Help - wearing the skin away on my right wrist!

[nick]

Hello,

Does anybody suffer from same affliction as me, in that after playing with a pick for some period of time, I get horrible, (& painful) lacerations on my wrist (?)
I get this after playing my Rickenfaker & edgebound Ibanez, but not with P-Bass. So I know it's down to body contour, bass height, & also playing style.
I have not played with a pick so exclusively for a long time - I'm more accustomed to fingers.
Guess my question is; in others' experience, does/will the skin eventually toughen up?
I've tried long sleeve shirts, which have not helped....

Any suggestions welcome please.At the moment my wrist looks like a bad example of self-mutilation(!)

Thanks

[Alien]

I'd suggest you change your picking style, but failing that try a sweatband.#

Andy

[gilmour]

Ditch the Pick and go back to fingers.

It sounds better anyway

[guitarnbass]

half finger glove?

[ahpook]

armsock ?

[Musky]

Yeah I've suffered exactly the same thing, only it seemed just as bad when using a precision. In fact looking at my wrist now I can see a small round mark were the skin usually wears away, but it doesn't seem any harder than the surrounding skin so I don't think it's going to toughen up any time soon.

The only way round it that I've found is to play less energetically or wear a fingerless glove that covers the wrist - as you've probably found, wrist bands just ride up.

I'm sure this is really a technique problem, but I tend to get a bit carried away live.

[MacDaddy]

try putting a bit of vaseline on the wrist before you play.

[nick]

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='56467' date='Sep 6 2007, 12:45 PM']try putting a bit of vaseline on the wrist before you play.[/quote]

Many thanks for all the suggestions. Off to buy a tub of vaseline this evening!

Fingerless glove might be a bit too 'metally' for me, & can't help thinking an armsock or bandage possibly looks even more 'self-harmish' - I dunno(?)

Failing the vaseline, may have to try reigning in my right-hand pick style.
I now understand why I've seen other guitarists like Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood & Joe Strummer with their arms seemingly strapped up.

Thanks again

[Funkmaster]

Hi Nick

I had exactly the same problem with my Rickenbacker back in the 70s, when I was a pick player too.

A sweat band did the trick perfectly. (Although a guitarist mate of mine who still uses one says that they are getting difficult to find - but managed to track down some new Nike ones in the last few weeks.)

Somehow the Rickenbacker never seemed to work finger style for me - and infact it was a good 20 years later that I began playing fingerstyle in ernest anyway, when I switched to Warwicks (and proper book learning!)

Hope you find a solution that works for you.

David

[The Funk]

If the problem is caused by your wrist resting against the edge of the bass, then see if you can alter your technique so that your wrist doesn't make contact with it anymore.

[cheddatom]

I used to get this when I started, going from acoustic guitar at home, to playing a crap squire 4 string with a pick at gigs. I think I just learned to pick differently. It comes from your wrist rubbing against the body, and it shouldn't really touch the body while you're picking the bass (I don't know about "proper" technique, just mine). It does look weird when you have blood on your white bass and come off stage and your wrist is bleeding.

[Paul Cooke]

[quote name='nick' post='56445' date='Sep 6 2007, 12:27 PM']I get this after playing my Rickenfaker & edgebound Ibanez, but not with P-Bass. So I know it's down to body contour, bass height, & also playing style.[/quote]

does the P-Bass have the bridge ashtray in place?

[16Again]

i get the same with my ricky!
Sweatband is the way to go!

[gypsymoth]

same here - I won't have a guitar or bass with a hard edge or pretty binding. and why should I? conform to the instrument? gimme a break.

get one of those heavy metal studded wristbands and let the stupid thing know who has to conform to who.

[nick]

[quote name='Paul Cooke' post='56516' date='Sep 6 2007, 01:45 PM']does the P-Bass have the bridge ashtray in place?[/quote]

No. It's not the bridge that is causing abrasion, but edge of body.

[P-T-P]

Long sleeve shirt/t-shirt perhaps?

[cheddatom]

If you don't want to change your technique, you can get all sorts of wrist supports from the chemist and sports shops. I have to wear them sometimes to play due to a wrepetetive strain. I do find I get a clammy wrist though, which is very annoying, and I usually take them off and take the pain (or pain killers).

[nick]

[quote name='gypsymoth' post='56552' date='Sep 6 2007, 03:14 PM']same here - I won't have a guitar or bass with a hard edge or pretty binding. and why should I? conform to the instrument? gimme a break.

get one of those heavy metal studded wristbands and let the stupid thing know who has to conform to who.[/quote]

Along with the vaseline mentioned earlier, I'm going down the wristband road, together with a matching headband like Mark Knopfler!

No seriously, I think I'm going to have to alter my technique. It may sometimes look cool slamming into the bass, giving it 100% etc, but at the moment my wrist which is presently oozing pus from a very inflamed sore isn't!

[cheddatom]

You don't have to go for it any less, just attack the strings at a slightly different angle! If I could describe my subtle shift in picking technique, it would be very helpful. Sorry!

[Telebass]

It's all down to playing angles, strap length, etc. I play contoured and uncontoured Precisions, and have no problem. In fact, the square top of the Slab is a handy arm-rest!

[Dusty]

+1 for the wrist bands, also handy for mopping the sweat from the forehead (or most of it in my case !) I tend to suffer now with a blister on the side of the thumb after each gig, caused i expect from the way i hold the pick and it rubbing against the E string. I've tried plasters, but they look a bit silly! Any ideas on this problem ?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

It sounds like you may benefit from trying "economy of movement". Turn the amp up and let it do the grunt work. Hammering into the bass probably doesn't do your speed, tone or accuracy any favours.

I play fingerstyle only these days, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about regarding pick playing, but I used to get bad cramps in my hand towards the end of the second set at every gig. I could play for much longer at home or at rehearsal without this happening. I cured it by playing with a lighter touch (as well as excercising the hand/fingers and using different strings). You'd think this would give a wimpy less agressive sound but this is not the case.

[Tinman]

+1 on the sweatband. I find it invaluable as I used to rip lumps out of my wrist.

[charic]

Im a constant pick player and ive never had this. My wrist rests on the bass but I dont think it ever actually moves. Its just my hand that moves. Dont know if this is right technique as i never had a lesson 8)

[lee4]

I sold an Aerodyne Jazz after 1 month because of the bound body,so try and use a contoured bass.I dont see why I suffer pain when I play due to an aesthetic design feature.