Question about John's playing

Hi
Long time Queen fan here (about 16 years)
One thing that buggers me is the fact that I don't know why does John puts his right hand in his mouth while playing. You can see him do this in several videos.
Anyone have a theory for this?

He's licking fingers

Yep, thats what he's doin, lots of bassists do that.

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Serry... wrote: [/QUOTENAME]He's licking fingers[/QUOTE]

Sigmeund Freud would say something diferent, like "-licking his fingers reminds him of his mother nipples from his childhood".


Take care

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Bobby_brown wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Serry... wrote: [/QUOTENAME]He's licking fingers[/QUOTE]

Sigmeund Freud would say something diferent, like "-licking his fingers reminds him of his mother nipples from his childhood".


Take care[/QUOTE]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's crazy! :D

[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]<font color="#FF00FF">its_a_hard_life wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Bobby_brown wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Serry... wrote: [/QUOTENAME]He's licking fingers[/QUOTE]

Sigmeund Freud would say something diferent, like "-licking his fingers reminds him of his mother nipples from his childhood".


Take care[/QUOTE]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's crazy! :D

[/QUOTE]

Not to mention completely useless and unrelated.

licking your fingers is a technique used to get a not so flat sound.

Thanks Serry and Liam for your answers. I understand now.

Licking his fingers is mainly to stop friction building up on the hands to avoid blistering!

no its isnt, john hardly ever licked his finger later on in the 80's because he didnt mind the more flat sound. The pure reason for licking your fingers is to alter the sound of the bass.

ok I stand corrected, Ive played with bass players who have had the same habit and that is how it has been explained to me, why do u think metal players tape their fingers? it aint altering their sound it preserves skin! John used a precision mostly in the 70s so the tone control I guess would alter the brightness rather than wetting the pick ups? be nice to know for sure though? where did u read about the sound alteration due to this im intrigued? Ive only been a guitarist for 25 years and never heard of this explanation for licking fingers.

I play a bit of bass - I don't see how licking your fingers will affect your sound. Which part of the string you play on will (nearer the neck or nearer the bridge), but I wasnt aware that finger licking did.

and how could licking your fingertip make a string flat? Does it magically come back in tune after drying? Somebody needs a tuner.

I don't play but I think it would just cause your fingers to slip off...

He licks his fingers to have a smoother touch, for wathever reason he may have!

Take care