front or back pickup?

[jacohead]

Do you place your thumb on the front or back pickup? what are your reasons ? advantages/ disadvantages for each ? Thanks guys

[ChrisBowsman]

Depends on the tone I want. For a real bright, middy tone, back by the bridge. For a darker, thumpier tone, closer to the neck.

[basspro]

Both depending what sound i want. Like Chris already said,sometimes a dig in near the
bridge for the bright funk fingerstyle, or near the neck for the low bottom
depending on the song.Try everywhere between the last few frets to the bridge
so you get comfortable in all possisions and the tone produced.

[groovenut57]

As mentioned above, it all depends on what I'm doing and what type of sound I want.

Having said that, though, my starting point for my thumb is always the neck pickup as I favor a full, warm tone - you know, the way a bass should sound.

Then, depending on what the musical context calls for, sometimes my right hand could creep up almost to the end of the fingerboard, while other times I would put my thumb on the E-string (I only play 4-string) halfway between the two pickups so I would be plucking over the bridge pickup. One thing I rarely do is to actually put my thumb on the bridge pickup.

[kb9wyz]

With my jazz, I tend to stay at the neck most of the time. I like the tone there. With my SR500, I stick in between the pups because the mix of punch and tone is really nice to me.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by jacohead

Do you place your thumb on the front or back pickup? what are your reasons ? advantages/ disadvantages for each ? Thanks guys

Neither ... I usually go for the spaces where there aren't pickups. I like to get my fingers under the strings and flick them out ... sorta like Geddy.

[MarkTAW]

Originally Posted by groovenut57

Then, depending on what the musical context calls for, sometimes my right hand could creep up almost to the end of the fingerboard...

Heck, I play everywhere from the bridge pickup to up around the 17th fret.

Playing by the bridge pickup, and soloing the bridge pickup (by turning down the neck pickup a little or a lot) will give you a sort of a "modern" Jaco Pastourious type sound. Playing closer to the neck and emphasizing the neck pickup will give you more of a Motown style sound.

[kr0n]

I tend to play over the neck pickup, that seems the most neutral of tones I get. I rarely do the bridge pickup thingie, the strings feel too tight but it's nothing I can't handle. When I go with classical guitar style thumb/index/middle I tend to go for softer sound up the neck, near 20-24th frets. If you have that extra fifth string people tend to have, you can nicely sit anywhere with that expensive thumbrest

[BarkerBass]

I move my hand all over depending on tone, as so many people have already said however i do tend to gravitate towards resting on the bridge pickup, it just feels more natural for me and the tension in the strings feels about right for faster passages and more aggressive or stacato playing. This might be because i have my action set up for playing over the bridge but sometimes when I play hard over the neck pickup the G string "pops" almost like a slap note, I like this as I know how to control it and use t for dynamic fills and a different sound from the bass, I also use my 5th string but this tends to click n pickups if i dig too much over the neck p'up

[Billnc]

Spend a bit of time at the 17th fret, then move back as required. I do like the feel of the fingerboard under the right hand.

[mambo4]

I move back and forth between them depending on the sound I want often in mid song to distinguish one part from another, and occasionally "sweeping" as I pluck from neck to the bridge for effect. Pretty much like having an EQ expression pedal.

works better with round wounds, and a mid-boost, and in my experience a single pickup bass (p-bass) creates even more contrast between neck plucking and bridge plucking.

[J. Crawford]

I only have one pickup to place it on..

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

I only have one pickup to place it on..

you can still get different tones by moving your right hand position.

I used to depend heavily on the pickup to anchor my thumb , thus"restricting" me to 2 spots...now I anchor my thumb on the next lowest string for A,D,G playing, and just practiced letting my thumb rest on the body of the bass for the E string. Thus I "freed" my right hand from any specific spot.

i'm sure adopting the floating thumb technique would free me even more...

[gjbassist]

Always over the neck pickup. For me the tone is a bit too bright playing that close to the bridge.

[Danny Fox]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

I only have one pickup to place it on..

Likewise on the hyperbass! on my jazz bass if i want warm, groovy or honky it's gotta be near the neck. Raspy or bright then near the bridge.

http://www.myspace.com/bassmandannyfox