where do you put your thumb?

[mike jungle]

i'm used to having a jazz neck pickup to rest my thumb on, but it feels a little weird not having that pickup to put my thumb on. do you guys put your thumb on the humbucker? it feels different picking near the bridge.

 

[prickly_pete]

This was discussed recently in one of the threads -- I can't remember which one now. My thumb has always kind of floated; I've never really rested it on anything. btw, I played a jazz bass for years in the 80s, too, and felt right at home on the Ray.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I play fingerstyle, and on a Stingray my thumb can be in one of four places depending on what I'm playing - on the pickup, on the edge of the pickguard, on the E string, or floating.

 

[ynot]

On the "B" String.

 

[Aussie Mark]

On the "B" String.

Ah, so that's why people buy fivers?

 

[dlloyd]

i'm used to having a jazz neck pickup to rest my thumb on, but it feels a little weird not having that pickup to put my thumb on. do you guys put your thumb on the humbucker? it feels different picking near the bridge.

I use this approach...

http://www.adamnitti.com/bass_player_02.shtml

 

[bass thumper]

I cut my thumb off so I don't have to worry about it anymore. I use it as a pick.

 

[tkarter]

I play with my thumb on the pickup of my SR 5 most of the time. I tend to move more slightly back on the pickup as well. Just gets my sound like I want if you know what I mean.

I also use the B string when I got one of those 4 string lines to play. Very easy to be happy with just a 5 string at a gig for me.

I used to play my Jazz all the time and used the front pup on it to anchor.

Floating thumb is on my list of things to learn asap.

IMHO you will find what works for you and probably not based on what any of us really have to say about it.

You will enjoy the bass for sure.


tk

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

Mine is mostly on the humbucker, but has been known to move to some of the other strings, depending on how long I'll be down there.

Occasionally it will rest on the neck itself, but that's mostly when I'm trying for a good Geezer Butler tone.

 

[Morrow]

Mine floats due to many,many years playing Pbasses. I tend to change position a fair bit depending on the song - even within the song I often move towards the bridge when a Chorus comes around for that sharper attack sound and move towards the neck during verses for a softer sound.

 

[philthygeezer]

I use the heel or the low E.

Most of the time I float using the thumb-mute technique.

 

[rulyøngo]

One of the nicest things of MusicMan basses is the shape of the pickup. It makes the perfect thumbrest!!!

 

[jongitarz]

When I saw the title of his thread I thought something else..... Carry on.

 

[Ben Clarke]

So that's why that Chihuahua is so bent out of shape... Heh....

 

[bass thumper]

So that's why that Chihuahua is so bent out of shape... Heh....

 

[armybass]

4 string...on the Pup

5 string....on the B string

 

[Franky]

on the pickup, my pickguard is worn away from where my thumbnail has rubbed against it

 

[Doogels]

This is an interesting discussion for me because I just dealt with this.

Before I get started, I just want to comment that I'm surprised to see so many of you are like me – switching from Fender Jazz to MusicMan… But that’s not the point of this discussion.

On my Jazzes, I always rest my thumb on the pickups. When I switched to the SR5 a couple years ago, my pickup would not lock (it floated), so putting my thumb on it messed up my sound. Even though I locked the pickup with some lock-tight (discussed in another thread) to solve that problem, I began to use my b-string for my thumb. In hindsight, this was a terrible habit to form. My playing became terribly sloppy and I found myself on a plateau. I couldn't get any better, and I had become frustrated.

Last month, I picked up a rudimentary book as I do from time to time and I saw the discussion on resting the thumb on the pickup. "Oh yeah!" I said. That night, I put my thumb back on the pickup. Eureka! I found it!

Reclaiming my pickup for the thumb rest has completely changed my playing style. I no longer have to struggle wondering if I'm going to pluck the wrong string because now I know the string intervals without having to look. It also changed my plucking style. I used to dig hard into my strings, which I never really liked, but that was the way I tended to play. Now, I pluck much more gently. I have actually changed the stroke of my pluck. (This conversation in any other forum than this one would sound so dorky!) As a result, I've been able to lower my strings, and I can play TONS faster than before.

That's a lot of change that I attribute to one thing: placing my thumb on the pickup.

 

[Chet the Jet]

Are the pups with the thumb rest only on the bongo's or, do they come with the SR's to ?