My wrist hurts!!

[Jase]

I've never heard of these cysts Ross has spoken about, they sound a right bind mate.

[thepurpleblob]

Amidst all the ranting and raving, what nobody seems to have picked up on is that you have only been playing for 5 minutes. The bass is a surprisingly physical instrument to play. You have the physical disadvantage of being female too - smaller hands more than likely. It takes time to build up the necessary stretch and strength in your fingers. Even after quite a number of years of playing almost every day, I still can't maintain full stretch down the thin end for a great amount of time. A lot of "beginner" excercises are actually quite hard on your hands - finger per fret scale work for example. So go easy on yourself. Expect it to take some time, limit your playing and/or play where the frets get closer together!

[AM1]

OK - still throbbing pretty bad today. Just played two songs and had to stop.

This is SOOOOO frustrating!

There must be someone who has tried playing with the bass flipped over...

[Rich]

I had a ganglion cyst on my right wrist a couple of years back. I went to a doctor, who wasn't a c***. He referred me. They checked it. Operated. Bloody good job they did, as it was in danger of encroaching on the major blood vessel in my wrist. This would have caused [i]very[/i] serious problems.
Seriously, in all honesty, change your playing style or whatever, but I implore you to please [i]please[/i] get the lump checked out. I am forever grateful that I did.

[AM1]

[quote name='Rich' post='360979' date='Dec 22 2008, 02:02 PM']I had a ganglion cyst on my right wrist a couple of years back. I went to a doctor, who wasn't a c***. He referred me. They checked it. Operated. Bloody good job they did, as it was in danger of encroaching on the major blood vessel in my wrist. This would have caused [i]very[/i] serious problems.
Seriously, in all honesty, change your playing style or whatever, but I implore you to please [i]please[/i] get the lump checked out. I am forever grateful that I did.[/quote]

You have PM.

[Rich]

Back atcha.

[parker_muse]

I scanned through the first page and no one made a joke in relation to tossing off.

Shame on you basschat, what have you cum to?

[yorick]

I don't have any of these problems, but i'm a lefty player who has tried to play righty. This was mainly due to being skint at the time and there being no decent lefty basses available.
Swapping round and being comfortable with it will take ages. I'd been playing for five years on a piece of crap lefty when i tried. You've only been playing for a wee while, so it probably won't be as bad.
Getting a comfortable playing position is a good start. Then if you're going to be playing finger style, get a metronome and work on your plucking finger speed. When you're upto a comfortable speed, then start on your fretting hand. If you can stretch out to one finger per fret at the first fret great, if you can't just move up th neck , say to the fifth fret.
An example
Two notes, alternate plucking fingers. Fifth fret, first finger.
Two notes, alternate plucking fingers. Sixth fret, middle finger.
Repeat for sixth and seventh frets and ring and middle fingers. Then work your way across the strings. All very dull and repetitive, but it gets your head into the basics. Then you can start to apply stuff you've already picked.
Hope it helps...


Ps. I'm now richer and can afford decent lefty stuff, so i've been back lefty for some years.

[Buzz]

[quote name='parker_muse' post='361012' date='Dec 22 2008, 02:37 PM']I scanned through the first page and no one made a joke in relation to tossing off.

Shame on you basschat, what have you cum to? [/quote]

I was tempted, sorely so, but I managed to hold off, I wasn't going to be first this time, oh no.

[AM1]

Hi, good advice, cheers.

Is a lefty bass much more expensive than right??

Why can't I just turn my right handed bass upside down and then re-string it upside down, so the low E string is back at the top again etc etc.

Or is there anyone that plays upside down and strings wrong way round? It probably sounds weird but as I'm just starting, it should make no difference as I don't have to "unlearn" anything.

Cheers
AM


[quote name='yorick' post='361030' date='Dec 22 2008, 02:48 PM']I don't have any of these problems, but i'm a lefty player who has tried to play righty. This was mainly due to being skint at the time and there being no decent lefty basses available.
Swapping round and being comfortable with it will take ages. I'd been playing for five years on a piece of crap lefty when i tried. You've only been playing for a wee while, so it probably won't be as bad.
Getting a comfortable playing position is a good start. Then if you're going to be playing finger style, get a metronome and work on your plucking finger speed. When you're upto a comfortable speed, then start on your fretting hand. If you can stretch out to one finger per fret at the first fret great, if you can't just move up th neck , say to the fifth fret.
An example
Two notes, alternate plucking fingers. Fifth fret, first finger.
Two notes, alternate plucking fingers. Sixth fret, middle finger.
Repeat for sixth and seventh frets and ring and middle fingers. Then work your way across the strings. All very dull and repetitive, but it gets your head into the basics. Then you can start to apply stuff you've already picked.
Hope it helps...


Ps. I'm now richer and can afford decent lefty stuff, so i've been back lefty for some years.[/quote]

[beerdragon]

Can i ask what scale bass you are playing AM1?. When i got back into playing after a lengthy layoff i found the Pbass i was playing tough going on my hands and i have fairly large hands.

