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Bass playing glove...what's the deal?
- Thread starter BrixMilner
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- glove gloves michael jackson
I use finger ease too which helps both bare hands and gloves. I used to use gloves most of the time, but in recent months use them only 40% of the time. Now that my arthritis has flared up I might be using them more. My Sandberg has SS strings which also makes me want to wear gloves more often.
In my case it's kind of oxymoronic because my fingers and hands are like the princess and the pea. My hands feel the slightest difference, yet gloves don't feel foreign to me at all and none of it is "for show". I don't really care how it looks. Whether I wear gloves or not is mostly about the timbre of attack on the right hand and several reasons on the left. On rare occasions the reason for wearing gloves is the cold and yet I'll often wear them outside in the summer.
I get injuries on my fingers occasionally where the nail meets the flesh at the corners. If they're on the left hand it's not a problem but sometimes they are on my plucking fingers and it occurs to me that if I could get used to a glove it might be a good solution for something like that while I'm healing up.
I use a glove on my right plucking hand for two reasons. First I like to play hard* and as I have aged the skin on my fingers is not as tough as it used to be and I blister like a newbie. Second is I am back to playing some classical guitar and my short nails just skreech on bass.
*playing hard helps to trigger filter and synth pedals dynamically and once I started playing EUB it was necessary.
*playing hard helps to trigger filter and synth pedals dynamically and once I started playing EUB it was necessary.
I'm only saying this because a lot of people don't know:
In the corners of your fingernails is a little piece of hard white material. One is always tempted to pick at it or dig it out, but it is a functional part of you; it protects the finger from the corner of the nail. I have known this, but absent-mindedly hurt myself anyway a while back. Use an emery board.
In the corners of your fingernails is a little piece of hard white material. One is always tempted to pick at it or dig it out, but it is a functional part of you; it protects the finger from the corner of the nail. I have known this, but absent-mindedly hurt myself anyway a while back. Use an emery board.
I don't disagree, but think of the affect is more like added warmth than traditional muting. You can get some added warmth on the left hand as well, but not as much. Typically I use either two gloves or none. It all depends.
I haven't read this whole post.... I know I have an issue with Stainless strings, so I switched to Dunlop Nickel rounds. No issues and I like the tone more.
i did. i read the whole damb thing: it's about wearing gloves, yea or nay, the good, the bad, and the ugly!
@Joe Nerve turned me/us onto "musician gloves" a while back --- i bought a pair, used them, bought a couple more pair: they're great for weather and ambient atmosphere-related issues.
- cold weather (not as good as your best winter gloves, but way better than bare hands).
- helps the warmup routine, sometimes.
- i've used them in hot(ter) weather to foil sticky fingers syndrome.
- they're great on fretless axes (with rounds) if you need to navigate sticky-esq strings (e.g., roto SS)!
- they've helped me lighten up at times (i.e., seemed to play more smoothly).
- easier, more efficient left-hand muting at times.
i don't use them much, but i carry them in my gig bag just in case. full disclosure: i have some arthritis issues, and when i play i want all the comfort i can get. the gloves are a part of that, sometimes.
i did. i read the whole damb thing: it's about wearing gloves, yea or nay, the good, the bad, and the ugly!
@Joe Nerve turned me/us onto "musician gloves" a while back --- i bought a pair, used them, bought a couple more pair: they're great for weather and ambient atmosphere-related issues.
- cold weather (not as good as your best winter gloves, but way better than bare hands).
- helps the warmup routine, sometimes.
- i've used them in hot(ter) weather to foil sticky fingers syndrome.
- they're great on fretless axes (with rounds) if you need to navigate sticky-esq strings (e.g., roto SS)!
- they've helped me lighten up at times (i.e., seemed to play more smoothly).
- easier, more efficient left-hand muting at times.
i don't use them much, but i carry them in my gig bag just in case. full disclosure: i have some arthritis issues, and when i play i want all the comfort i can get. the gloves are a part of that, sometimes.
Gloves can be an acquired taste. To some they can feel extremely foreign, perhaps even "disconnecting". For others they can be comfortable from the start. And for others yet can be something that can be quickly gotten used to. I don't think it took me any time to get used to them. Obviously they will make things feel different, but for folks like myself they don't hinder my playing at all. I don't use them all the time, perhaps 50% or more, depending on the instrument and strings. In terms of being hot or cold, I don't think they make a lot of difference. But in the cold perhaps they help a bit, but I rarely play outside in the cold. Mostly in the summer when it can be hot at times. When I use them it's because of how they warm up the sound on some instruments, particularly those with stainless steel strings when I don't want as much sizzle in my sound.
- Oct 7, 2000
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I had to play a few gigs in the cold (less than 40 F for me), and used them. I was pleasantly surprised. They took a moment to get used to, but was then kind of fun and different. I used them last year a few times when my right hand fingers were cut up and wouldn't heal. Its always better to play without, IMO, but hey... they're cheap. I'd suggest buying a pair, checking them out, and then having them on hand (pun intended) should you ever need them. That's the only way you'll really know what the experience is like.
Michael Formanek has used cotton “sleeping gloves” both in the studio and live to get a different, softer sound from his upright bass. I couldn’t tell you, offhand, which recordings he has used this trick on.
But I wonder why he is not wearing it all the time? Maybe the issue is getting better?
To the best of my knowledge he wears one on his left hand all the time. I've not seen him play without it.
Yes. They only take a few moments to get used to.
FOR ME it's more about tone and/or feel than temperature or correcting something like focal dystonia (which I have had in my face as a trumpet player). I think I tend to wear them with stainless strings and not so much with nickel strings and almost never with flats. When I do wear them I want to note that the gloves have different "functions" on my right and left hands. Left hand; some tone and getting around when the strings are rougher, like SS strings. The eliminate any "stiction" from the back of the neck. Right hand: The sound of the attack. Both hands provide a warm rich tone and warm but articulate attack. If you need to get more of a Motown/P Bass sound with something other than a P Bass gloves will help. JMO
I have a Musicians Glove.
I bought it to keep my fingernails from hitting the strings when I pluck.
But I find that they make a soft hiss when plucking.
So instead I just sand down the fingernails with a sanding sponge instead.
I bought it to keep my fingernails from hitting the strings when I pluck.
But I find that they make a soft hiss when plucking.
So instead I just sand down the fingernails with a sanding sponge instead.
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Sanding block? That sounds rough. Hey- but whatever works.
Even if I file my nails I still wear gloves when appropriate. HOWEVER, the file I like the best is the Revlon diamond file. In addition to filing fingernails, it is fantastic for rounding fret ends! Super easy to contol. I've used one on multiple guitars and at least one bass. I seem to have a touch with it and don't even bother (or need) to mask the fingerboard.
A sanding SPONGE.
Big difference.
There's not much difference between that file you use and the tiny,delicate little files on a set of nail clippers.
Which are useless to me.
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