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Worst injury received while playing bass

#21
When I was a kid...I was hit in the back of the head with a beer bottle. Angry boyfriend came up to me during break and told me to stop staring at his girlfriend. Told him there was no way I'd be checking her out.... and pointed out the good looking one that was behind her. He took offense... the good news... I had a hard head. The bad news for him... the old mic stand bases are made of cast iron.

Admittedly it's tough to start a break after a couple songs due to the cops wanting to question you.
The band wasn't too happy about getting told we wouldn't be hired back. but I learned... sm58s can probably take a beating better than me.

I'm glad (and lucky)I'm older... and wiser.
 
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#28
Crackle said:
I don't have any specific onstage injuries. But I can tell you from first hand experience that "cold sparks" have a pretty good sting to them. If they list up to 60 degrees Celsius on the specs, that's 140 degrees Farenheit.

In the late 1990s, I had tendinitis that stopped me from playing bass altogether. It took two years to recover and even then I had to stop if it flared up. Whether the tendinitis was caused by bass playing or typing or a combination of both, who knows?

I also have chronic tinnitus and hyperacusis, which I guess is the price I pay for what I do. One stupid incident made it permanent.
Click to expand...

What was the incident?
 
#30
Not a gig injury, but I did play a very important gig the night after a very young, impetuous, misguided, stupid, and angry Thud punched a sizable hole in some drywall. In my defense, it was in supreme frustration, and consciously to avoid the blow being aimed at an actual person...

Heavily bandaged right hand, swelling, and pain....and a set list with a lot of slap parts, and tricky fingerstyle triplets.
Gig was a triumph, but my hand paid a heavy price. I still have a noticeable slope where my right pinky knuckle should be.
And yes, my anger issues were tamed. I just do 'curmudgeon' these days.
 
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#34
ThudThudThud said:
Antidepressants can cause tinnitus, which in turn can cause depression. Circular!
Click to expand...
Running vibrating tools started mine. An air scaler for five minutes backing out a frozen set screw took two cortisone shots (useless) and 18 months. Early this year cutting flooring with a Fein Tool for just five minutes and four months later, i cant grip a coffee cup. Fortunately, its my right arm, doesn’t affect my playing much, although i am convinced the condition has its genesis in playing. There are times im just sitting there, relaxed, and suddenly for no reason it feels like ive got a hot poker stabbing my elbow.
 
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#35
lol i tore my acl on stage in 2007. literally 30 seconds into the set, played the whole set somehow and had to have a friend drive me home. woke up the next morning with my knee swollen as hell so i had to spend the rest of the day in the hospital lol.
it was my 17th birthday so that sucked extra hard :roflmao:
 
#36
Years ago my guitarist was not paying attention on a VERY small stage and decided to do a headbob with a yank on the headstock...well he caught me right in the neck and of course he never would cut his strings and one poked me right in the temple...that hurt. The next practice I cut EVERY extra bit of string from each tuner.
 
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#37
Carl Hillman said:
Ear damage from years of loud drummers, guitar players, trumpeters, stage monitors, etc....

Paying for it now with tinnitus.
Click to expand...
Can I bill CBS for tinnitus from all the F#ckin' silverface Fender Twins guitarists in bands used over the years?

I didn't get injured, but at the sole gig a band of mine did in Chicago in the '90s -
It was a house party and while we were playing some people leaned against the railing of a 2nd or 3rd floor porch.
The railing collapsed and several people fell to the alley below. One girl's liver was ruptured and her face was really badly scarred. It was such a weird night - the power to the whole place went down at one point, but a plastic statue of the Virgin Mary (that was NOT battery powered) stayed on the whole time.
 
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#38
I don't think I've been injured while performing, however I did cut my right-hand index finger that day of a show pretty bad, roughly 30 years ago. I was customizing an auto radio faceplate with my Leatherman (ugh, dumb youth) and gashed it to the tune of 8 stitches. I play fingerstyle. The doc said that as long as the stitches held it would be ok. I played the show. Finger went numb after 2 songs, everything was fine. Here's the scar:

IMG_1380.jpg
 
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