jonnybass

This thread has me a little confused. I think the mods have been reasonable, fair and open with this issue. But the reaction from some other peeps seems a bit odd.

hope it all works out for everyone though

jonny

Not for me, good luck with it for her, but i cant listen to it. Makes you wonder if shes there on talent or who she is.

Jonny

Oh wow Eude, this is an absolute beaut.   I have a perfectly functioning kidney i probably dont need if you'd take that.  Fingers crossed for a jackpot from somewhere that would let me buy this.

Jonny

Hi George, talking to your bandmates is a great step with this.  Tell them how you are, they may be feeling the same and so a break might be good for more than just you, or help them find a dep, either for all the gigs for a few months or for some gigs.  These guys are pals and telling them might just help your headspace a wee bit.  

Ultimately, you need to find whats right for you to help your head, and thats what you need to do, things you might want to think about: 

keep your favourite bass handy if you can.  That way if you do want to pick it up its there nice and easy to get to.  Same goes for any other instrument you enjoy.

keeping in touch here, even if you arent playing and just fancy the chat Basschat is full of folk who are happy to chat about most things bass or non bass related. 

I just hope you are doing ok times can be tough just now, so I hope you find your headspace  

Jonny

To be fair, sometimes in complex music people get hung up on the 'nerd' aspect of it.  "oh listen to that Coltrane solo where he alters the modality of the root chord with a subverted inflection to a half diminished interval, very reminiscent of Stravinsky" really sounds like you know what you are talking about compared to "That sax solo sounds incredible, i have no idea what he's doing but it sounds so cool over the piano".  That approach alone will put people off.  But thats all very Off topic.  I'd say there are bass players I don't get, but in a similar way theres pizza toppings I don't like.  I avoid both but sometimes I may be puzzled by their popularity, but I also know they aren't 'bad'...unless its Tuna that has no place on a pizza and no good will come of it.

Jonny

Funnily enough I forget about Richard Bona, see him advertising stuff for years, seen clips on youtube heard him chatted about.  listened and have always been completely underwhelmed, doesnt seem to do or say anything that has made me think anything other than blimey thats fast.

Jonny

The thing I dont understand on this thread is the people judging playing and players because someone's definition of bass doesn't fit with theirs.  Musicians who play music that requires or has solos (like jazz) should solo.  Musicians who play music that doesnt require or have solos dont need to solo.  One isn't more musically valid than the other.  Why pigeonhole bass as anything? 

Taste is a different thing, a fretless bebop solo in the middle of a country song is unlikely to get the crowd going..A heavily distorted shredding minor pentatonic bass solo will equally not go down well with an acoustic trad jazz band, or a basic root five breakdown over the chord changes in a djent song...

   jonny

14 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

And here is my counter argument:

 

I came on to say I dont "get" VW, i love hearing him accompany other people, but his solo stuff I find a bit meh.  This is the first thing I'd say i liked.  Thanks for sharing.

jonny

46 minutes ago, Dov65 said:

Arthritis in both thumb bases here. I left it far too long in seeking medical help working away from home didn’t really help either but I tried all the natural remedies without success & ended up being prescribed co-codamol for the pain. Cortisone injections x 2 in both thumbs but didn’t take long before the pain was back. I wear tight wristbands pulled down towards the thumb bases tho & it does help

That dosnt sound great Dov65 but at least the wrist bands are helping.

So the doctor has ruled out Psoriatic arthritis, now waiting on a further appointment to try and figure out whats wrong.  Still only in one finger, not one i use to pluck strings, still painful to move but not to touch, has been happening since mid december.  its worse in the morning and when its cold its allot worse.

16 hours ago, SteveK said:

First off - I'm not really a believer in alternative medicines/therapies etc, but, whatever works... works!

 

About 10 years ago I started to get niggly twinges in my fingers that were gradually getting worse. A bit of online research pointed to the start of Arthritis.

Before going to the doctor I mentioned it to my sister-in-law, who is a nurse. She suggested trying Glucosamine Sulphate or Omega 3.

I bought 1000mg bottles of both (1 each daily). After 2 or 3 months there was definite improvement. 

For the last 10 years my fingers have been pain free. However, a couple of years ago, thinking that I was possibly wasting my money, I lapsed with the supplements - the twinges slowly returned. Needless to say, I was straight back to Holland and Barrett's. I'm now once again pain free.

 

It may well all be in my head, but, if it works, it works.

Hi Steve, like you Im not into alternative therapies, but some things work on a chemical/biological level.  Sounds like this works for you.  I'll l;ook into it.

jonny

21 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Both thumbs. Playing is great therapy - activity is best treatment for arthritis!

 

Ibuprofen when a lot of gigs. Boswellia (frankincense) insanely effective if I  get a flare up  gets rid of pain in a day or two.

 

Been offered steriods, but kot there yet.

 

My brother (guitard, 8 years younger) had tapezium bone removed   lots of physio, can still play but started getting pain again after a year

Thanks good to hear, I'll see how I get on

22 hours ago, NoRhino said:

Definitely this. And during discussion tell them you're a musician and want to keep playing.  Good Rheumatology teams want patients to maintain their quality of life.  Ask about steroid injections in your wrist too.  

