Where is your right hand? Neck pickup or bridge?

[David Tyler]

I'm with everyone else.

It all depends on what sound I'm looking for at that moment.

Bridge is nice when I'm looking for a pick-like sound with my fingers, though.

I tend to play just a bit ahead of the bridge pick-up for most of what I do and closer to the neck pick-up for a more melodic sound.

Just about everything else I have is multiple pick-up so I really couldn't tell what I would do on a single. The only thing exception is my acoustic bass and that's like anything else - sound requirement dependent.

[latkingz781]

I used both pick ups. I use the neck bridge for most rock. For most softer stuff or Jazz or something similar I use the bridge pickup, but it's all personal preference of tone.

[Fassa Albrecht]

I find I play slap a lot so I habitually play near to the neck, even when fingerplaying.


On my Shergold (which is close to useless for slap) I tend to be on top of the single pick-up.

[Matt R.]

On the neck fretting notes

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by Matt R.

On the neck fretting notes

WHAT???

ahhhh....LEFTY!!!


My right hand spends 99% of the time connected to my right wrist. The other 1% of the time it's trapped in a space/time continuum rift.

[tomvelsor]

i feel that a tremendous part of being a good player is knowing when to move the hand between the two..it shows that your feeling the music more. for example, if you watch jaco, at times he would pluck up almost near the 12th fret..but was usually down at the bridge for that fast staccato vibe..and also quite often plucked over the neck pickup.

[The Universe]

It's all about tone. My Stingray has this gorgeous warm, round tone if I play just at the end of the fingerboard, and goes to the characteristic Stingray "growl" closer to the pickup/bridge.

I do find generally though that the higher the tension, the further away from the bridge I like to play. On my 6-string, for example, my C string is just too bright unless I'm somewhere between the fingerboard and the neck pickup.

Also depends heavily on what I'm playing in the left hand of course. Particularly on my J-Bass, there are some weird harmonics that pop up if I'm fingering at the octave or 12th, so I'll adjust a little bit for things like that sometimes.

[Ric5]

My right hand is all over the place ... bridge, neck, etc ... also my right hand has been observed picking, slapping, plucking, fingering, etc ...

[bassist4dalord]

I play an Affinity Jazz V and 99% of the time I anchor my thunb on the neck PU. My first bass was an Affinity P-Bass, then an Ibanez GSR200 so the neck PU is it for me. That 1% is when I'm feelin crazy enough to play between the PU's. Very rare though.