NOOB question

[overtheedge86]

i'm pretty new to bass (came from guitar), so bear with me.

I started playing on a freinds ibanex gsr200, i felt really confident with this bass, it had a thumb rest and i got very comfortable with it.

Recently i bought my first bass, i was comfortable with his so i bought the same model, mine is newer and features the active electronics. Unfortunately it doesn't have the thumb rest. I asked the guy in the store (sam ash) about purchasing a thumb rest, he told me it would mess with my pick ups and might ruin the bass i'd really like to have one as it helps with control of my plucking hand.
Is this true, that it will mess with my pickups?
How can 1 gsr200 be fine with a thumb rest but mine would be messed up? (i was going to put my rest in the same place as my friends)
Is it because of the active pick ups?

[RWP]

I can not see any reason a thumb rest would effect the pups unless you drilled a hole in one installing it.

However, you might consider resting your thumb on the E string instead of relying on a thumb rest. Few basses have thumb rests these days.

[vindy500]

or resting your thumb on the pickup

[overtheedge86]

i've tried resting on the pick up but it seems kinda ackward to me, and some time i get too much noise.
The primary use of the thumb rest (for me) is to stop my plucking finger, like the way you would stop on the E string when plucking the A string.
Resting on the E string doesn't work for me because i use it alot

[Bass]

Originally Posted by overtheedge86

...I asked the guy in the store (sam ash) about purchasing a thumb rest, he told me it would mess with my pick ups and might ruin the bass ...

I think the guy was trying to do you a favour.

I think thubmrests are ugly and unneccessary. Maybe even a hindrance to technique?

[stedtale]

try this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...bass+technique

[overtheedge86]

Originally Posted by stedtale

try this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...bass+technique

sweet, its much easier to understand what "floating thumb" means when you can see it