Wearing a Ring while Playing: A Discussion for Bass Players
Q: I’m getting married soon and thought about how much wearing a wedding ring could affect my playing. I suppose it takes some time to adjust to it anyway, but I’m especially thinking about fret and string noise, or neck scratches. I noticed that you play with a wedding ring yourself and seem pretty comfortable with it, even on wide 6-stringers. Did that affect your left hand technique in any way? How did you adapt? I suppose married bass players might wanna share some experience about that, too.
A: I’m most surprised by the fact that you had the foresight to see this issue beforehand. It took me a few tunes into a set during my first gig with a ring on my left hand to realize the potential for damage to the neck or unintended sound effects on the bass.
I don’t worry too much about dings and dents as my basses get used heavily and, while I do try and take care of them, I’m not thinking “future resale value” or anything. My primary concern was unintended sonic effects by the ring.
It’s not an issue on my 4-string but, yes, on the 6, (and when playing on the low B string especially) there is a danger of the ring fretting a note and getting a sitar-ish / bottle-neck slide type of sound.
This actually caused me to experiment with larger flat rings to try and get that sound intentionally but, when trying to avoid any unintended sounds your options are limited.
- Remove the ring when you play
- This is the easiest way to avoid the issue but, of course, opens the door to some serious consequences and frustrations if you were to ever lose it!
- Be careful and/or alter your technique slightly.
- For me, personally, once I was aware of the potentiality for the issue I simply put just a hair more of an arc in my fingers when playing deep on the neck and it solved the problem.
If you have an overly “flat-fingered” style of playing, it might take a little more effort but beyond those two options, I can’t really think of much else ther eis do be done about it.
Keep in mind that I also use a 16.5mm spacing on my 6-string basses. I still find that when I try someone else’s bass that has a wider spacing, the issue rears it’s ugly head again. On a recent trip to Japan, I swung into quite a few bass shops, and one had an early model Anthony Jackson 6-string Fodera (which has a notoriously wide spacing). Aside from being unable to play it well at all (man… that thing is wiiiiide), I was indeed getting the old unintended sitar notes on the C string while playing in the lower register. If I ever had to play a bass like that for some reason, I would probably just have to remove my ring but, thankfully, I’m not partial to 4-string spacing on a 6-string bass.
Readers, what’s your approach? Tell us about it in the comments.
Photo by Neil Gould
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I have big fat fingers. Therefore, I have a big fat wedding ring. I can’t stand the feel of it whacking the side of the fretboard! I always take my wedding ring off when I play. My wife is cool with the fact that I leave my wedding ring at home when I head out to the bar. Your results may vary in this important regard!
I know tons of people that have no issue at all playing with jewelry. I don’t think my issue has anything to do with being able to actually hear my ring when I play, it’s just the feeling of it is like nails on a chalkboard for some reason.
Okay…
I always did too Alex…it pinches…I do the same for golf and softball too
I thought you were one of the guys that could wear it and play D……. OK, so I know one less person that wears a ring and plays…….
I at times have the same issue…my ring is pretty wide and dependent on the way I am playing it can be an issue. I either stuff it in my change pocket or on my keyclip…feel nekkid if I don’t have it “with” me tho…
I’m too scared I’d lose mine if I just had it stuffed in a pocket or something.
My muffin top locks it in the change pocket. ;)
Mine don’t come off. It’s stuck there. I got little skinny fingers anyway.
I would take it off to avoid damage to the ring farm my fretted basses and damage to the fingerboard on my fretless and upright basses.
My fiancée got me titanium ring for that very reason. It’s super-light, I barely notice it’s there.
I wear mine on my right hand, which is also the European way to wear it.
i wear ine on the right hand too. that is not a european style, my wife wears it on her left, the priest that married us told us that christians wear rings on their left hend and protestants on their right hand (i’m from europe, just that we are clear :) ).
I just noticed my friends in Germany did that :)
protestants are christians.
I think it’s a bit of a sweeping assumption to infer that a certain behaviour is European just because you’ve observed it in one country in Europe. Europe is UNBELIEVABLY diverse in terms of customs and behaviours. For heaven’s sake, individual countries within Europe are unbelievably diverse within themselves. Certain countries wear wedding rings on one hand and engagement rings on the other. Some countries wear both on the same hand; some on the left and some on the right. I’ve never heard of the Catholics wearing it on one hand and Protestants on the other, but that could well be the case in Croatia – just goes to show how diverse Europe is. Being Irish, I wear my wedding ring on my left hand – since that is the custom here, regardless of religion.
And I just leave it on when I’m playing. Never even notice it’s there.
I wear my ring on the other hand.
I can’t wear anything on the left hand – rings, bracelets, you name it. It all gets in the way. It may have to do with the fact that I have small hands, and short fingers. People I know that can wear anything on the left have hands that look like spiders.
When I first got married and I wore a ring for the first time, it bothered me a lot when I played but I just adapted my technique slightly (probably subconsciously) and I soon got used to it.
As far as I know Jeanette, we Europeans usually wear our wedding rings on our left hand too. The exception is if you’re from the Eastern Orthodox church so that hand is used more often in Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia etc.
