Playing around the bridge pickup

sub~waver · #1 12-17-2009, 06:07 PM

Hey, there.
I'm a finger-style player, predominantly. Years ago, I started with a pick and eventually gravitated to fingers and thumb as my main way to pluck the strings. When playing with my fingers, I've always been comfortable resting my thumb on the neck pickup of my jazz and moving it down to rest on strings as I play the G and D. Fair enough; it works. I like the tone there as it gives me the best of both worlds in terms of neck and bridge tone.
Now, I am interested in the tones you can get from playing around the bridge pickup. The only caveat I am facing is when I place my thumb on the bridge pickup, my middle finger plucks too close to the actual bridge giving me a dead tone for that finger as there is barely any string there. My index finger is fine for tone, just the middle is too close to the bridge. I wonder if it has to do with the '70s spacing of my Geddy...anyway, just looking for a good place to rest my thumb, I guess. Any suggestions?

PunkRocker5693 · #2 12-17-2009, 06:16 PM

Well...from my experience with my jazz you can do that.

Now i quickly shoved the treble down and the bass up...and it gave it a nice tone. But not a "full" tone. Kinda sounded empty...if that makes sense.

If anything dude...if ya want the Geddy sound, shoot for the treble button and keep ur fingers back by the top pickup...little easier in my opinion. I always found playing overly fast on the bottom pickup a hassle because of how stiff the strings were.

sub~waver · #3 12-17-2009, 06:27 PM

Yeah,
The big thing for me is getting both fingers to sound the same at the bridge pickup. Index=fine... Middle=dead. If both fingers are playing above the bridge pickup, it sounds fine...but then I need to figure out where to place the thumb when plucking the E string...on the body, perhaps?

PunkRocker5693 · #4 12-17-2009, 06:30 PM

Well I always placed the thumb on the pickup itself...that's my starting point...easiest to do by far.

sub~waver · #5 12-17-2009, 06:30 PM

Tal Wilkenfeld plays around the bridge a lot. I think I will analyse her technique...

sub~waver · #6 12-17-2009, 06:43 PM

I think I just figured out something that works. HAHA. Thanks.

shackled · #7 12-18-2009, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sub~waver

I think I just figured out something that works. HAHA. Thanks.

Care to share?

dmusic148 · #8 12-18-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sub~waver

...but then I need to figure out where to place the thumb when plucking the E string...on the body, perhaps?

That works for me.

sub~waver · #9 06-26-2010, 10:34 AM

Sorry it has taken so long to respond. I have been away for a bit.
So, I've discovered that if I place (not rest) the side of my thumb against the inside of the bridge pickup, facing the neck, that I can get a good feel for where I am and it provides just enough distance to keep both plucking fingers from sounding less even. Issue solved!
Also got to check out Tal with Herbie Hancock last night at the jazz festival. Solid.