Doublethumbing and calluses

[DiMarco]

After 30+ years of Flea style diagonal thumb on string slapping I'm trying to transition to thumb along string doublethumb technique.

This means shorter strap, bass closer to chin and different right hand positioning.

Biggest challenge is not so much the slapping but rather the index- and middle finger plucking. It hurts!

Is the solution keeping up until callus forms on the edge of the fingertips or does anyone have some useful techniques they could show me?

Thanks.

 

[Acebassmusic]

Yes, part of the solution is to build up your fingertips. I don’t want to say callus's as this infers hard lumps of skin and I think this gives the wrong impression of what you need. I’ve been a slapper for many a year (ooh eer! 😊 ) and never had / needed these armour plated skin lumps to play. Yes, your skin will toughen up but it doesn’t need to be by much.

I think some of the urban myth that you’ll need to have thick callus to play slap comes from some of the higher profile slappers (eg: Flea) who as part of their style look like they are both playing the bass at the same time as trying to beat it into submission! 🤣🤣 I’ve found that making your amp provide the volume means you don’t have to thumb or pluck the strings so hard meaning less strain on wrist / digits / bass etc. Also build up the amount of time you practice the technique eg: week 1 = 2 x 5min sessions per day, week 2 = 2 x 10min sessions per day etc etc. Hope this helps.