ChWillie

I play guitar as much as I play bass, and picks became impossible to use. I play with my fingers a lot, but I have found Black Mountain thumb picks help me a a lot. And I wear a brace to stabilize my thumb, take it off when I play. With a thumb pick, I can play decently again. At first, I didn’t get on with the Black Mountains. Now, I get on well with them.

Excellent. Thanks

My fretting hand is good. It's my picking hand that has the problem. I'm a lefty, and it's my left hand that bothers me. Yesterday, I enjoyed the 20 minutes playing time I had. I was very careful to stretch first and to take a light approach. I can't grip a plectrum, so it was bare fingers/thumb playing, and even that is challenging. Still, I took it easy and had a good, if short, time.

I actually tried cortisone shots. They were ineffective. But thanks for the suggestion. I had hoped for at least a short time of relief. I’m lucky that it doesn’t hurt when my hand is at rest. I’m trying hard to see the good side of things. Otherwise, it’s misery and frustration, and I’m just not going to let that happen.

Great way to see it, DTB. I'm sorry for your pain. I also miss gigging a lot. Fortunately, I can record--with the finished product, no one can tell that it takes so much cutting and pasting to make a whole song. The magic of technology, right?

Yes, my biggest sins are sweets and carbs. I was much better before I got back to those things. I'm glad you've reminded me. I feel much better when I cut back radically on those.

I'm sorry to hear that you all suffer too, but I'm happy that at least we understand each other's situation. I am lucky in that my chording hand is okay. Well, I will probably have to give up with playing with a pick or fingers, but I will find a way to play, even if I have to strap some prosthetic device to my hand. I've just ordered some Black Mountain Picks that look interesting. I wish you all the best in dealing with the problem and the pain.

This is not a self-pity party. I write a column for a local news outlet, and I've just written an article for Saturday's paper about a hero of mine whose name I never knew but whom I saw playing [30 years ago] through the pain of arthritis, and I'm doing my best to remember his example and heroic determination as I battle arthritis now. I went to the surgeon last week. To paraphrase: "There are so many things going on in your thumb, thumb joint, wrist, and tendons, that it would take four operations to repair them, and even then, you'd have minimal results. Rheumatoid and osteo arthritis, tears in the cartilage, thumb bone destruction at the joint, very little cartilage there, benign cysts on your wrist. If you have the surgeries, you'll really be no better off and you'll likely have less movement and more pain." I was gutted at first--I thought modern medicine could fix my hand(s) and have me back to playing like I could a few years ago. How ignorant was I? Since his diagnosis, I've felt so frustrated, trying to play decently but the hands not cooperating. And then I had a talk with myself: I'll never have the ability to get back where I was, so I have to accept what I've got and learn to play differently, to have different goals as a player and writer. This morning, I sat down with my Ric 330 and Les Paul for a bit of writing, then turned my attention to my Jack Casady bass (it's my latest, and I just love it). I can't use a plectrum anymore, and even using my fingers, I can only play in 10 minute increments before I'm aching. I will never be able to play full sets live again. Maybe a song or two at an open mic. I've found some thumb exercises that help. I hold the basal joint of my thumb, then stretch my thumb to my lower palm. Doing this 10 times makes playing with my thumb less painful. Have you had the same experience? If so, what do you do that has been helpful to you? And just because we can post pics, here's my Jack Casady on the bass tree.

Cool photo! I almost feel like starting to gig again just to give the bass a stage experience. Like my Rickenbacker guitar and bass, it felt familiar in my hands from the beginning.

I love this bass more and more. As much as any of my more expensive basses. It’s classy looking as well. Epi or no, I’d gig this one proudly. It plays so well too, feels great in my hand, perfect neck. Grab one before they’re all gone. Epi has removed them from their catalog.

That’s my best buddy, Keevo. He’s a big, spoiled baby, and I couldn’t live without him.

Good eye. It’s been converted, but you can see that the g string is wrapped differently. Doesn’t really affect playing it. Hard to find a left handed Explorer bass. I do have a lefty Gibson Explorer guitar.

It is the Hercules. You can adjust the bottom rungs’ height, but not individually. I have an explorer bass on the bottom as you can see.

Its backasswards world here.

Thanks. I’ve got some stellar basses, and I’m happy to add this to the lot.

My dealer had them for $200 off, and Epiphone is no longer listing lefties. Discontinued or a new model coming? Epiphone and the Chinese factory they’re using have their shitz together. Superb workmanship, sound, and feel. Slightly important to me, they have the correct pots on it for lefties. It’s beautiful too. Sound-wise, it’s closer to my Explorer bass than to a hollow body like my Höfner. The pickup is powerful , and the varitone switch is incredibly useful for a range of tones. For now, I don’t know why I’d mod it in any way. Too, I already have flats on my Ric, fretless Jazz, and Höfner, so for now, I’m going to play it with the excellent sounding round wounds. I also have the Epiphone Korina (solid, not laminate) Explorer bass and a Casino, surprisingly excellent Chinese guitars. I owned three Epiphones before that had so much poly on them, the bodies looked like they had thick glass encasing them and the pickups sucked butt. Now, Epiphone has redeemed itself. I’d put them slightly above the quality of Epiphones in the golden years of their Korean builds.

I got a great deal on a new lefty JC today. I used to scoff at Chinese made instruments. Most of mine are Made in the US. But this will be my 3rd Chinese Epiphone—Casino, Explorer bass, and now the Jack Casady. Should be in my hands in a week. Before switching to flats, I’m going to give it a go with the rounds.

I paid around $2000 my US custom G&L JB-5, and that was worth the features I got. I have six other basses including a Ric 4001 I bought for $780 in 1978. $2000 is the most I’d spend unless I had real flip you money. Then I’d buy an Alembic. I don’t plan on buying anymore basses. I’ve got everything I need….except an Alembic. Oy veh.

I love Cheap Trick and stopped to hear Petersson’s massive bass sound. 12 string, I think. Wish I’d never heard it. I don’t think I’d want an 8 or 12 string, but man o man. That huge rumbling sent me first to my toilet, and after the plumbing failed, to the neighbor’s. I know a term like “massive sound “ is slippery and vague, but I’ll commit that sin and ask, other than with an 8 or 12 string bass, do you have a bass that gives you a diarrhea-causing massive tone? O, I’ve got a gut rumbling couple of amps—Ampeg V-4B half stack and a Fender Rumble 350. I once rumbled a crowd of 50 so well that half of them developed symptoms of severe dysentery. But Tom whose initials are fitting, TP, could disable an army of 20,000 soldiers and thus win a war in five minutes. I want a bass so powerful that I can defeat the Russian and American armies.

Very cool.

He’s seldom mentioned in bassist magazines and sites. He just doesn’t pop into people’s minds. He’s no Geddy, but he’s perfect for Cheap Trick. Such a subtle player, and if you listen closely to CT’s music, you start to appreciate what he does.

I got into Cheap Trick just before Live at Budakon broke big, and I’ve never understood why this band never reached the level of fame they deserve. I saw them twice in the earlier days, experiences I’ll never forget. Tom Petersson had and has a massive and powerful sound. Not flashy but a solid player. He really puts 8 and 12 string basses to good use. Any of you play an 8 or 12?

I’m not a fan of the song or of Ed S. Big stinky poo what I think—he’s loved by many. Elton’s seen decline for a long time, but I respect his work from 70-77. Thing is, millions love them, and I wish I could fill a stadium of folks who love my music.

Why does Fender offer more JBs than Ps? Or am I basing that on lefties, which is what I pay more attention to?