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Worst injury received while playing bass

#41
I've injured myself loading in and out as well as other mishaps in the set up fandango but only once was almost injured playing bass, luckily the bullet missed.....

I was playing bass for a rough and tumble blues and boogie band, how rough - well the drummer arrived on his hog with the drums in a trailer attached. We played dives and honky tonk beer joints but the $$ was righteous. I was the little guy at 6' 375 lbs the other members were all 6'6"+. Anyhoo we were playing one evening when some gun play happened in the parking lot between several parties. When the DPS troopers arrived to investigate one officer pointed out a bullet hole in the wall that was smack dab in between where the drummer and I had moments before been doing our duties.

Many years earlier I was shocked pretty seriously and had amnesia for 3 or 4 days. That story is in a chapter in my book about a tour with many unusual and humorous moments. Eg. the drummer only ate Chicken Fried Steak for every meal and kept a diary about it.
 
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#42
mrcbass said:
For me, it's just OG stuff: sore feet and legs, cramps and trigger finger occur after/during every gig.
Click to expand...

Dude, both of these.

Cramps: I used to be stressed out of my mind on stage and would squeeze the fretboard for dear life. My (left) fretboard arm would cramp to the point that my finger/s would lock to the fretboard. Ah, youth. I have since learned the value of a softer touch, even when I can't hear myself. Also, hydration.

Trigger Finger: I evenutally had surgery for the trigger finger in my (right) plucking hand. Life changing. It was extremely disconcerting when my middle finger just... stuck there.
 
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#43
Fortunately, even though I've also spent time in punk bands(with some big pits in front of us) the worst I can recall was I had the imprint of the grill from an SM58 embedded in my face, after some stage diver fell hard into my mic stand. Amazing I don't have any sign of it now, cause it was there for a while. I've had one tooth that's been a little weird ever since though...
 
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#44
I sliced my finger on the bridge a few years back. Didn't hurt much, but did it's fair share of bleeding!

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#45
Never anything playing the bass, but in marching band playing trumpet when the idiot trombone player in front of me decides to stop walking for no reason. I remember blood comming out my bell after the parade but it was 40 degrees (cold). Poor flute player's fingers sticking out of cut off gloves were red and she was crying. Stupid santa clause parades.
 
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#49
Nasty blisters, a little blood, a very tightly-knotted shoulder muscle, and some tendonitis in my elbow. Most of that from playing upright, which is by far the more physical instrument. The nearly unbearably tight shoulder came from a solid Walnut 5 string I used to have. I eventually moved to lighter basses after that incident and haven't had a problem since.
 
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#50
1992, my old progressive metal band was opening for guitarist Vinnie Moore at a club called The Class, in Newburgh, NY. I somehow tore my acl jumping off stage and running through the crowd. I think it had been injured the previous day and was hanging by a thread... In any case, I had to hop back to the stage and finish the song sitting on the edge of the stage. I ended up staying to watch Vinnie play though, before going to the emergency room :)

still have the flyer :)
 
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#51
stigbeve said:
What was the incident?
Click to expand...

A click track that was too loud during a recording session made my tinnitus permanent and added hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound). In my life, I have attended ridiculously loud concerts without hearing protection and other stupid things. I have felt my head caving in from the extreme volume of floor monitors. I have been taking very good care of my hearing for a long time, but that click track incident came with a heavy price.

People think hearing damage = a decrease of hearing. They don't realize it comes with tinnitus and / or hyperacusis. That's the real dark side of hearing damage.
 
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#52
i don't recall any injuries, per se, while playing bass, besides blisters, in the beginning.

but, i cut the pad/tip on my L-hand pinky a couple of hours before a gig, once. i went to the ER, got 6 stitches (they gave me extra ones so i could play), and then played the gig. it was a little awkward but doable.

edit: but then there's tinnitus. :)
 
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#54
Crackle said:
A click track that was too loud during a recording session made my tinnitus permanent and added hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound). In my life, I have attended ridiculously loud concerts without hearing protection and other stupid things. I have felt my head caving in from the extreme volume of floor monitors. I have been taking very good care of my hearing for a long time, but that click track incident came with a heavy price.

People think hearing damage = a decrease of hearing. They don't realize it comes with tinnitus and / or hyperacusis. That's the real dark side of hearing damage.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry that is a bad deal. But you are right that annoying metallic ping through headphones could do some damage
 
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#55
micahwc said:
repetitive stress injury in my hand that killed all my music playing for about 4 months. It took over a year for me to be able to bend my finger without tightness or discomfort. If it hurts, stop. You're doing it wrong.

I also have tinnitus but that's from shooting cannons, not playing bass. Use IEMs and ear pro.
Click to expand...
Do i remember correctly? 13 B
 
#56
The worst injury I've ever received (or given myself) was one summer when I was at a family wedding, and some musician friends of my future brother-in-law asked me to play upright bass with them. Now, I was gigging pretty regularly that summer and my callouses were stout. But - I was several beers in, it was hot and humid, and I was playing an unfamiliar bass with strings way higher than I was used to, unamplified. I came away from that half hour jazz jam with the worst, deepest blood blisters I've ever had in my life. I had to take a few weeks off from gigging so they would heal.

My biggest - thankfully unrealized - fear is an upright string breaking while I'm playing and snapping me in the face or otherwise. I've seen what can happen, and it ain't pretty.
 
#58
Crackle said:
A click track that was too loud during a recording session made my tinnitus permanent and added hyperacusis (sensitivity to sound). In my life, I have attended ridiculously loud concerts without hearing protection and other stupid things. I have felt my head caving in from the extreme volume of floor monitors. I have been taking very good care of my hearing for a long time, but that click track incident came with a heavy price.

People think hearing damage = a decrease of hearing. They don't realize it comes with tinnitus and / or hyperacusis. That's the real dark side of hearing damage.
Click to expand...

I have hyperacusis for those types of very specific midrange frequencies too. My hearing is great overall across the board since I've worn plugs in some form or other since I started playing music - and at most shows - but certain things are just painful without earplugs.
 
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#60
JRA said:
but, i cut the pad/tip on my L-hand pinky a couple of hours before a gig, once. i went to the ER, got 6 stitches (they gave me extra ones so i could play), and then played the gig. it was a little awkward but doable.
Click to expand...

I got a last-minute (almost literal) call to fill in on bass with the premier gyspy jazz band in Albuquerque because the bass player had cut his index finger badly that afternoon before the gig and couldn't get it fixed up in time to make the gig. I felt bad for him, but it was fun playing with those guys!
 
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