‘Sticky fingers’

Technique
1

I’ve noticed I get a problem with my plucking hand. Mainly happens when playing live but also sometimes in the rehearsal room. What it is is that sometimes a plucking finger will hook round a string and sort of stick. Mainly D and G strings and despite me usually plucking quite lightly.

I’m presuming it is partly the difference between sitting and standing as well as the nerves and loss of muscle memory when playing live.

I consciously practice some of the time standing up, especially when a gig is coming up. My bass is at a similar height on me when sitting or standing.

Any tips to get out of this?

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2

It seems like everything you do on a gig would dry out your fingers.

You can go dry route with the roll on powder I got that from GraphTech it works really well but it leaves powder stain everywhere.

In general I use FingerEase spray. It works really well. That’s my go to.

In a pinch just use your nose grease works better than anything.

Here’s the discussion we had here a few moments back. Thanks for @joergkutter for the video.

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3

Wash your hands, I’m serious, I always make sure my hands are clean before I play, and if my plucking fingers still feel sticky, I rub those fingertips vigorously back and forth on my pant leg, that helps a lot. I also keep a rag handy to rub down the back of the neck to keep it clean, a sticky neck sucks.

When I watch bands play when they get all sweaty, including their hands, I wonder how in hell can they still play their guitars.

1 Like