General Music Chat

Ok, I been playing Bass a good while now, and I remember that when I first started, my fretting finger gave me some grief, buy they soon toughened up and quit hurting. Guitar on the other hand uses the very tips of my fingers, so it was like just completely starting over. Its been about 7 weeks now, and although my fingertips are becoming quite thick & calloused, they still hurt like crazy. Is it ever going to stop? I have tried to play at least 3-4 hours daily, but not all at 1 sitting. is this too much?

Koy Carson
West Texas

**60th Anniversary American Strat
**Carvin AC175 Thinline Acoustic
**Ibanez EW20ZW Electric/Acoustic
**Arbor AJ145CR Jazz
**Peavey Ecoustic 112 Amp
**Peavey Artist 240 Vintage Tube Amp
**Fender Marcus Miller 5 String Bass
**Fender Geddy Lee Signature Bass
**Warwick Corvette 4 string Bass
**Tradition Fretless Bass
**Takamine Hollow body Bass
**Ampeg BA115HP Combo Amp
**Ampeg B2R Amp Half Stack

http://www.myspace.com/k5koy


The "PickKeeper" The ORIGINAL Guitar Accessory
http://www.waxpatterns.com/customguitarpick.htm

If you are still having pain or soreness in your fingertips after a month of regular (daily) playing, then something is wrong.

Try using a lighter guage string. most prefer 10's.

If you are using them or lighter ones, try notching down the practice a little. maybe every other day.

Outside of fingers, going from zero to 3 hours every day will almost guarantee a moderate case of carpal tunnel 6 months from now.

Being as your from Texas I will post this bit of info once again.
Dit Da Jow
It is a Chinese herbal liniment for the healing of bruses.
Any traditional Chinese Martial arts school worth their salt will have some available. The Iron palm liniment may even be better.
You simply dip the tips of your fingers in it and allow it to dry after each practice. Dont wash it of for at least an hour. To sleep with it on is even better.
I also have found that when not playing to drum my fingers on a hard surface such as wood also will assist in developing the needed connective tissue. And desensatise the already sore tips.

If you are talking about soreness, then don't play guitar for two to three days. Let the callouses settle in.
Should feel better when you come back to it.
If you have bronze strings on your acoustic, those are killers to the fingers (at least they are to mine), and you should maybe look around for a set of strings that arent bronze.
Just sliding around one bronze strings saws my finger tips up pretty good.

This is a really dumb sounding question, but do you bite your fingernails?

I know it sounds stupid, but I'm a lifelong nail chewer, and as a result, my fingertips have taken quite a while to adjust to the guitar. I've played bass for @ 17 years and, although my fingertips are pretty "tough", I've never really had them callous-over. I've focused on guitar for the last couple of years and it seems if I take any kind of extended break (2-3 days), it's almost like playing the guitar for the first time. Ouch.


(BTW, I work in a hospital and I wash my hands FREQUENTLY!!)

oof, I am a nail chewer as well.

Actually, I thought that it wasn't much of a detriment..except cosmetically.

Try something very bitter on your fingers, it will deter you from biting your nails.

There's this lemon slop. First time I absent-mindedly bit my nails, that was that. (I threw the bottle out of the window) lol

That much time per day may be too much at 1st, Koy. I'd cut back to around an hour per day.

Never heard of Dit Dat Jow, but when I'm building callouses, I keep a shallow bowl of salt handy, & STICK my fingertips in it frequently, to keep them dry, & to toughen them. My hands sweat a lot, & this really helps me.

I found it surprizing that I didn't need those callouses when I went to play bass. I use round wounds & slide on it a lot, yet never seem to develop good callouses - in fact, it wears the ones I have off like sandpaper. Switching back & forth from guitar to bass is a pain, for sure.

oof, I am a nail chewer as well.

Actually, I thought that it wasn't much of a detriment..except cosmetically.

Try something very bitter on your fingers, it will deter you from biting your nails.

There's this lemon slop. First time I absent-mindedly bit my nails, that was that. (I threw the bottle out of the window) lol

Or you could just get some clippers!
Thanks Philby, I will try that.

Koy Carson
West Texas

**60th Anniversary American Strat
**Carvin AC175 Thinline Acoustic
**Ibanez EW20ZW Electric/Acoustic
**Arbor AJ145CR Jazz
**Fender Marcus Miller 5 String Bass
**Fender Geddy Lee Signature Bass
**Warwick Corvette 4 string Bass
**Tradition Fretless Bass
**Takamine Hollow body Bass
**Digitech JamMan

http://www.myspace.com/k5koy


The "PickKeeper" The ORIGINAL Guitar Accessory
http://www.waxpatterns.com/customguitarpick.htm