Playing with Rings on ....

[pete.young]

I've been married more than 40 years and never worn or owned a wedding ring. I don't wear any other jewellery and take my watch off to play. Can't bear anything on my fingers.

[Oopsdabassist]

And in contrast to Pete, I been married nearly 46 years and my wedding ring has never left my finger...not once. Obviously this means I always play with my ring on and I've never come across an issue, same with a watch on my left (fretting) wrist

[BigRedX]

I've worn rings on my right hand for over 30 years now, and so long as what I wear on my thumb isn't too fancy they don't get in the way of my playing.

 

I've recently been experimenting with the feasibility of wearing rings on my left hand, and again so long as they are fairly plain, not too wide and reasonably tight fitting I think I'll be alright.

 

I have never worn a watch on stage. They just don't look right IMO and are not consistent with my on-stage persona. I've currently got a hand-me down Apple Watch and it goes in my clothes bag along with my non-stage wear while I'm playing. I do enough real steps during loading, setting up and breaking down at a normal gig to not need 35-40 minutes of fakes steps while I'm actually playing.

Edited yesterday at 10:11 by BigRedX

[nige1968]

I switched mine to the right hand the morning after my wedding (for reasons of comfort and also because it was already getting scratched). It has been there ever since without issue. OP, your pick hand technique must be terrifying if it’s in danger of flying off.

[Leonard Smalls]

Never had a problem playing with my (very plain) wedding ring, but having seen horrific pix of de-gloving injuries, always took it off when going climbing... Where I managed to lose it!

Now I have a slightly chunkier ring (not wedding, tis sliver with black Iona stone) on my little finger left hand as that's the only place it fits. Makes no difference to playing (I do fret with the little pinky!), but then I also wear a strap-on that hand *

 

* for a previous case of trigger thumb... But it's black and punky.

[Dan Dare]

I may be missing something, but if any item of jewellery is uncomfortable to wear whilst playing (or doing anything for that matter), surely the sensible option is to remove it and put it in your pocket whilst you play.

[Rich]

Back in the 80s I wore half a dozen different Great Frog rings on various fingers. The only playing problem I ever had with them was the one on my right hand pinky finger, the ring kept flying off while I was playing and I nearly lost it a few times. I took to wearing it on a neckchain for gig nights. 

[BigRedX]

9 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

I may be missing something, but if any item of jewellery is uncomfortable to wear whilst playing (or doing anything for that matter), surely the sensible option is to remove it and put it in your pocket whilst you play.

 

An excellent idea, but I have no pockets in my on-stage clothes and I am sure I'm not the only person in this situation.

[ped]

I don't wear mine, never have! I think it's in a box somewhere but it was only a cheap one made of Tungsten Carbide - my wife doesn't care and I felt it looked weird! I did notice it clacking against the neck of my bass originally, so that's why I took it off. She married a pro bassist so she knew the risks.

[Woodinblack]

I never wore any jewelry until marriage. I lost my wedding ring because it was white gold and irritated so I fiddled with it (nickel allergy). Got a cheap silver band as a replacement, and wore that for 15 years, with no issues.

10 years ago I got a nice silver wedding ring, which is quite wide, and initially it got in the way a bit, but I got used to it. Then at 25 years married I got a long service award ring, next to it, and that also was a bit noticable for a month or so, but after time didn't notice it again. Then my wife got a fancy ring but it was too big and loose on the biggerst her tiny little fingers, but fit on my little finger, so now I have 3 rings. I also recently have put on weight so they were tight for a while. I notice I click them as a tic! Sometimes they hit the fingerboard but in general they have very little impact to my playing though now I am used to them.

[police squad]

no problem with my wedding ring. It probably clanks against the neck but I don't notice

A friend of mine caught his wedding at work on something and it took his finger off. I've also caught mine and my finger swelled up and it was quite sore.

I keep thinking about putting it round my neck instead of wearing it

[synthaside]

Ha Ha .... i lost a fair bit of weight between my other half  designing the rings them being made and ahead of the wedding .. weirdly my hands were affected the most .

 

1 hour ago, nige1968 said:

I switched mine to the right hand the morning after my wedding (for reasons of comfort and also because it was already getting scratched). It has been there ever since without issue. OP, your pick hand technique must be terrifying if it’s in danger of flying off.

 

It's fairly loose if I push it out Ignore johnny dibble ..  the ring is safe on my left hand ... but bulky enough that it feels " odd" and affects my left hand dexterity ... probably a mental thing , we do play punk and it could definately go flying off the right finger .
 

Resizing the ring isn't an easy option i the uk it's engraved  in latvian inside and out .

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by synthaside

[Lfalex v1.1]

On 09/02/2026 at 19:12, JapanAxe said:

I haven’t worn my wedding ring for many years because I became sensitised to the nickel in it. But it was always slightly uncomfortable as I have slightly webby fingers!

 

I have a reasonable degree of syndactyly. Nothing outrageous,  but my fingers look much shorter than they really are.

I simply cannot play with rings on either hand. I can't play with a watch on. Seems to constrict the tendons in my left wrist. Tried playing in fingerless gloves (because: cold) and that didn't work out well at all.

[AndyTravis]

I’ve never really given it any thought. It’s just there…

[Geek99]

For five minutes or so @AndyTravis … oh - you mean the ring 🤦‍♂️

[AndyTravis]

7 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

For five minutes or so @AndyTravis … oh - you mean the ring 🤦‍♂️

That’s a bass I’ve owned for 10+ years 😉

[Geek99]

2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

That’s a bass I’ve owned for 10+ years 😉

😱 there is no such bass. You lie like a “friend” of an ex-ambassador 

[Lozz196]

I couldn’t play with any kind of rings on any of the fingers on my left hand. Fortunately I’m not married so wouldn’t have to try to explain removing a wedding ring to play my bass.

[AndyTravis]

13 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

😱 there is no such bass. You lie like a “friend” of an ex-ambassador 

I have 4 I’ve owned for 10+
 

you focus on the revolving door of 5+ too much 😉

[casapete]

13 hours ago, pete.young said:

I've been married more than 40 years and never worn or owned a wedding ring. I don't wear any other jewellery and take my watch off to play. Can't bear anything on my fingers.

I’m the same. Don’t do any jewellery at all, and haven’t worn a watch since leaving my day job 33 years ago!
 

Incidentally, after reading how many people do wear rings on here, has anyone ever damaged the neck or other parts of their basses due to them? Must admit I’ve never seen anything that resembled this when buying s/h instruments. 

[Stub Mandrel]

I've never had a problem playing with a ring on.

[42Hz]

Here the tradition is to wear the wedding ring on the right hand. This happens to be the hand that (in my case) plucks the strings - excite them, you may say - so the ring dont cause troubles. Maybe a coincidence, but we also drive the right side of the road.

Edited 9 hours ago by 42Hz

[madshadows]

I wear a ring on each finger of my fretting left hand and take them off when playing !  

 

John 😎

[Geek99]

12 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I have 4 I’ve owned for 10+
 

you focus on the revolving door of 5+ too much 😉

😳
that stuff about aliens was true …

[Heathy]

My band played a short set at my wedding. Didn’t give it a thought then, and haven’t since.

 

If a wedding ring cause issues it may be a technique issue?

 

Also, possibly overthinking, or protesting too much (if you know what I mean) 🤣