OT: Owwwwww......

[adouglas]

On New Year's Eve I went to my favorite local bar (great place, very low-key, kind of like the perfect living room). One of the regulars had brought a guitar, and the owner's husband had his out. They were messing about with old country tunes (Johnny Cash, etc.).

I got to talking to them and told them I'm a bass player. Offered to pop home and fetch my gear, but as it turned out there was an acoustic bass guitar in the back, so they pulled it out. A Dean, with terribly high action.

Had a blast plunking away, but had to play REALLY hard to be able to hear anything at all. After 20 minutes or so I noticed that I had a pair of monster blisters on the fingertips of my plucking hand!

"Got any Band-Aids?"
"Nope..."
"How about duct tape?"
"Sure, we've got some of that."
"Perfect!"

Fortunately they appear to have drained already, but the skin is still separated. Hope they heal up soon...I need to practice urgently for an upcoming audition.

 

[Bill]

Oh, man! Reminds me of the first time I played an upright bass. Blister city!!

 

[Alvabass]

Oh, man! Reminds me of the first time I played an upright bass. Blister city!!

That's not me, but I went through something similar (less scandalous, fortunately) when I was studying rockabilly DB.

 

[Bill]

Holy crap!

 

[brooklynfall]

Reminds me of playing my upright with no mic or amp, with a full jazz band. At the end of a three hour set, I had a red blister on my right index and a blue blister on my right middle. Another few minutes and they would have popped, I'm sure, leaving a mess similar to that picture. As it happened though, I just stopped playing for about a week. Lovely!

 

[Steve Dude Barr]

 

[adouglas]

What the hell is that thing?

 

[Caca de Kick]

+1

I'm not a pickplayer either, but I woulda used one for the ABG.

 

[NoFrets80]

Ouch!

Reminds me of playing my upright with no mic or amp, with a full jazz band. At the end of a three hour set, I had a red blister on my right index and a blue blister on my right middle. Another few minutes and they would have popped, I'm sure, leaving a mess similar to that picture. As it happened though, I just stopped playing for about a week. Lovely!

how the heck did you get yourself into that situation? i've played unamped gigs before, but only when it was obvious it would work out with regard to the room and band setup... the argument made by many of my (our) fellow DB players regarding not using an amp falls flat for the very things you stated, IMHO. inflating your ego/cojones size is not worth ripping your hands to shreds just to say "i played a 3 hour gig without an amp... when is the last time you did that"? it's heaven once you find the amp/pickup combo that allows you to play for hours with great tone, and no blisters!

 

[Big Poppa]

I did a tour with Biff Baby's with Morse and Lee and hadnt played much and we had clinics and three set (long sets) shows and by the second day I was bleedin all over my pickguard....I wore a gof glove the next night and that didnt help. I made it throu two weeks but it was really painful. There are pix in japanese mags of me playing a blood splattered bass..... ( this was in the 80's)

 

[PocketGroove82]

man you guys are nuts!
don't play so hard! get a pickup! crank your amp!
being out of commission for popped blisters sucks!

 

[Big Poppa]

who was out of commision? I didnt miss a gig or song...

 

[brooklynfall]

Man, I was definitely out of commission ...

NoFrets: The story is thus: the gig was at an old folks home. We played during the day in the lobby/"hang-out area", a large, acoustically infuriating room - lots of echoes, hard surfaces, etc. The gig was organized by the coach of our college jazz group - not a "big band", more of a six-person small group. He got us the gig, assuming that it would be in a small room, not very loud, for old folks who liked things quiet anyway - all reasonable assumptions. He told the guitarist to bring his acoustic, and for me to leave my amp at home. We got there, saw the room and realized that he was way off base. The guitarist was nearly drowned out by the drums and horns reverberating around that huge room, and I played my fingers off for about an hour and a half before I realized that nothing was going to help me be heard in there. By the time I finished the gig, I was barely touching the strings, but it was already too late. Blame it on a 20 year old kid who had just started on the upright that summer, who didn't know his limits!

Never again, I can tell you that. No amount of pain is worth being able to brag about playing a gig without an amp. I still kick myself about it; I missed out on a couple of really great gigs the week I was off my instrument. Ah well.

 

[NoFrets80]

Man, I was definitely out of commission ...

NoFrets: The story is thus: the gig was at an old folks home. We played during the day in the lobby/"hang-out area", a large, acoustically infuriating room - lots of echoes, hard surfaces, etc. The gig was organized by the coach of our college jazz group - not a "big band", more of a six-person small group. He got us the gig, assuming that it would be in a small room, not very loud, for old folks who liked things quiet anyway - all reasonable assumptions. He told the guitarist to bring his acoustic, and for me to leave my amp at home. We got there, saw the room and realized that he was way off base. The guitarist was nearly drowned out by the drums and horns reverberating around that huge room, and I played my fingers off for about an hour and a half before I realized that nothing was going to help me be heard in there. By the time I finished the gig, I was barely touching the strings, but it was already too late. Blame it on a 20 year old kid who had just started on the upright that summer, who didn't know his limits!

Never again, I can tell you that. No amount of pain is worth being able to brag about playing a gig without an amp. I still kick myself about it; I missed out on a couple of really great gigs the week I was off my instrument. Ah well.

Wow... You have my deepest sympathies for that situation. I've been there before, but never without an amp! I never ripped mine up that badly early on, but I did end up once, after a 4 hour AMPED gig in a huge room, with blisters about an eighth of an inch deep and about 3/4 of an inch wide on my index and middle fingers. I think I'd been playing maybe 4 months at that point. Put me out of commission for about a week or so. I was pouring that "invisible band aid" stuff into the holes on my fingers so I could get by with just playing electric for that week. It was still a pain. The things we do for our instruments... err, wait... the things they do to us!

 

[strummer]

Two words: Liquid skin.

 

[adouglas]

I'm healing nicely and faster than I expected, thank goodness.

It occurred to me today...anyone ever try fingerpicks with an ABG? If so, any tips?

 

[SLUGGO]

Finger picks + ABG = Tin........IMHO!

 

[delberthot]

After playing bass for 10 years, i would still get blisters but it was really weird - The skin on the surface was rock hard, ie the callus, but I could see the blister underneath.

Wobetide me if I happened to be playing the week that the skin grew through to the blister. I tried plasters but settled on duct tape as i could put it on in stages so that it didn't come off or leave the sticky stuff on the strings.

turns out I was playing my bass far too hard. i still play just as fast as i used to, no wait I play faster now that i am not digging in so much now that i can exercise some self restraint. I just get so excited and hyper at gigs.

I actually now have a skin condition where i get really itchy skin, really tiny blisters and the skin gets really dry and thin so ocassionally I have to get the duct tape out for that reason, or ocassionally a pick.