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Anyone still using a thumb rest on there bass ?

#21
I find myself doing one of the following on my (Marcus) Jazz Bass:
1. Rest my thumb on the bridge pickup
2. Rest my thumb on the neck pickup cover
3. Rest my thumb on the end of the neck
It just depends on the sound I am looking for and how fast I am trying to play.
 
#22
The "floating thumb" bit sounds interesting. I'll have to give it a whirl. Gonna be hard, though: I've had my thumb parked on the neck pickup of my Jazz forever and ever. If I need it bright, I just reach down toward the bridge. Never thought about it, really.
 
#26
Fuzzbass said:
Floating thumb for me. I adopted this naturally when switching to five string.

For those who don't know, floating thumb means you don't need to anchor your thumb anywhere. Mine hangs straight down... I use it to mute the low strings when I'm riffing up high.

Not having to anchor my thumb means I have the freedom to play down by the bridge, right over the pickup, over the end of the neck... and anywhere in between. In short: it means a one-pickup bass is no longer a one-trick pony. :)
Click to expand...

+1 I find I use the "moveable anchor" approach which is similar but you use the string above the one you're picking or plucking to anchor your thumb. This has the added benefit of muting the strings with that thumb. It makes for far cleaner and defined playing YMMV but I don't know how I used to play without this technique.
 
#27
I am a big proponent of the floating thumb technique. Not only, as Fuzzbass says, does it make a single pickup bass more versatile it allows you to get more comfortable on other basses more quickly. Plus I can engage my thumb as another playing digit ala flamenco playing.
 
#29
I cut a replacement Fender finger rest (the one under the G) in half and mounted up where a neck pickup might stick up to on my MM Sterling. I played flats for two years, and I liked the sound up forwards so much that I mounted the thumb rest. It's no higher than the pickup is, so it's not in the way, and it's comfortable.
 
#30
I used to put a thumbrest on all my basses. But late last year I removed the last one. I now usually rest the thumb on the pickguard. Four ply pickguards are more comfortable.

On my G&L 2500 tribute there is no pickguard. I tend to just let the thumb rest wherever or just let it float. Sometimes I anchor it on the pickup.
 
#31
Fuzzbass said:
Floating thumb for me. I adopted this naturally when switching to five string.

For those who don't know, floating thumb means you don't need to anchor your thumb anywhere. Mine hangs straight down... I use it to mute the low strings when I'm riffing up high.

Not having to anchor my thumb means I have the freedom to play down by the bridge, right over the pickup, over the end of the neck... and anywhere in between. In short: it means a one-pickup bass is no longer a one-trick pony. :)
Click to expand...

+1

At the start of this thread, I was still anchoring my thumb on a pickup. Due to my recent switch to the 6 string world, and my left hand muting just not covering all the sympathetic vibrations no matter how hard I tried, I find myself switching to the floating thumb technique. It is going to be a while before I am up to my normal playing speed, but I already see the obvious improvement in muting the strings particularly on a 6 string. After practicing for a couple of hours tonight utilizing the floating thumb technique, I tried to go back to anchoring on a pickup. It just felt wrong. I can see the floating thumb technique only being a step in the right direction for my 6 string technique.
 
#33
spade2you said:
I mostly rest my thumb on the pickups....but without pickups, I have my Mouse 30 with an "integrated thumbrest". It helps me play comfortably and looks pretty cool, IMHO.

extension.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm just thinking of what extra notes you'd get outta it down there
 
#36
X Wolf said:
I've never used a thumb rest. My thumb just floats and rests on air.

George
Click to expand...

For the most part I use the floating thumb technique which does allow the muting of over tones. When I feel I need to dig in hard, I will switch to the moveable anchor usually anchoring my thumb on the "B" when I use my Killer B 5 string and using either the "B" or "E" on my Roscoe SKB3006 6 string. :bassist:
 
#38
All of the thumbrests I have seen for sale are the basic Fender style and size... DOes anyone make a smaller one? I want to put one between the pups on my Dean EVO... I am betting someone like Birdsong would make me one (they made the one on my Viola...) but if someone knows of anyone that has one in stock, lemme know...
 
#40
A thumbrest is very important to me.

I have fairly large hands and find the neck pup doesnt have enough girth for my combfort. What I do is take a regular fender thumbrest and cut a notch out of it the same size as the neck pup. Them I slide the thumbrest over the pup as far as it will go. Then I sand the side of the thumbrest so that its nice and gritty/grippy. I hate when my hand/thumb sweats and slips on the smooth plastic of an unsanded thumbrest. I found black hockey tape works well too, but after awhile it needs to be replaced.

Eventually what I'm going to do is replace the neck pup on my Geddy Jazz with a G&L humbucker pup. Those G&L as well as Yamaha and Ibanez) pickups have a "built-in" thumbrest with a nice notch taken out of the pup. Super combfortable.
 

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