| Author | Message | ||
| slammin
Junior Username: slammin Post Number: 22 Registered: 10-2009 |
Weird, and not sure what to make of it, but I used to dread cold weather when it came to playing my bass. Fingers always felt like rigamortis settling in if the ambient temp was less than 80f or so. I needed to be sweating in order for my fingers to feel limber. Now, even as we are in a cold spell and coming in from outside with hands freezing, the cold doesn't seem to effect me now. Been playing since I was 6, and this is the first time I have realized this. Matter of fact, the cold makes my fingers feel like'sticks' of wood. I guess it took me this many years of playing before realizing that I could have actually been able to gig in cold weather, but back then, I hated the cold! I'm just wondering out loud if it is perhaps that I play differently now than I played then, or if I am really just more tolerant of environmental conditions now. I just know that when it (my hands) was cold, I almost hated to play my bass. Now I beat my hands up playing after shoveling snow! | ||
| crgaston
Senior Member Username: crgaston Post Number: 567 Registered: 11-2005 |
I hate it, too, but it's worse when it's been warm and first gets cold. After it's been cold awhile it's not so bad. At an outdoor gig we did this fall, I came up with the idea of putting the little chemical handwarmer thingies inside a pair of sweatbands so they were warming my wrists. Seems like it helped some. | ||
| jakebass
Intermediate Member Username: jakebass Post Number: 106 Registered: 7-2007 |
Well I've been trying to practice with temperatures outside here in the UK of -3C to -10C for over a week (I know this is no big deal to some, but our winters are usually damp and mild. It has been tough on the fingers. I have a log fire but not in my practise room, so I warm up and then get about 20 mins before it's too cold to continue. We do have central heating but it just doesn't warm me in the same way. I hear that Mexico is going through a similarly unusual cold spell. Jake | ||
| benson_murrensun
Advanced Member Username: benson_murrensun Post Number: 213 Registered: 5-2007 |
I remember playing a couple of gigs here in Colorado at which I had to wear cut-off gloves, a knit hat and insulated coveralls. Ah, the glamour of the rock n roll life! One time in Leadville it was so cold my lips stuck to the metal grill of the microphone. The gig ended then... | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 482 Registered: 5-2002 |
I remember an outdoor show in Telluride that ended with a snowball fight! | ||
| howierd
Intermediate Member Username: howierd Post Number: 106 Registered: 8-2004 |
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| peoplechipper
Intermediate Member Username: peoplechipper Post Number: 198 Registered: 2-2009 |
My first band used to rehearse in a horse stable; was great watching the steam coming off the singer, he looked like he was about to catch fire...I can't beleive the horses LIKED the music and would come in to watch. Mind you, the drummer would start their day with Slayer...I remember the hands getting pretty wooden after a couple hours in the cold, but haven't tried that in awhile; I'll have to try winter on the porch and see...Tony | ||
| slammin
Junior Username: slammin Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2009 |
LOL, a gig ending with a snowball fight! That's hardcore! Ya know, I really do think a lot of it has to do with how easy this bass is to play. I grew up playing a few firewood basses that didn't allow low action, and were painful to play when the fingers were too cold. The leather pads that have built up on my fingertips over the years help I'm sure, but it just struck me that I now don't mind the cold when it comes to playing. |
