I use edge of neck pickup on my Jackson as a thumb rest, so i can play between pickups. I found that as the most comfortable position for me.
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is it okay to not play over the pickup
- Thread starter villarddefender
- Start date
You get different tones/harmonics at different places along the string. Not to get too anal about it, but...
I'll play over the 18th fret sometimes, others right at the bridge. It's just tonal variety, nothing complicated.
It's ok to play wherever you like the sound best. And that's likely to change between different songs or even within a given song.
i rarely play exactly over the pickup on either of my bases. Plus one has a cover over the pickup so i cant play there.
String vibration is complicated. Having even the very same pickup at different locations lets them pick up the fundamental and overtones to different degrees. Just like when you play near the neck, a neck pickup will deliver a stronger fundamental and less higher harmonics than if that pickup is near the bridge.
Is it bad that I want to say it's only wrong if the pickup is soloing in the same register? OK, bad joke. Carry on.
I never notice any volume difference between playing on or off the pickup. I just play where I get the sound I want, which varies depending on the bass and the song.
I usually play over the neck pickup only because that's where I anchor, but I do lots of hammer on and pull offs, which probably explains why I was never shot but caned repeatedly about the head and neck....
No less than you deserved....What an absolute cad!....
And I almost got away with it. The one time they were listening....
Better to be too anal than atonal.
MDBass
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Yes, in fact depending on what sound you want it might even be recommended
Changing where you pluck changes the attack and timbre of the note, but if won't make the pickup hear "less"; picking closer to the neck the tone is warmer snd the note has more bloom, closer to the bridge it's brighter and there is more attack.
You can play where ever you want. I change up what I do regularly, depending on the needs of the song... sometimes actually changing in the middle of the song. You can play the bass wherever and however it makes a sound useful to you.
MDBass
Supporting Member
- Nov 7, 2012
- 8,590
- 14,892
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- Endorsing Artist: Dingwall-Fender-Bergantino-Dunlop-Tech 21-Darkglass-Nordstrand
The neck pickup is "listening" to an entirely different part of the string, which sounds entirely different than what the bridge pickup is "listening" to.
If it was the case that a pickup only picked up the sound if you picked right over it there would need to be pickups all along the strings including on the neck in order for us to be able to hear anything at all of the strings vibrations.
Or seen from another perspective:
It is not your fingers that makes up the notes you are playing, it's the strings vibrations that does.
Yes, it is your fingers that initiate those vibrations, or is the catalyst, so to speak, but not what the pickups actually pick up.
Or seen from another perspective:
It is not your fingers that makes up the notes you are playing, it's the strings vibrations that does.
Yes, it is your fingers that initiate those vibrations, or is the catalyst, so to speak, but not what the pickups actually pick up.
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Varying your right hand position is a great technique, and opens up so much variety in tone. A good example is a single humbucker Stingray: many consider it a "one trick pony" that can only produce one amazing but very aggressive tone. That's only remotely true if you only play over the pickup. If you move your plucking further toward the neck, as others have already said, you'll get a progressively mellower and warmer tone.
Another thing I like about not anchoring over the pickup is that it helps remove a dependence on having to anchor your thumb all the time. This opens up the possibility to use floating thumb string damping, which I personally prefer, especially when playing on 5 or more string basses.
Another thing I like about not anchoring over the pickup is that it helps remove a dependence on having to anchor your thumb all the time. This opens up the possibility to use floating thumb string damping, which I personally prefer, especially when playing on 5 or more string basses.
