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Is it really bad form to use your E string to anchor your thumb?

#23
I've always played that way, and when playing the B string, I rest the thumb on the pickup if I want to play over the pickup, or I don't rest the thumb on anything if I want to play other than over the pickup. I do all this very deliberately, as I was taught taking lessons in music college. It's actually considered appropriate form by most pro bassists I've talked to about it.
 
#24
I play 5-ers exclusively. I use the B-string as an anchor when playing the E-G strings, and when playing the B-string I simply slightly push my thumb into the body. The friction between the finish and the tip of my thumb is more than sufficient for secure anchoring. When anchoring on the B-string my thumb already touches the body so it's only a matter of moving my thumb up half an inch and applying a tad more pressure. Works great for me. I hardly ever play over the pickups, but it translates to those situations as well.

CHeers Rody
 
#25
My right hand technique has always been pretty poor. Lately I'm trying to mute not only with my thumb, but also with my ring and pinky fingers on the higher pitched strings. Really hard at first, but it's starting to come around.

Any of you guys do this?
 
#27
SLaPiNFuNK said:
by anchoring your ring and pinky fingers you essentially limit the amount of movement you can have with your right hand...
Click to expand...

I hear you there. I'll probably work on it but not use it at all times. I need to clean up my sound a bit and I think it can help. Gary Willis does it so I'd say there is some benefit.

Probably pretty hard to slap and mute at the same time. I guess that's what the palm is for.

I guess it all depends on the situation.
 
#29
To toss out something else... I normally play at the sweet spot with the floating thumb technique (thumb tip not resting on the strings) between the pups on my Peavy Grind but I find that I naturally hover over to the end of my fingerboard and rest on that playing over and after the 24th fret range....

just my 2 cents...
 
#30
I tend to anchor on the B-string and "float" my fingers to whatever string I happen to be playing. I also mute with all my fingers, particularly on softer parts, and sometimes with my palm. It's something that I'm not always conscious of, I do it without thinking about it.

Sometimes I do the "moveable anchor" thing, particularly if it's an intense bass line (like The Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There"). But again, I usually don't think about it that much - I just do whatever the part calls for.

TJ
 
#31
I tend to anchor my thumb on my 5'ers B string.. I met a musician up at GC the other day and he was showing me some hand exercises.. At one point though he started criticizing me for resting my thumb on the B string.. He said that I SHOULD NEVER REST MY THUMB.. I said, well what about all the basses that actually have thumb rests built on them? He said you should never use those.. I was thinking W.T.eF? But now since meeting that guy I have been really self conscious of where I'm resting my thumb at.. I tried playing with my thumb "floating", but it feels totally awkward and I have no root/pivot to help me know where my fingers are in relation to the strings... It is much more comfortable for me to rest on the B string, or sometimes on the edge of the neck, or a pickup, all depending on where I'm playing at for tone's sake..

I was going to start a thread today asking advice about this, but decided to search first (thank god because I found this thread)..

From what I've read here it looks like there is nothing wrong with resting your thumb.. It actually seems quite common.. I think that musician the other day had some good pointers, but this issue about not EVER resting my thumb was some BS...
 
#32
I've used the E string as a thumbrest for a long time, but for some reason only on the four bangers.... on my 6-string I just can't get into using the low B for a thumbrest for some reason. Lately though I've started using the E as a thumbrest, even when playing on the other three strings as well... plus it's comfortable to me. Go figure!
 
#35
Try paying attention to how hard you're digging in, if you lighten up with your thumb this probably will go away. You don't need to be pressing down on the string to mute it, so if that's what you're doing then just ease up and the contact/noises should stop happening. I have to keep an eye on this myself.

Another thing could be your pickup height, if the finger technique doesn't get rid of the clacking then try lowering the pickup as long as the tone is still to your liking.
 
#37
Blanket responses ("always do ...", "never do...") don't really work for this sort of thing, it depends on what you're playing. There are some great players who always anchor on the pickup or a string, there are some great players whose thumb is always floating, etc.

I do a lot of floating thumb, the threat about that on TB has helped me see the benefits of that. But my band plays lots of drop-d riffy stuff, and during some of those parts I'll anchor on the pickup or on the lowest string (5er here) because that just seems to be the most efficient way for me to play those riffs. I dunno, maybe at some point I'll do everything with floating thumb, but now, that's what works best for me, and I don't see anything wrong with it.

It can be limiting to have your thumb, or any part of your hand/arm, parked in one place...so I'd say it's good to have the flexibility to move around. But use what works for you. If you're at a roadblock technique-wise on a particular part, then try some different methods than what you've been doing, gain some facility with them and see what is working out best. :cool:
 

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