[AM1]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='361039' date='Dec 22 2008, 02:54 PM']Can i ask what scale bass you are playing AM1?. When i got back into playing after a lengthy layoff i found the Pbass i was playing tough going on my hands and i have fairly large hands.[/quote]

Hi, yes that is fairly relevant as I definitely notice the problem getting much worse a lot faster on my own bass (MIM jazz). i played a few other basses last week with lower actions (maybe slightly thinner necks too) and was able to play for about 3/4 hours, of course, maybe that has made things worse as my hand is now too sore to play and a bit numb. The action on my own bass is probably a bit too high also, but I kind of like it like that!

Edited December 22, 2008 by AM1

[yorick]

[quote name='AM1' post='361037' date='Dec 22 2008, 02:53 PM']Hi, good advice, cheers.

Is a lefty bass much more expensive than right??

Why can't I just turn my right handed bass upside down and then re-string it upside down, so the low E string is back at the top again etc etc.

Or is there anyone that plays upside down and strings wrong way round? It probably sounds weird but as I'm just starting, it should make no difference as I don't have to "unlearn" anything.

Cheers
AM[/quote]

You can find basic lefty basses on evilbay for not much more than right handed stuff. CAN'T VOUCH FOR THE QUALITY THOUGH. Re-stringing your bass is a good idea!!(wish i'd thought of that 25 years ago!!!). But feeling comfortable like that depends on the shape of the body. If you move the front strap pin it can seriously alter the balance of the instrument when standing, and the tuners on the bottom of the headstock can make the neck dive seriously. But that's you're decision. It'll probably cost you a new set of strings as well.

[Rich]

And you'll need a new nut, and a bit of work on the bridge (swapping saddles around etc). A decent luthier should rustle you peanuts for this sort of work.

[yorick]

I hadn't thought of those. I knew i was being too intelligent.........

[AM1]

OK cheers then it looks like that's probably the way forward for now, or a left hander bass, though spending coin is a last resort ha ha, will take a look at Fleabay anyway.

EDIT - I forgot to ask, can you get the same basses as left handers that you can as right handers????

Edited December 22, 2008 by AM1

[joe_bass]

Don't see what switching to a left hand bass would achieve in the long run? If you don't address the problem right now then what's to stop it from then happening to the other wrist as well?

[AM1]

[quote name='joe_bass' post='361079' date='Dec 22 2008, 03:21 PM']Don't see what switching to a left hand bass would achieve in the long run? If you don't address the problem right now then what's to stop it from then happening to the other wrist as well?[/quote]

Hi, the other wrist doesn't have a lump on it. This is the source of the pain in my left wrist when using it on the fretboard.

[yorick]

If you've got a MIM jazz, and want a lefty version, they are available. PMT in Brum have two. They'll set you back about £400 though. If you're not too fussed about quality for the moment, if you search "left handed bass" on evilbay, i think you'll find a Harrier version for not a lot of coinage.

[Merton]

I used to have real issues with my left wrist and hand: random pains, being unable to pick things up (eg kettles) etc, which I put down to bass playing. Doctors never did anything but X-ray the wrist and say it was ok.

Then I went to a chiropractor, turned out I had a subluxation in my neck/shoulder area causing the nerves in my wrist to be working inefficiently, hence the pain. Fixed that, fixed the pain.

Hopefully it's something as easy as that. It may not be but it's worth appreciating that the problem may not be as local as the pain - took me 3 years...

I also used to have a ganglion on my left hand/wrist. That never caused any pain or numbness at all, not sure if that is the cause of your problem or more another facet of the same thing.

Let us know how you get on

[AM1]

[quote name='yorick' post='361082' date='Dec 22 2008, 03:24 PM']If you've got a MIM jazz, and want a lefty version, they are available. PMT in Brum have two. They'll set you back about £400 though. If you're not too fussed about quality for the moment, if you search "left handed bass" on evilbay, i think you'll find a Harrier version for not a lot of coinage. [/quote]

That's outrageous!

I *was* going to switch onto a MM fender jazz or a USA jazz but now not sure if you could even get them as left handers.

This sucks!

So my choice is spend coin doing the reconfig job on my right handed bass, spend coin on a left hander or go and see Harold Shipman and hope he doesn't try and finish me off!

[yorick]

To be honest, if i was in your position position, i would swallow my pride and see a quack about you're wrist problem, just to see what the diagnosis is. Then take it from there. There has been some great advice on similar injuries etc here, BUT it could be something completely different!!!! And you won't know for definite until you do go. Just my opinion of course.

[Adrenochrome]

I couldn't advise you to do anything other than get your wrist sorted first. Not a popular answer maybe but the right one.

[joe_bass]

[quote name='AM1' post='361081' date='Dec 22 2008, 03:24 PM']Hi, the other wrist doesn't have a lump on it. This is the source of the pain in my left wrist when using it on the fretboard.[/quote]


Apologies I missed the bit on the first page where you mentioned you've had it for ages. Still think it would be good to try & help clear it up as well though?

[Bay Splayer]

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='360705' date='Dec 22 2008, 09:26 AM']Amidst all the ranting and raving, what nobody seems to have picked up on is that you have only been playing for 5 minutes. The bass is a surprisingly physical instrument to play. You have the physical [b][color="#000000"]disadvantage of being female too - smaller hands more than likely[/color].[/b][/quote]

smaller feet too, so they can get nearer to the kitchen sink