Oh, the pain!

[ivansc]

(grin) First time out in public with my Stagg EUB last Tuesday.

The blisters that formed on the side of my first and second fingers, right hand, were something of a surprise.
Callouses I have had since the mid 1960s are apparently in the wrong place for electric upright.

Who knew?

[Bilbo]

Everyone who plays a double bass. Except you.

[Marc S]

Ah, yes I know that feeling, My first DB / EUB was a Stagg. Those strings were very high tension.
Have you changed them? Try something lower tension, like Innovation Honeys, or Silver Slaps, or Spirocore Weichs...
Depends on what sound you're after, and what style you play, of course

Also, somewhere on here there's a thread about a product called "Double Bass Finger Tape"
There's a link to it for sale on ebay - mind you, a simple ebay search for it would suffice...
I played with a callous once, and the finger tape worked wonders.

Cheers now

EDIT: You can honestly play DB with this tape on your fingers, and it doesn't come off, or leave sticky glue all over your strings
In fact, I keep a roll in my gigbag. I was once playing a gig with bass guitar, and our guitarist had a nasty cut on his finger. So I gave him a piece of the finger tape, and it saved the day for him! He ordered his own roll the next day....

Edited October 18, 2016 by Marc S

[Marc S]

Just realised, I answered a thread titled "Oh the pain"
.... and my name is Smith
You have to be old enough to appreciate this

[ivansc]

Getting used to it now but yes, I am looking at a change of strings and possibly a replacement nut, as the top G string slot is cut just a tad too deep.

Have to say that until I lugged the stagg into my own amplifier, I was not that enamoured but since giving it some wellie in the LM3/ 2x10" Neo cab setup, I am very pleased indeed.
And I am finally convincing my hands that they don't need to yank on the string like they were boat hawsers!

[NickA]

I was getting blisters. Talked to Alec Dankworth at a gig; even he gets blisters after his summer holiday (but boy, does he play hard).

My blisters were from having the amp turned down too low (or trying to play acoustically) and compensating by plucking too hard. Also, I was overusing my middle finger when the side of the index finger works better.

Tip from one Jazz musician was; now and then when playing wipe your playing finger down the side of your nose, it picks up a bit of skin grease and sweat, providing some lubrication!!! (euch, but it's true).

[bassace]

It happens to us all from time to time. I've been using my Kolstein Travel Bass for the past couple of months which is easy on the fingers. But I've got a heavy duty jazz gig in Oxford on Tuesday on double bass. I've been soaking my fingers in surgical spirit for the past week in the hope that they will harden. Time will tell. I've been through the blisters phase before; fingers recover.

[bornagainbass65]

If the groove in the nut is cut too deep you could try putting a small blob of super glue in it. Or even a tiny piece of black tape. I fixed a buzzing string on my EUB that way.