Thumb On Pickup?

[FireArm]

Hi there, every bass player ive met who doesnt use a pick favours resting a thumb on the pickups of the bass.. I use fingers to play exclusively however have never rested my thumb on the pickup of the bass (and people often comment about it) I was just wondering is resting the thumb some kind of "offical" method of playing - not that it matters as long as you can still groove but im interested

[trasser]

No, no, its not an "official method", and if it ever was, it sure is less and less these days. A lot of people do it, yes, but more and more are using the "floating thumb technique" - its a sticky in either this forum or the general instruction section, you should check it out.
How do you play when using the fingers?

[steve66]

I usually place my thumb parallel on the edge of the fretboard. My index and middle fingers pluck the strings between the fretboard and first pickup. If I want a thinner tone the thumb moves to the neck pickup and I pluck closer to the bridge

[TheBassBetween]

I used to do that in my 4 string P-Bass, but now that I have a 5 string, I use my B as an anchor.

I don't think it's an "official" way of playing...but who decides what's official? If it works for you, then use it! Some people might argue that you get a better tone from playing between your two pickups, as opposed to over just one.

But, it's all in how YOU want, and feel comfortable playing.

[spindizzy]

IMHO you do not place your thumb anywhere. See the floating thumb sticky or visit Todd Johson's forum for more info why. Not saying it's a rule either just proof that others are of the opnion that resting your thumb anywhere is not the most efficient way.

Spin

[ba55i5t]

I personally use floating thumb between my two pickups (2 j-pickups and my other bass has 2 bartolini soapbar style pickups). I prefer floating thumb especially on my 6 string to mute that B, because it has a tendency to come out sometimes, also I'm able to do string skipping a lot easier ( there would be no way for me to rest on B and play my C string ), but to each his own.

[Poop-Loops]

Originally Posted by spindizzy

IMHO you do not place your thumb anywhere. See the floating thumb sticky or visit Todd Johson's forum for more info why. Not saying it's a rule either just proof that others are of the opnion that resting your thumb anywhere is not the most efficient way.

Spin

Yup, same here. Although I still rest my thumb on the pickup when playing the lowest string (either E or B, depending on which bass I use). Otherwise it's floating thumb.