Thanks for the advice, working with the GP to try and figure out as much about this as possible...long process so far

A favourite of my physio years ago was always motion is lotion.. 

Just now, lowregisterhead said:

That could still be it - about 10% of people with some form of psoriasis can go on to develop Psoriatic Arthritis. Red, flaky skin on elbows, knees and nails are all common places where it can appear initially. Best of luck with the diagnosis 👍

Thanks I'd say fingers crossed but not sure if thats appropriate in this topic.

Jonny

4 minutes ago, lowregisterhead said:

Psoriatic arthritis can be tricky to manage - it can pop up anywhere and hang around for a period of time, the only advantage being it tends to settle down eventually, but unfortunately can then just move on somewhere else.

 

It's worth asking your GP for a referral to your local hospital's Rheumatology department, and depending on the severity, they can prescribe various drugs such as Methotrexate, which generally keeps a lid on it. It'll lessen the spikes of flare-ups, but doesn't stop it completely. As it's an auto-immune condition, it's a fine balance between controlling the immune response that causes the flare-ups, and not suppressing your immune system to the point where you become susceptible to all and sundry.

 

I'd recommend getting it assessed by a specialist sooner rather than later.

Thanks this is really helpful. I am waiting on the bloods and xray results, but Psoriatic arthritis was the first suggestion from the GP.  Reading up later, it does describe whats happening with my finger.  Only issue is I dont think I have Psorisis...i get red dry skin on my elbows and I have a couple of really small blemeshes on my skin which I have had for years, but thats all.

Jonny 

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

I've been suffering with what I thought was arthritis for years. 

GP sends me off to physio - "not arthritis" they say and put me on a course of exercises which I don't believe have done anything to improve the condition. NHS have little interest in getting to the bottom of it.

I also did the Chondroitin/ fish oil/ Glucosamine thing - might as well have been Snake oil - again zero benefit. 

I think that we need to accept that the MOT on our bodies have a limited shelf life and enjoy playing while we can.

That sounds quite frustrating, hope you get to the bottom of it.  and you re right, in the words of a certain canadian band ' we are only immortal for a limited time'

Jonny

8 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

 

I had a similar experience - the first hour of the day my left hand is sore, stiff joints, etc. The NHS physio said "not arthritis" but admitted that we'll probably see each other in 10 years and it will be by then. Using power tools seems to set it off, as does playing double bass too much  

This is the bit that kinda worries me, At least with a diagnosis iuts easier to look for treatment.  Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Jonny 

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

I have  the onset of OA in the fingers of both hands and have found fingerless compression gloves help when it starts to flare up.  Can still play with them on.  I do find the ladle gets in the way sometimes.     

 

Never knew these existed, they could be exactly what I'm looking for, especially if I move to a soup based diet...

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

See if you can borrow a short-scale bass to see if that helps. If movement is the issue then less movement than usual might be beneficial.

Thanks Lozz, at the moment its the ring finger of my plucking hand, string spacing miught become an issue but its very early days 

Jonny

1 hour ago, JazzyJ said:

Immersion in hot water helps with both my thumb ip joints to the point I can begin to bend them slightly without excruciating pain. The pills and potions haven't worked for me. Thankfully this condition hasn't affected my fingers, yet. Sorry can't be of any further help.

 

Thanks for this.  Your condition sounds fairly bad I hope you are in good health.  I have found the warmer my hand, the less painful it is.  

Jonny

1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

I have pretty much given up bass playing after 50 plus years because of osteoarthritis in the fingers of my fretting hand. I have been (still am) taking turmeric & black pepper capsules, and calcium with vitamin D, but it is impossible to know whether it's doing any good or not. I still can't play, but it's possible that the arthritis would be worse with the capsules or not - there is no way of cloning myself and not allowing the clone to take anything for it, and see what happens.

I have resigned myself to selling up all the gear and fading into the background.

I hope that your situation is better than mine, life is not the same without bandmates and gigs.

Thanks for sharing Dave, that sounds like a journey you are going through and I wish you all the best with your hand.  Its very early stages for me however, i think if it was my fretting hand or my middle or first finger I'd be struggling, as it is the ring finger on my plucking hand its less important for me anyway, however I have noticed that my hand is fatiguing earlier than it would.  3 hour pub gigs may be beyond me.

Jonny

Hi folks, hope this is in the right place, if not sorry mods.  Since mid december I have been getting pain in my right hand on my ring finger, after visiting the GP, we are undergoing tests but the likely outcome is arthritis in my finger (possibly Psoriac arthritis).  This is an appeal to the BC hive mind, anyone have any real world experience on things i can do to help it ?  Stretches, supports, Turmeric capsules?  

Jonny

This thread (and the videos) have been superb Funkle.  

Amazing work and what a great sounding bass you have made.

Jonny

All off, clean the bass, restring with new ones.

Jonny