dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Recently during long rehearsals (6hr) i've found i'm getting cramp in my fretting hand little finger. Never had it before and was a bit surprised. After a bit of thought i think i found the issue. It appears to be a combination of things. 1. new bass (Sandberg VM4) has a wider / thicker neck than the Fender Jazz i'm used to. 2. more of the songs i play are at the low end of the neck 3. most important factor - i've been getting lazy with my technique and I've been curling my thumb around the neck rather than on the back of the neck. I knew i did that occasionally however when i examined my playing i found i was doing it a lot more than i thought. Solution :- 1. i could go back to my Jazz bass which is thin and more slim neck and doesn't seem to bother me in same way. I do like my Sandberg tone tho. 2. i focus on my technique again which seems to be working. If i keep my thumb on centre line of back of neck i don't seem to experience any cramp. 3. short scale bass might help with reducing finger stretch 4. perhaps age is catching up on me and i may have to rethink my playing if at all. Hopefully not yet. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 8 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: i focus on my technique again which seems to be working. If i keep my thumb on centre line of back of neck i don't seem to experience any cramp. Personally I would work on this Dave , because now you’re conscious of it you can pay more attention to keeping the thumb on the back of the neck, the only time my thumb does that is when I’ve been playing for a long time and I’m getting tired 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH73 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Dehydration? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 18 minutes ago, SH73 said: Dehydration? Could be. Mrs Trueno swears by tonic water for alleviating cramp. Don't dilute it with too much gin, though. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford13 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 I think you are spot on with looking at your technique. Also @SH73 makes a good point that you could be dehydrated in such a long rehearsal. 5/6 hours of playing in general would take its toll on most folk. Don’t give up on your Sandberg too soon mate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 @hiram.k.hackenbacker i'ts only a self diagnostic. It certainly feels like cramp and has that dull ache afterwards. It might well be tendon related but at this early stage i'm not convinced. I don't seem to get it when using thumb on neck technique (probably the correct way) but i need to see how it goes this weekend at rehearsals again. I also don't seem to get it with my narrow slim Jazz neck so i'm kinda ruling out the more serious conditions at this stage I don't generally play with my wrists at weird angles. Bass sits around my waist at belt area so not too low or too high in my experience. I'm not playing as hard as i used to and i'm not gripping the neck tightly. @SH73 Could well be dehydration as i wear 70's Glam Rock outfit including the big hair wig and we do get very hot and sweaty. I do however go thru about a litre of water during a gig sometimes more if a hot day. I never need a pee tho so after two 1hr sets with 30min interval i reckon i must be sweating that out which is an indication of dehydration i guess. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 8 minutes ago, Crawford13 said: I think you are spot on with looking at your technique. Also @SH73 makes a good point that you could be dehydrated in such a long rehearsal. 5/6 hours of playing in general would take its toll on most folk. Don’t give up on your Sandberg too soon mate. Oddly enough i used to drink water throughout rehearsals but when we moved to a 6hr session i started drinking Latte from the machine and no water. That's a good point so i'll drink water this weekend see if that helps along with getting my technique back on track. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 2 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: I’m not doubting your self diagnosis Dave, but are you sure it’s cramp? I’m currently going through it a bit with issues with tendons/pulleys in my fretting hand which initially started off with what I thought was cramping issues and turned out not to be that at all. Where are you with your tendon issue ? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Hang on in there Dave, I experienced similar when I bought my 2015 US Standard Precision, it had a far chunkier neck than I’d played before and my fretting band was cramping for the first two or three weeks I had it. And also similarly I put up a post on here and was advised to hang in there, so did and all was fine as I got used to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Lozz196 said: Hang on in there Dave, I experienced similar when I bought my 2015 US Standard Precision, it had a far chunkier neck than I’d played before and my fretting band was cramping for the first two or three weeks I had it. And also similarly I put up a post on here and was advised to hang in there, so did and all was fine as I got used to it. I've used it for gigs and i was ok it only seems to be longer spells. Our sets are 1hr long with a 30min inyterval. Altho its a 6hr session we normally are quite chilled and not playing for a solid 6hrs. We sit with coffee and cake and discuss the band and where we are going with it etc. We live quite a distance apart so best time for a band meet is during 6hr rehearsal. Dave Edited February 13, 2020 by dmccombe7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 (edited) It could be worth trying Simandl (1-2-4) fingering where the little finger is always supported by the third. It'll require some adjustment in your playing but it's a well tested technique and it'll work on any bass guitar since it's designed for double bass. Edited February 13, 2020 by tinyd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, tinyd said: It could be worth trying Simandl (1-2-4) fingering where the little finger is always supported by the third. It'll require some adjustment in your playing but it's a well tested technique and it'll work on any bass guitar since it's designed for double bass. Never heard of it but i'll google it just now to see what its about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyd Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 59 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Never heard of it but i'll google it just now to see what its about It's worth checking out to see if it works for you. Scott has a lesson where he talks about it: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 8 hours ago, tinyd said: It's worth checking out to see if it works for you. Scott has a lesson where he talks about it: That's how i generally play at low end of the neck. I'm not so great further up the neck with one finger per fret and will play what feels comfy whether that's my ring finger or little finger. I have small hands and have adapted the one finger per fet style from when i was taught at lessons to what feels best for me. Where i've gone amiss is more that when playing straight 8ths on same note i've got lazy and curl my thumb round the neck. If i'm playing faster parts across the neck i automatically put my thumb on back of neck. Its really just when i made a point of examining my playing style i picked up on it. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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