ChWillie

I play guitar as much as I play bass, and picks became impossible to use. I play with my fingers a lot, but I have found Black Mountain thumb picks help me a a lot. And I wear a brace to stabilize my thumb, take it off when I play. With a thumb pick, I can play decently again. At first, I didn’t get on with the Black Mountains. Now, I get on well with them.

Excellent. Thanks

My fretting hand is good. It's my picking hand that has the problem. I'm a lefty, and it's my left hand that bothers me. Yesterday, I enjoyed the 20 minutes playing time I had. I was very careful to stretch first and to take a light approach. I can't grip a plectrum, so it was bare fingers/thumb playing, and even that is challenging. Still, I took it easy and had a good, if short, time.

I actually tried cortisone shots. They were ineffective. But thanks for the suggestion. I had hoped for at least a short time of relief. I’m lucky that it doesn’t hurt when my hand is at rest. I’m trying hard to see the good side of things. Otherwise, it’s misery and frustration, and I’m just not going to let that happen.

Great way to see it, DTB. I'm sorry for your pain. I also miss gigging a lot. Fortunately, I can record--with the finished product, no one can tell that it takes so much cutting and pasting to make a whole song. The magic of technology, right?

Yes, my biggest sins are sweets and carbs. I was much better before I got back to those things. I'm glad you've reminded me. I feel much better when I cut back radically on those.

I'm sorry to hear that you all suffer too, but I'm happy that at least we understand each other's situation. I am lucky in that my chording hand is okay. Well, I will probably have to give up with playing with a pick or fingers, but I will find a way to play, even if I have to strap some prosthetic device to my hand. I've just ordered some Black Mountain Picks that look interesting. I wish you all the best in dealing with the problem and the pain.

This is not a self-pity party. I write a column for a local news outlet, and I've just written an article for Saturday's paper about a hero of mine whose name I never knew but whom I saw playing [30 years ago] through the pain of arthritis, and I'm doing my best to remember his example and heroic determination as I battle arthritis now. I went to the surgeon last week. To paraphrase: "There are so many things going on in your thumb, thumb joint, wrist, and tendons, that it would take four operations to repair them, and even then, you'd have minimal results. Rheumatoid and osteo arthritis, tears in the cartilage, thumb bone destruction at the joint, very little cartilage there, benign cysts on your wrist. If you have the surgeries, you'll really be no better off and you'll likely have less movement and more pain." I was gutted at first--I thought modern medicine could fix my hand(s) and have me back to playing like I could a few years ago. How ignorant was I? Since his diagnosis, I've felt so frustrated, trying to play decently but the hands not cooperating. And then I had a talk with myself: I'll never have the ability to get back where I was, so I have to accept what I've got and learn to play differently, to have different goals as a player and writer. This morning, I sat down with my Ric 330 and Les Paul for a bit of writing, then turned my attention to my Jack Casady bass (it's my latest, and I just love it). I can't use a plectrum anymore, and even using my fingers, I can only play in 10 minute increments before I'm aching. I will never be able to play full sets live again. Maybe a song or two at an open mic. I've found some thumb exercises that help. I hold the basal joint of my thumb, then stretch my thumb to my lower palm. Doing this 10 times makes playing with my thumb less painful. Have you had the same experience? If so, what do you do that has been helpful to you? And just because we can post pics, here's my Jack Casady on the bass tree.

Cool photo! I almost feel like starting to gig again just to give the bass a stage experience. Like my Rickenbacker guitar and bass, it felt familiar in my hands from the beginning.

I love this bass more and more. As much as any of my more expensive basses. It’s classy looking as well. Epi or no, I’d gig this one proudly. It plays so well too, feels great in my hand, perfect neck. Grab one before they’re all gone. Epi has removed them from their catalog.

That’s my best buddy, Keevo. He’s a big, spoiled baby, and I couldn’t live without him.

Good eye. It’s been converted, but you can see that the g string is wrapped differently. Doesn’t really affect playing it. Hard to find a left handed Explorer bass. I do have a lefty Gibson Explorer guitar.

It is the Hercules. You can adjust the bottom rungs’ height, but not individually. I have an explorer bass on the bottom as you can see.

Its backasswards world here.