Can you play bass with no thumb on fretting hand?

deakle

deakle

Experienced
My brother-in-law has played bass for close to 40 years now. He is facing the frightening prospect of possibly losing the thumb on his left (fretting) hand due to an infection in the bone. He is to receive IV antibiotics once a week for 8 hours for the next 6 weeks. If that doesn’t work the doctors may have to amputate his thumb. The thumb is the “anchor” on your fretting hand so it is essential to be able to play. Has anyone seen a device or know of a way that it may be possible for him to continue to play should he lose his thumb? I have thought about maybe using a slide but I’m not sure how well that would work for a bass. Anyone have any ideas, no matter how crazy? My cousin who plays bass in a bluegrass band lost his entire left hand in an auto accident. He received a hook prosthetic and switched to upright bass and learned to play it with the hook. So I know “where there is a will, there is a way”. Cmon guys and put your thinking caps on and make some suggestions to help a fellow musician out.
 
I'm sure he'll still be able to play, but it'll definitely affect his technique. He may need lower action and lighter strings. Another option is a touch-style instrument like the Chapman Stick.
 
What about playing with the bass lying across your lap and playing it like a lap steel the way Jeff Healey used to? Thoughts?
 
I alternate all the time between using the thumb and just holding in palm with thumb wrapped around. I didn't even realize I was doing it until an engineer at a studio I was recording at pointed it out many years ago. Totally doable for fairly simple bass lines.
 
It is possible, depending upon the style one plays.

He may want to try wood shedding the altered grip and see how he fares.

Perhaps he will need a shorter scale or thinner neck.
 
He should talk to an occupational therapist who is also a CHT (certified hand therapist). This would be right up their alley. Also, talk to a prosthetist.
 
Depending on the level of the amputation, if he still has what is called the thenar eminence left - that's the big "bump" you see on your palm at the base of the thumb - then he should be able to brace that against the back of the neck as an anchor. Will need a bit of practice to get used to the modified technique, but definitely doable.

The pic shows the thenar eminence (circled). He will get some muscle wasting there (labeled) once his thumb has gone, but the pad of the eminence itself should still be a good brace to anchor on.
 

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When I was 19 I dated a girl who's dad had his left hand thumb amputated in an accident.

He played guitar... He put a loop of yarn around the neck and slid his hand through it. The yarn against the back of the neck became his "brace".

Pretty interesting to watch!
 
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TG3K said:
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you meant to say "hand", lol.
Click to expand...
Yes... Will edit my post!

And you said "limb" :D

Edit:

Sorry @deakle - it just occurred to me that my comment may be inappropriate given the context. Hopefully a positive outcome for your brother-in-law. I'll delete the comment if it bothers you.
 
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