where is your right hand??????????????

[Bayou_Brawler]

where do you play your strings with your right hand (for right handed bassists)????????

i tend to play almost directly above the pick-up.

on my fender jazz i play right over the front pick-up and on my stingray i play right over the front of the pickup.

where do you play and why?

is there a place where you are supposed to play?

[jammadave]

over one of the pickups when plucking, with my thumb anchored on the pickup (which pup depends on the sound i'm after on that song). When slapping my thumb hits at about the end of the fretboard, bout where most people's does.

[dTune]

I usually play above the bridge pup, maybe a bit towards the neck. Strange thing is that when (rarely) I play faster licks or something, I move towards the neck pup. Most people do the opposite, faster=closer to bridge, but I think its easier to play closer to the neck.

[Matthew Bryson]

I usually play with my thumb on top of the p/up. (front one on two p/up basses) So on my P bass I'm playing right behind the p/up and on my dual soap bar type bass I'm playing between the p/ups. For a softer tone I'll rest my thumb on the low string (E or B), at the end of the fret board and play in front of the p/up's close to the end of the fret board. When I need to mute more carefully I'll float my thumb at either one of these positions depending on what tone I'm going for. I very seldom play back by the bridge, only occasionally for effect - I have a particular bass that because of the bass / string combination gets a very chorused sound playing back by the bridge but I generally don't play back there as it's not usually a desirable tone for me and I don't like the tension back there. I slap and pop at the end of the fret board.

[KidNamedFord]

ha, i guess i didnt expect to see a post about plucking technique...

anyway, i dont really have a place to put my right hand except for right on the pickup, i play a sting ray. but sometimes i do a floating thumb and just play where ever is comfort able, and on some songs i rest my thumb at the end of the fret board, so i can get a real warm sound.

[christopper]

I let my thumb rest on my neck pickup most of the time but sometimes I will go the the bridge pickup. When slapping I am usually where the fretboard meets the body.

[BustinJustin]

[quote=Bayou_Brawler]where is your right hand??????????????QUOTE]


on my mouse.... mousy, mousy....



bass- my hand is all over the place....

[Jacob Bartfield]

It depends on the style of music. I really like the sound when I pluck over the bridge pickup, but for a lot of styles it doesn't work so well. Basically I'm either over the bridge pickup for a punchy sound, or somewhere in between for a fuller sound.

[Eyescream]

I anchor my thumb on the neck pickup. Tried it over the bridge pickup hoping to get some speed, but it just sounds too thin to me. When I slap I end up where just about everybody does, at the end of the fingerboard.

[seanm]

I have a thumb rest under the E on my P bass, so I usually keep my thumb there. This means my fingers are in front of the pickup. However I will lay my thumb flat to play directly over the pickups for a different sound. I also rest my thumb on the pickup and play directly over it.

[KeiBau]

I play mostly between the bridge pickup and the neck pickup. I always use the floating thumb technique which makes for easy muting. If I want a fuller tone, I move to ahead of the neck pickup (between the pickup and the neck). For speed, I move to over the bridge pickup, occasionally even moving a little closer to the bridge itself.

[Christopher]

I'm an advocate of moving the right hand around to vary timbre rather than relying on the electronics, so it depends on the song. My default position is closer to the bridge than to the neck, though. I don't usually rest my thumb on the pickups, unless I need to play really heavy and need the extra leverage.

[Rick Blanc]

I have an SR5. On that one I'll anchor my thumb about an inch and a half in front of the pick up so my plucking fingers strike the strings at the front edge of the pick up.
When I need more of an upright tone I use my...uhm....upright.

[the ombudsman]

Depends on the tone I wanna get.

[John Deppel]

Since all my basses have P/J pickup configs, I always rest my thumb on the P-pup (neck pup). This causes me to play just behind the pup, which is where I get the tone I really like. When I slap and pop however, my right hand is all over the place....

[dave_clark69]

I play my 'vette on the p'up closest to the fret board. On my yamaha where i rest my finger, there was a screw, so i had to put my finger on the end of the fretboard. i like the string tention there too. nice and loose, i also can combine slapping and fingering at the same time, because that is where i slap

[Figjam]

When im playing fingerstyle normally i play near the P pickup on my Godin (p/j setup) although if im going for more growl ill play by the bridge. Slapping its near the end of the fretboard.