My German friends mostly wear it on the right hand, otherwise please forgive my ignorance :)
The first time I wore mine, I didn’t even notice it until it kind of worked it’s way up my finger until I finally had to let it fall off. I put it back on and was a little more concious of keeping it on the first night, but after that, I didn’t even notice it. I’ve never hit a string with it, but I have a pretty arced technique…
I keep my keys on a carabiner. When I’m recording with the upright, I slip my wedding ring on it. For live play, I let it clack away. If I cared about dings on my basses, I wouldn’t play them.
Wow, it’s not a 2 pound weight; you can get wedding bands so thin they’re barely noticeable. Perhaps, consider one for daily use and a thinner one for gigs.
I wear my ring on my left hand :)
My issue with wearing a ring actually has nothing to do with either sound or damage to my bass. If I play for long enough wearing any rings (usually wear two or three on my left hand outside of playing) the end result is a blister at the base of each finger where the band rubbed the skin raw. I’ve always tried to be careful not to nick my strings, but I always manage to hurt myself when I wear my rings regardless. I’ve pretty much defaulted to taking them off when I’m about to play, so there are no issues anymore.
Not an issue for me, as I play lefty. Wedding ring is on the hand that plucks. I say wear your wedding ring on any finger you want to. If it interferes with your playing on the left, wear it on the right. I wouldn’t put it off and on because I’d lose it for sure. Plus, I get enough women approaching me in bars even though I wear a wedding ring. Mine hasn’t been off since the day I got married 7+ years ago.
When I was married, I tried playing with it on, but I couldn’t do it. It was always a distraction. It had nothing to do with not wanting to look married, because, like you said, a ring doesn’t matter to a groupie. It just drove me nuts trying to play with the damned thing on my hand.
Good man, Chad!
Sorry, i mend right hand :-)
No problems with the ring here.
I switch mine to my right hand when playing.
I wore my wedding ring for probably 10 years while playing, but then I tore a tendon on my left hand ring finger, which resulted in me not being able to wear the ring. So…I switched it over to my right hand. Now I don’t wear it at all due to joint problems in my right hand, but wearing a ring never affected what I played or how I played it.
I like no ring best for playability. Carried the ring on my necklace to show my respect and consideration for my honey. Got real busy with gigs……..don’t have to worry about the ring anymore!
Interesting read. I personally think its all based around technique. A bit more arc in the left hand fingers should alleviate any issues. But for those “flat fingered” player it’s likely best to leave the ring off – put it in your bass case or your pocket. Don’t lose it. She’ll be pretty pissed off. Ha ha – what do you call a musician without a girlfriend/wife ? – homeless !!!
I was very careful, when I chose my wedding ring, not to select what jewellers call a “square-shouldered” ring. Mine is slim and curved-shouldered, and doesn’t interfere at all with the frets or the edge of the fingerboard. (I only play 4-string, so can’t comment on how it might affect a 6-string!)
I play four and five string bass and a four string AE bass. I usually wear four rings when I play. (Two on each hand, on my middle and ring fingers). Once in a while, I’ll take them off if I feel uncomfortable, which isn’t often. If I’m playing someone’s bass or at the guitar store, I’ll take them off, course.
South Paw…
1-never been maried 2-last time I lent my baby to a bass player he was wearing big rings on each finger…plus he was sweating (he killed my strings…. so happy*) no need to tell you what happened to the neck. So now it’s clear, ding or not, no ring on my basses. In my case I care about dings, specially on a a neck: I don’t like playing a neck full of scratch, sorry….
I only find it an issue on my Upright when recording. Otherwise it seems to work ok.
My nieghbor told me he had his ring catch on the fret end and pop the fret, rendering his bass dead from 3rd or 4th fret up.
Never really thought about this too much but I’ve been married for 24 years and I have been playing bass (mostly) with a wedding ring on my fretting (left) hand. I actually have two wedding rings (a nice gold – original one I got married in and a cheaper one for general wearing) and I don’t wear my original gold wedding band when playing these days, as it is tight and did snag sometimes, especially on the D and G strings. Now I have a wider and looser silver ring that I can slide up and down my ring finger a little bit so it moves when I play and I don’t have an issue with it. Being married so long I definitely find not having my wedding ring on at all times feels naked.
know what you mean T man , I have just put my wedding ring back on now that I have lost weight , its in the heart T Man and Cheryl knows this brudda, by the way 24 yrs is an awesome achievement ..:-)
mine ripped apart the finish on the underside of the binding on one of my Rics…no problems now though! ;)
That’s because you’re a single man these days!
This is a worthless topic.
With respect, I believe anything that effects the way I interact with my bass is worth addressing. It seems that a lot of other players do as well…….
But, of course! To me, it’s very simple, just take it off; but that’s just me, and be careful with it; that’s why we can post our opinions and conclusions, just as you have. It’s all good.
When you’re out for a gig is always better to take of your ring. Thus is more probably to get laid, otherwise I see no reason to do that.
