thumb rest

[StevieStingray]

jim4237, not sure if you made a decision either way, but if not here's my 0.02:

I was considering a thumbrest too... until I actually got one and got down to the logistics of "where's the best place for it?"

Luckily, I started off just by taping the thing in place and moving it around till it felt right. The thing is, it never felt right. It was just too cumbersome. Especially when it came to slapping/popping, I couldn't stand having it there! The 'ray has a nice big area between the pickup and fretboard; you said you "want to try some slap/pop" and for popping/slapping, that empty zone is great

I even took the belt-sander to the thumbrest (to give it a lower profile), taped it back on and still - YUCK!

my personal solution was to play standing up all time, even when practicing. the bass "fits" properly, and I have no problem resting on the pickup when standing. but as soon as i sit down, my wrist is at an uncomfortalbe angle to rest on the pickup, hence my initial thought "i need a thumbrest". but in the end, it was just not right... at least for me

 

[muthafunk]

Good point Stevie,

After waiting for a month for a package to be delivered I got used somehow to play without the thumbrest. And now I still cannot make the decision. That's why I'm not ready for the drill yet. Here's the pic:

that plastic thing is almost invisible

 

[oli@bass]

That's an interesting position of the thumb rest... if any, I'd probably place it right next to the pickup, to extend the upper edge of the pickup towards the neck.

 

[muthafunk]

I tired different positions, and this "diagonal" option feels right for me. I've seen many people choose the same diagonal position for their thumbrests.

I've heard the "Thumbrest rule" - place the thumbrest where the 5th string is presumed to be and it should be the same height as the presumed 5th string.

Well, I tried that but it's just too close to the E string for me.

 

[muthafunk]

Fellas,

Looks like my Thumbrest Saga is finally over. Many thankyous go to Kristopher for his suggestion to put screws from the other side of the pickguard. Here's the full Step-By-Step story:

1) Test Pickguard was ordered from WD Music (I would not suggest their pickguards to anybody because they are crap. I had to sand all the edges hard, to fix the defects.)

Musicman Stingray Bass Pickguards in White Black White - WD Music

I've chosen White one just to see how it looks on my Anny.

2) F**** manufactured thumbrest was ordered. Not suggested to anybody either, because that piece of plastic wasn't done good. I had to fill all the cavities with special epoxy glue to be able to use it.

3) I used tape for a couple of weeks to find the right position for the thumbrest, and then drilled holes in the test pickguard:

4) As Kristopher suggested I was going to put screws from the other side of the pickguard, so there would be no need to drill the body.


First I wanted to try special "bolt-nut" combination to attach the thumbrest, but there wasn't anything suitable found in the stores. So I used epoxy glue to attach the screws.

Screw holes in the thumbrest were filled with epoxy glue, and the thing was attached to the pickguard before the glue became dry:

View from the back side of the pickguard:

After the epoxy glue dried out, I had to pull out the screws and shorten them a little to be able to attach the thumbrest more efficiently.


5) I removed the original pickguard first, but the new one was much thinner and smaller in size, so I decided to try the new one on the top of the original pickguard and it appeared to be much better:

My cat is a guitar set-up junky, as soon as you change strings on the guitar or do anything else, he's right there scratching stuff!

My cat and Anny Ray with White-Black-White 3 layer pickguard on the top of original B-W-B-W-B 5-layer pickguard:

 

[adouglas]

Nice job.

A big thumbs-up for doing it in a way that leaves the bass itself untouched (not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you).

 

[fly]

wow.........looks good.........


i might have to have a go at my spare pick guard.


thanks for the pics

 

[oli@bass]

Great job. Thanks for the detailed instructions.

Also, thanks for the comment on the quality of WD pickguards.

Notes: cute cat.... I love cats... and I dig the white guard on the Anny

 

[muthafunk]

thanks guys!

Of course if you have a spare pickguard it would be much easier just to glue the thumbrest to the surface, but this was mainly a test project, only to see if it's possible to attach the thumbrest without damaging the bass body, and at the same time securing the way to retreat.

 

[Kristopher]

Excellent job! Now I can finally say I've made a positive contribution to society! Thanks a ton for showing this could actually be done, since I probably wouldn't have gotten around to doing it myself.

On a side note, anyone looking for pickguards can go to Pickguard Heaven: Pickguards for Every Guitar. I have an EB black pearloid pickguard and a pickguards.us black perloid pickguard and they look identical. The only drawback is that I had to wait a long time to get it from them (5+ weeks I think?).

 

[Straight UP]

Well......
I was a anal thumb rest guy before the Bongo 5 came into my life..
I wondered at first how I was going to over come the fact there was no thumb rest.. Like I used one for over 30 years..

Well I without thinking about it just started using the pickups as my thumb rests
More than one and the positions are just great for a wide variety of toneal bliss.

No mod. = no extra hole in anything.

This thread however very important to us all..

 

[Soul Man]

A+ to you muthafunk

Fellas,

Looks like my Thumbrest Saga is finally over. Many thankyous go to Kristopher for his suggestion to put screws from the other side of the pickguard. Here's the full Step-By-Step story:

1) Test Pickguard was ordered from WD Music (I would not suggest their pickguards to anybody because they are crap. I had to sand all the edges hard, to fix the defects.)

Musicman Stingray Bass Pickguards in White Black White - WD Music

I've chosen White one just to see how it looks on my Anny.

2) F**** manufactured thumbrest was ordered. Not suggested to anybody either, because that piece of plastic wasn't done good. I had to fill all the cavities with special epoxy glue to be able to use it.

3) I used tape for a couple of weeks to find the right position for the thumbrest, and then drilled holes in the test pickguard:

4) As Kristopher suggested I was going to put screws from the other side of the pickguard, so there would be no need to drill the body.


First I wanted to try special "bolt-nut" combination to attach the thumbrest, but there wasn't anything suitable found in the stores. So I used epoxy glue to attach the screws.

Screw holes in the thumbrest were filled with epoxy glue, and the thing was attached to the pickguard before the glue became dry:

View from the back side of the pickguard:

After the epoxy glue dried out, I had to pull out the screws and shorten them a little to be able to attach the thumbrest more efficiently.


5) I removed the original pickguard first, but the new one was much thinner and smaller in size, so I decided to try the new one on the top of the original pickguard and it appeared to be much better:

My cat is a guitar set-up junky, as soon as you change strings on the guitar or do anything else, he's right there scratching stuff!

My cat and Anny Ray with White-Black-White 3 layer pickguard on the top of original B-W-B-W-B 5-layer pickguard:

Wow, great details, great info - thanks muthafunk!