not with those soaps that contain lotion.

 

Yessir; hot water and soap is an excellent way to get the blood flowing.

 

I always wash my hands before I play...it mkaes them feel "faster" on the back of the neck. Also, I sometimes wash them in hot water before I warm up in winter...sometimes, when your hands are numb, a little hot water takes the clungy feeling away before you start the warm up.

 

I can't say that I do it every time. I do occassionally, and it does help. It feels better, I think it sounds better. I remember once in high school, I got to play my teacher's Jazz bass (a NICE American Deluxe with some work put into it) and before I ever touched it, he said "Go wash your hands first. It just came out of the shop and you're the first one to play it yet, so don't get it all shi**y with your filthy hands!". He actually inspected my fingers before he let me play it. That's where I learned the trick, but I never do it
It sounded freakin' beautiful by the way.

 

I've been doing this as well. As its now winter here (big snow yesterday) it tends to get quite cold in my room. I find it extremely inhibiting to play with numb hands, so I often run them under warm water before practicing. Sometimes if your hands are feeling tense, it can also help to just shake them out. Just move your arms wildly and let your fingers flap free (make sure no one's watching ).

 

i ALWAYS wash my hands before i play...

 

haha i'm like OCD about washing my hands before playin

 

never.
I go with the Jaco method.

"Jaco was legendary for coating his fingers with fried chicken grease
before going on stage"

 

Great tip, speshly becoz i get sweaty hands very quickly and when ya don't can make the strings and general feel yuck....

 

i was told to avoid playing after your hands have been wet because it softens the skin and can make layers of the callouses wear off. has anyone heard that?

 

i wash my hands each time i play , rehearsal or gigs, for strings economy...'cause i have pretty wet hands :scowl:
i didn't encounter the dead skin peeling problem, 'cause i wash them very quickly, the skin have no time to peel off

"Sometimes if your hands are feeling tense, it can also help to just shake them out. Just move your arms wildly and let your fingers flap free (make sure no one's watching )." :

i do that all the time, blood comes quick in hands...
and also a variety of fingers stretching exercises and massages

but i still have a problem: no matter how hard i prepare my hands before the show, i feel really hot and "in" my playing after the third or fourth song

do you encounter this problem ?

 

One thing I do is washing but with cold water.

The normal swelling of the hand due to body heat and/or activity is reduced by using cold water.
People say I am washing hand freak. Fine, I am the one who is less sick in winter and it feels great when playing music.
I even was my hands a couple of time during rehearsals and practice at home (yes, I know at this point you can call me freak -but remember "le Freak, c'est chic!")

 

It's been fairly cold out, and I read this thread and made a habbit of not only washing my hands but washing them with hot water. This helps out a LOT and takes tons of time off my warm-up. I can basically jump right in and start playing as if I've been playing for an hour. The cold weather just prevents that otherwise.