I’m a 4 string player and I prefer the J Bass neck (1 1/2″ nut width). Fortunately, with large hands on a thin neck, I’ve never had to remove my wedding band or alter my playing position to accommodate it. I did, however, have to adjust my left hand position when I was in my 5 and 6 string phase. As mentioned, it was just a matter of a little more arc in the fingers. On a sort of related issue, I had to quit wearing watches when I play. For me, it was either flopping around on my wrist and distracting me or so tight as to cause discomfort and restriction of motion.
Attracted less women with the ring on. :)
I wear three rings (one on left the others on right) and play without bad effects… where’s the problem? maybe it’s better think how and what you play, not what rings do :)
Never had a problem here. I made sure that my wedding band has rounded sides rather than a flat one that might catch on a fret. Proper technique should make this a non issue.
Wear your ring on the other hand. Then think about something a bit more challenging :-)
personally…i find its isn’t a problem when sitting down to play…but when standing up it catches on the G…so it either goes in the pocket if I trust my trouser pocket…or onto the right hand if I don’t…
Why you ar ur ring on d lefty? Here we wear it on R. Is it some sortmof story to it?
here we wear it on the left…reminds us which side of the road to drive on Piotr…:D…happy new year man…best of luck in 2013…
Take care and i hope i will finally see u all feckers in 2013. :)
that’d be great dude! we’ll make a space on the stage for you…
On my left hand, I wear a wedding band on my ring finger and a ring on my middle finger without any problems. I purchased a project bass from a guy who wore a thumb ring on his fretting hand, and that caused significant damage to the back of the neck.
lol…not sure a “discussion” was needed for that….sounds like common sense to me.
Well, I do remove my naval ring when playing shirtless, as it gets snagged on my straplocks.
Funny, I know some married men who don’t play guitar that dont even wear a wedding ring.. Your a good man!!!!
thank God you only use one string…
How many do you need?
Coming from the double bass world originally, I already had (and still have) a more arched fingering style with my left hand, so the ring has never been an issue, and I usually play a broadneck 6 string.
yeah… I tried the “I can’t play with it on” for a very short time right after I got married. I think the response was “try harder” or “practice more” lol
I remember hearing the ring slide around on the strings, right after I got married. Think I just adjusted because it didn’t become a problem after awhile. I tried it without wearing the ring, a few times. But, that was just when there were really hot chicks in the crowd.
Hi @[1188489707:2048:Kris Diaz] ;-)
alternative way to use a wedding ring..just put the ring in a necklace.
I actually thought about this one too, ahead of time. I went for the very thin ring that had the least possibility of causing a problem. This was when I first started playing on the road. I tried the ring for a while but ended up removing it each time I performed. For other reasons, it became redundant after the divorce. I still remove my watch before I play. I can’t have anything on that might restrict left hand movement.
lol look at my picture… look at it…. I wear nine rings and I’m fine…. lulz. deal with it, you have no excuse http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGA2OKX_hE.
I ended up just not wearing my wedding ring. I play four stringers but was still getting a slide guitar type effect when my ring hit the strings. It was so frustrating because I have small hands and no matter what I did, I kept hearing it. My wife and I have discussed the option of getting my wedding ring tattooed.
I have no problem wearing a ring while playing. I thought I would at first, but it didn’t hinder me at all. I play basses with 4 strings up to 8 strings.
When I first got married I had one of those heavy tungsten rings and was oblivious to the bass factor. That tungsten ring was like hitting my bass with a rock everytime plus string noise. I wore no ring for a few years. Eventually, I bought one of those super thin wedding bands, not very man-tastic, but am able to play all my basses with no issues.
I’ve been switching mine to my right hand when I play for over 21 years. The random clicking sounds from the ring being on my left hand was driving me crazy. For what it’s worth, with playing my bass, I don’t even think about the switch. I’ve done it so many times it’s just an automatic step I take before I pick up a stringed instrument.
I personally find that my rings add something to my technique. As mentioned, I did have to adapt, but I wear about 40g of gold on my right hand. My playing is very slap heavy and I find the weight of the rings adds to my ability to increase dynamics when necessary. That said, I also wear rings on my left hand (I’m a righty). I have a Palladium wedding band I wear on my left index finger- it provides me with increased fluidity when working up the neck, but DOES scratch the Wenge neck of my Warwick basses. I own 3 German Warwick’s- a Dolphin, Corvette, and a 6 string Thumb. My Thumb and Dolphin have laquered and painted necks, and I HAVE destroyed the finish. That said, I am a session player and care little about the physical condition of my instruments. I have a 66 precision and I don’t take my gold off for that either. It is something to adapt to, but again, I feel the weight on my fingers adds to my technique a bit. I also wear gold bracelets- these are only an issue in the studio. In live situations, my MEC pickups don’t pick any noise up. I hope this helps y’all. Sometimes I will simply put a sweat band or bandanna on my wrist in the studio. I live in my jewlery, so I have adapted everything around it. Hope my 2 cents is helpful. (I’ve toured the world and have only had one artist I’ve worked with tell me not to wear the rings)