Where do I rest my thumb on my new bass?

[sill_mcgill]

So, I got a great deal on a new Fender Aerodyne P-Bass. I love the bass. Sounds great. Looks sharp. Very old school body. But my main issue is that on a standard American P-Bass I play with my thumb resting on the pick up closest to the neck (never have liked the tone from playing on the pick up closest to the bridge... and furthermore, I hate the tone I get when I play there).

Anyway, the pick up closest to the neck on this Aerodyne is screwed down so low I can barely even rest of thumb on it... and I tend to have to play with floating thumb, which I do not like to have to do. I am afraid if I raise the pick up, it will give it will raise it too close to the E and A strings and give a nasty sound through the amp.

Any advice? Can the pick ups be safely raised without messing up the sound? Should I put a thumb rest on the bass? Floating thumb? I want to be able to rest my thumb on the pick up but as is... Im out of luck.

[Matt R.]

Just raise it and see what happens

[funk generator]

if it dosent work can always lower it again

[klokker]

No....don't raise it just to put your thumb on it. I use a version of a floating thumb with my P-bass (assuming finger style), if I'm playing the E string (I have a 4 string) then I don't rest my thumb on anything.

You don't need to rest your thumb on the pickups at all.

[Fendr1320]

I would raise the pickup height a little and see what happens. From most stores and factories the pickup heights haven't been set properly anyway. Just don't get too close to the strings or you'll start hearing strange overtones and you'll probably be clacking against the pole pieces with your finger if you play hard.

Floating thumb solves the problem, obviously. But there's no reason you HAVE to use the technique, it has a lot of advantages, but it doesn't work for everyone all the time. If the pickup height adjustment doesn't work, try anchoring your thumb on the edge of the neck. Also, if you were so inclined and didn't mind modifying the bass, you could get a thumbrest and screw it on.

[pasta4lnch]

my P was set up like this too - I just raised it a bit. didn't change the sound at all. only issue I've had is the pup screw came up more than the pup and digs into my thumb when I play.

I can prob fix this if I took the pickguard off and futzed w/ it but I'm too lazy - and it's not THAT annoying.

[Phalex]

I screwed a thumb rest onto my P-bass. Problem solved!

[sill_mcgill]

I have raised the picks ups and no problem! Thanks for the help. Ive also taken up using the pick... so that alleviates that issue too!!

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I screwed a thumb rest onto my P-bass. Problem solved!

ZING!

But I agree.

[Tylerrr51]

raise the pickup. if you dont like the sound, lower it back. also if you go to your local guitar/bass shop they should have these things that glue to your bass to rest your thumb on. make sure your comitted to gluing it on to your bass though. but definetly try raising the pickup

[tomas_almeida]

Look up for floating thumb.

[PaulWarning]

I don't have a problem, I use a pick

[somegeezer]

Just rest it on your E string and get used to use floating thumb when you use the E string?