Ever pass on a bass because the pickups aren't "comfortable"?

[brianrost]

Peavey T20 also had a thumbrest built into the pickup

 

[JPaulGeddy]

It's very important to some. Wish I could find a pic of Billy Sheehan's original bass, where he's worn a groove into the P pickup.

Me - kinda important, but def not a deal breaker.

 

[maturanesa]

Yes. The old P with the non split coil. Its pickup is designed to be the worst thumbrest ever...

 

[Ric5]

This is my issue with Rics. Just not comfortable to me.

Also, Jazz/Precision with the ashtray/pickup cover. The covers fall just in the exact spot to make it uncomfortable for me.

the 2 Rics I own are 4004s

 

[jpTron]

Another thumb floater here. No problem with any bass.

 

[JRA]

i use the pick-ups as a thumb rest regularly (for the 'dig') , but not exclusively, so pick-ups aren't a deal breaker. i'm in the '"i can adjust" group. sometimes i like to rest my thumb, sometimes i never do...

 

[MCS4]

Sort of... I generally pass on any bass that doesn't have a j-style pickup configuration because I'm accustomed to being able to anchor on either of the two pickups.

 

[Pirate Captain]

For me I had to get rid of my TBird due to the overall feeling of wrestling the thing while playing it.

Same here.

On a similar note...I know a pick player who got rid of a bass because the bridge cut into his hand. So...different "strokes"

 

[Pops OB]

There is a lot about physically playing a Rick that is less than optimal.

You got that right!

 

[electracoyote]

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 appreciate your candor.

I think you're kind of making my point. I don't worry about restrictions because over the years of playing I trained my right hand to be effective in various positions. In truth, the differences are subtle once you let yourself go. So, all the amazing bass styles and pickup configurations are pretty much valid for me. I'm so spoiled that I cannot settle on "one" bass with the perfect right hand feel, I need to rotate between several very different styles and I reap the tonal rewards in the process.

I'd encourage anyone to be a little more open-minded in right-hand anchoring and not lock into one and only one position. It's not as hard as you might think.

 

[Pops OB]

I guess the answer is... Do what's good for you. That's novel, never heard that on TalkBass before. Ha!

 

[socialleper]

I just remembered another one.
The pickup place on the 5 string Warwick Thumb is really weird. The 4 has one that is a little back from a P bass position and then one right on top of the bridge. The 5 has them parallel and slanted Dingwall-style and it is super hard to play. I'm not used to playing on the bridge pickup on a jazz, and this was a total deal breaker for me. The 6 uses larger humbucker sized pickups. I don't know why each one is different, but if I had the money I would have to do either the 4 or 6.

 

[Sparkdog]

I do the floating thumb thing for muting. I had an instructor once who told me to NEVER rest your thumb because it restricts your hand movement and leads to ringing notes that you don't want, but obviously lots of guys do it and make it work. I have a different problem however with regard to pickup placement. I need some space in between the two pickups or I just can't attack the strings the way I want. I also have never gotten the hang of plucking directly over a pickup, I feel cramped that way. So for me a standard P/J configuration just doesn't have enough space, nor does something like a G&L L2000.

 

[TerriblePeril]

I like it when I anchor my thumb for the anchor point (not necessarily a pickup) is equal to the string-to-string distance.

So, for instance when I had a ramp on my jazz bass, it was a bit longer than the bridge pickup overall, but was affixed so that the top was slightly lower than the tops of the pickups. The lower portion (below the G string) hung down a ways below the pickups. This was to make it more comfortable for me to do the double-thumb-and-pop kinda stuff without my index/middle/ring finger getting hung up on the bottom of the ramp and to provide a consistent playing surface when using my thumb down there as well.

I'd tried it a few other ways and found that to be the most satisfying for me.

I ordered a few pickguard blanks so that I can stack them when I'm rebuilding my Hagstrom (the original pickguard is mostly bits of cardboard and bondo from a previous owner hacking all kinds of pickups into the poor thing).

 

[taylor16]

Hated playing over a P bass pickup at first. But the tone made me work at it and I wouldn't trade a Passive Precision for anything now.

 

[LowActionHero]

I also float when playing in A or above, but not if I'm staying mostly on the E string. So I spend a lot of time using the pickups as thumb rests. The only bass I've found REALLY uncomfortable is my T40, but it's missing the front pickup bezel. Hope to remedy that soon. Actually the back one is cracked and sharp, but I put a piece of electrical tape over the sharp part til I can order new bezels. I have noticed if I get carried away with my G&L, I actually push the pickup down on the springs a little. First time it happened I thought I broke something!!

 

[Pops OB]

Damned opposable thumb! It's always in the way!

 

[fenjazz]

I used to have an Xotic XJ-1T that had nice wooden pickup covers with built-in thumbrests. I miss the ergonomics of that bass, but never really bonded with the tone. I wish more builders used that pickup cover design.

 

[Mvilmany]

The MFD pickups on G&L L-2000/L-2500 basses are very ergonomic.

 

[Korladis]

You got that right!

Nope. I actually play them primarily because of how comfortable they are for me.