I was right there with you a decade go. We were getting after it hard. We once did 14 days in a row with a double on one Saturday. We also did three shows on another Saturday...three full four hour shows. We also got crazy and broke the previous record at a club by playing over 4 1/2 hours with no break. (We even ordered a pizza from stage and I ate pizza with my right hand while tapping out a bass line with my left.
)
Here's what worked for me.
1) Your calluses should build up at some point. At that time in my life, if I tapped my plucking fingers on a table it sounded like you were tapping the table with a ball point pen. They still sound kinda plastic to this day. I have no feeling whatsoever in the last 1/4" of my index and middle finger.
2) Brother, trust me here. Get down with a pick. It took me well over 15 years of playing to cave and start learning with a pick. You could probably find posts of mine from years ago here where I blasted picks and pick players. I have seen the light for several reasons. First off, it gives you another weapon to create a different sound (never mind a sound that would kill in your GnR songs just to name one artist). Second, it gives you a safety net. Get a bad cramp in your plucking hand? Grab a pick and work it out when the song is over. Cut your plucking index finger on your wife's bra hook? No biggie. Grab a pick and go to work. Go to a shop and buy every color in the rainbow of picks (cuz their cheap) and use what works for YOU. I use everything from the ones that feel like a plastic quarter to the ones that feel like piece of a milk carton. My mic stand pick holder looks like a bunch of squished Skittles. I grab whatever pick works best for a given song or technique.
I am still primarily a finger player. But I am equally as comfortable with a pick. Anything I can play with my fingers I can play with a pick.
3) Get down with the side of your thumb. If you are playing in a party band your are bound to be breaking off some Motown and ballads. Wanna cop that Jamerson tone? Use the side of your thumb to pluck up by the board. No he didn't do it that way. But was wasn't a regular mortal human either. Wanna cop a fat round upright sound? Same thing. Yes, the side of your thumb will be sore for a little while too. But once it's up to speed, it will give your other fingertips a well-deserved break. Just use the bottom of a pickup as a "tug bar" and anchor point. Then stroke downward with the side of your thumb. I don't mean thumbing like Larry Graham where you drop the hammer on the string. I mean plucking like you do upward with your index finger, only downward with the side of your thumb. This one will won't require nearly the practice that a pick will. In fact, you can implement this technique the next time a ballad is called your very next show. I am currently working on my upstroke as well. No, I don't need Victor Wooten licks. But it does add yet another dimension to it that could prove useful later on. Just like using a pick, you don't have to do it up by the board. It works just as well near the bridge and offer even more tonal variety. I have gotten so sure with it I can do it without even anchoring these days. It almost looks like I'm holding a pick but I'm not.
You get those other techniques up to par and not only will you have half a dozen new tones at your disposal, and a safety net for injuries and pain, but you will give your fingers a break so they probably won't hurt as bad anyway.
Best part? No pills!
Congrats on having lots of work!
