Until reading this i'd never given the physical aspects of puckups size, shape, or placement any thought. I settled on jazz basses a long time ago and while i do tend to use the edge of the neck pickup as a thumb rest, i also move from between the bridge and bridge pup up to just above the butt end of the neck, playing over the fingerboard. If there's a thumb anchor where i'm playing i might use it but the neck pup is pretty much home base for my thumb. I move forward and lighten my touch or backward and dig in, but pup size, shape, or placement has never been something i've noticed, even when i was doing the revolving door bass audition in search of what i thought was the best playing bass. What i learned in the aftermath of that search that it was not the bass holding me back.
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Ever pass on a bass because the pickups aren't "comfortable"?
- Thread starter HamOnTheCob
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No problem here.
Switching basses may feel a little strange for a few minutes but that's about it.
Switching basses may feel a little strange for a few minutes but that's about it.
Just two words: Floating Thumb!
I'm talking about the "rest your entire thumb flat over all strings behind the one you are playing" kind, not the "stick the thumb between two of the strings" kind. Learn this technique, and you will forever free yourself of any concerns for physical pickup configurations, thumb wear spots in the tops of your basses at the corners of pickups, and experimentation with ramps. You can easily move your right hand anywhere on the bass between the bridge and the nut with nary a care in the world.
And all this while ensuring a constant plucking angle between fingers and strings across all strings and complete right hand muting of all strings behind the one being played.
Set thyself free!!
I'm talking about the "rest your entire thumb flat over all strings behind the one you are playing" kind, not the "stick the thumb between two of the strings" kind. Learn this technique, and you will forever free yourself of any concerns for physical pickup configurations, thumb wear spots in the tops of your basses at the corners of pickups, and experimentation with ramps. You can easily move your right hand anywhere on the bass between the bridge and the nut with nary a care in the world.
And all this while ensuring a constant plucking angle between fingers and strings across all strings and complete right hand muting of all strings behind the one being played.
Set thyself free!!
I passed on that medium scale Chinese Fender with the 3 lipstick pu's even though I dug the tone and comfort of the body because the PUs were too small to find for Any anchoring. Even later when they were discontinued and sold off for $300 less I passed. That and the bass buying ban, but even so...conceivably a ban can be broken for a low price emergency.
A number of people have recommended the floating thumb technique, and while I appreciate the advice, I fear I'm a little too set in my ways to completely re-evaluate my right hand at this point. Maybe I'll work on it. I do play a number of different ways - fingerstyle, thumb style, slap (very little), and occasionally with a pick. I just like being comfortable and not having to think about my right hand. Oddball pickup lengths undermine that.
Here's my thing: If that were the only great sounding bass I could find, I'd figure out how to get comfortable on it. But with plenty of other basses that I love the sound of AND the feel of, it seems silly to completely rethink my right hand position and technique. It's mostly just that I don't like change I guess.
I've had about 50 basses in the 19 years I've been playing, and my favorites have been J-J basses, with one pickup right in the sweet spot and one closer to the bridge. I've loved this ever since my 2nd bass ever, a Japanese Fender MB-5. My main love is Warwick, and most of the 25 I've owned have had JJ pickups. That's my "feels like home" setup. With that said, I do have an Ibanez SR506BM with soapbars that feel okay.
Thank you all so much for the feedback and sharing your experiences as well. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has considered this topic and had it affect their opinion of a bass.
Jacob
Here's my thing: If that were the only great sounding bass I could find, I'd figure out how to get comfortable on it. But with plenty of other basses that I love the sound of AND the feel of, it seems silly to completely rethink my right hand position and technique. It's mostly just that I don't like change I guess.
I've had about 50 basses in the 19 years I've been playing, and my favorites have been J-J basses, with one pickup right in the sweet spot and one closer to the bridge. I've loved this ever since my 2nd bass ever, a Japanese Fender MB-5. My main love is Warwick, and most of the 25 I've owned have had JJ pickups. That's my "feels like home" setup. With that said, I do have an Ibanez SR506BM with soapbars that feel okay.
Thank you all so much for the feedback and sharing your experiences as well. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has considered this topic and had it affect their opinion of a bass.
Jacob
Ibanez SR 4 strings have particularly wide pickups. Playing one is a good way to force yourself to learn floating thumb or floating anchor techniques. I have wondered why Ibanez does this and the best hypothesis I can come up with is that they get a bulk discount by using the same pickup casing for 4 and 5 string basses.
