Going off of what Mo said earlier:

You might consider adjusting the height of your bass. I'm not sure how high you wear your bass, but the lower one wears a bass, the more likely you are to have sharper wrist angle, and therefore potential hand problems. Now, there are a bunch of people who play with low-slung basses (for the rockstar vibe, I guess) but I would highly recommend adjusting your strap so the body of your bass is right over your gut. This will allow your fretting hand to be nice and comfortable without much of an angle in your wrist.

And do be sure to keep your thumb behind the neck, like the pictures that Mo posted. Yet again, a lot of folks keep their thumb over the neck like a guitar player might, but this can really limit your technique and might cause cramps as well. These are just my opinions of course. Healthy hands should be a high priority in anyone's bass playing, though.

Good luck!

Justin

Justin, you made an important point there - the height and position of the bass itself.

In fact, I find the more vertical the neck. the less sharp the wrist angle is.

I'm investigating getting a hip strap as well as a shoulder strap. I'm not talhing about that special crossove strap thingy. I saw an article on a bassist Xavier ???? when researching fan fret basses and his set up made a lot of sense. His neck was at least 45deg angle.

In addition, there was a group called the Peddlars. The bassist in that group used an electric bass, sat on a chair and nursed the body in his lap with the neck almost vertical. Looked strange but he played exquisitely and he seemed very comfortable.

Mo

Hey Mo, don't forget Bill Wyman. He played his bass at a really steep angle. Although scuttlebutt says that was so he could chat up the girls while playing. lol

Yeah, you're right, he did hold his neck at a steep angle.

Ever tried to listen to and copy/transpose his bass lines?

He played some weird technique but it was just the ticket for the early Stones stuff. I went off them when they got into all that satanic b/s, up until then I rated them as my fav R&B group.

Mo

Thanks for the height advice Justin, but I already play sooooo "geek style". You know, bass on my chest, neck by my ear... if I lifted the neck any higher I'ld have to play the damn thing left handed. I'm just kidding... but I do play with the bass pretty high up.

As for the thumb though... I am keeping it behind the neck, but I'm not always keeping it in line with my middle finger as I move up and down the neck. I'll have to practice keeping my thumb in the right position when I play.

Thanks for your help Justin!

Rol

Your welcome and good luck with your hand! The only other
thing I would recommend (and this might not have any effect on
hand cramps) is to play with a moving thumb anchor, i.e., so it's
not anchored to the pickup the whole time. I use the moving
anchor and I find it keeps my hand in a nice, relaxed position all
of the time. There are some good posts that you can find on
this subject if you search through Fretbuzz, and stud bassplayer
Adam Nitti has some info on this topic on his website
adamnitti.com. Cheers!

Justin

Sorry, replace "cramps" with "fatigue".

Oh, and replace "Your" with "You're". I just feel like correcting
myself for some reason - whatever....

You talkin' about cramps?? Don't even start with me. You don't even want to know about cramps and standing on stage for 3+ hours wearing a nearly 10-pound bass. ;^)

Ma "see my old post 'something in my gig bag you don't have'" Geezer

...'something in my gig bag you don't have'...

Hehe - I remember that well. It was about the time I appeared on the AB scene.

Mo

Good lord, son, I had no idea you're from Iowa City! I'm a third-generation Hawkeye myself. Got my B.S. in 1977, in General Science, after a music major didn't really work out. Spent most of my college days in the Scottish Highlanders. My mom graduated in '48, my dad in '50, and my grandmother got her Master's in English Lit in 1924.

My hubby, the ever-eccentric Dr. Science,, did his graduate work at the U. of I. as well. Just the science stuff, anyway. The as-yet-unused law degree he obtained from U. of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

I like to say that when we got married, we took the name of the county where we met! The fact that hubby's last name was already Johnson had nothing to do with it. :)