Why do you fear something that you have 100% control over? I'm not trying to be a jerk or talk you into anything you don't want to do, but it really isn't that drastic of a change. If you're conscious of changing it while playing for a while, it'll become second nature in no time. You might like it!
I'll pass on a bass for basically anything and pickup style or placement has definitely been on that list. Why? There are a million basses out there. They are a commodity and there is little reason to buy one you find uncomfortable when so many options are available.
No. I used to use my EBMM Sterling pickup as a thumb rest. I now use a zero mod on my Rick and I use the pickguard on my Precision. It is a pretty thick pick guard. I like playing right by the neck anyway.
I was never comfortable with P basses because I'm a bridge pickup player. I started 25 years on dual humbuckers, playing the bridge. I've had a P for10 years but I couldnt get used to the string tension at the P, nor the pickup feel itself. A couple of years ago I learned floating thumb and moving anchor then a few weeks ago I happened to pick up my P and I could play it comfortably so I play it every few days, it's a great sound. So, try learning a new way to use/not use your thumb. There are plenty of videos on it.
I didn't think you were being a jerk at all. To further explore my state of mind about playing technique: I'm self taught, and I don't say that phrase with pride, I say it with a bit of regret. I wish I had learned "proper" techniques for playing bass, but instead I just emulated the players I saw on tv or video. The most notable was Cliff Burton, and while I've always loved his playing, I'm able to look back now and acknowledge that his technique is extremely inefficient in terms of economy of motion in his right hand. Watch the most technically proficient players and their right hand fingers barely seem to flinch when they're playing. Burton's, on the other hand (and mine through some sort of osmosis I suppose), fly around all over and tend to "strike" down onto the strings more than gently coax notes from them. The result is a more aggressive playing style, which can be cool in some settings, but it makes for relatively sloppy playing, and limits my ability to play as fluidly as the players who've worked out how to move their fingers as little as possible to play their notes. My aggressive style requires anchoring of some sort. Adapting my playing style to the floating thumb style isn't just a matter of switching where my thumb lays... it's a fundamentally different way to play the instrument I've played for 19 years. I've slowly over time refined my technique a little, but it's not something I feel I can just completely change without getting frustrated. Learning something the right way is much more difficult if you have to unlearn two decades of bad technique first. I'm just too unmotivated and lazy to start over.
That's where I stand as well. With so many options that nail my desired idea comfort, it seems counter-intuitive to pick one that doesn't.
The ONLY time pickups were an issue for me was when I used someone else's MM Stingray with the double humbuckers. Sounded great, and slapping was of course, fine... but the pluckin' part...geesh! That front pup gets in the way for that. At least in my technique. I managed. But if I were going to buy a Stingray, I think I'd seriously opt for the single humbucker model.
80s Fender Precision Elite pickups had the screws countersunk and a rounded edge for comfortable thumb rest. BTW The tugbar thumb rest in this pic is a mod...Elites came without one.
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I know I didn't read all of the thread and this has likely been said:
I haven't had this problem since picking the bass back up a couple years back as I chose to learn floating thumb. Sorry to hear this is troubling to you and I wish I had a better answer.
I haven't had this problem since picking the bass back up a couple years back as I chose to learn floating thumb. Sorry to hear this is troubling to you and I wish I had a better answer.
I have in the past, but over the last 10 years, I've gotten to where I mostly float anyway, or can if need be. That being said, Ps and Js have the best placement for anchoring your thumb on the pups, in my opinion.
I do too. I learned that method awhile back, and resting my thumb on the pickup seems foreign to me now.
I would pass on basses because of pickup placement configuration, design/shape, and sound of the pickup. After many years of playing fingerstyle acousting guitar (where the picking hand is not touching the soundboard), I found it easy to make the transition to bass. Picking at various positions from the bridge to the neck is critical in shaping tone/sound. Also, various picking techniques are valuable to creating different sounds, and most of them don't use the pickup as a rest. Neverheless, I will use a string or the pickup as a thumb rest if possible.
Bryan R. Tyler
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It's only an issue if the shape of or distance in between prevents a decent sized ramp from fitting on a bass. This keeps me from looking at most P/J basses, although that's usually not a preferred pickup setup for me anyways so it's not much of an issue.
This is a timely thread. I was just thinking about this last night when playing my Mustang. The pickups are very small and don't stick up much from the guard. I'm used to hanging on P or J pickups on my other basses, so this just doesn't work well. I was contemplating the best location to put a thumb rest - I usually play a bit behind the pup to get more definition. Then, do I use a standard Fender thumb rest (which I already have) or make a custom one? Hmm....weekend project coming up.
