Right hand placement

[Ric5]

 

[bobdabilder]

I anchor right thumb on the neck pickup as a reference point when the song starts and float it as i need to.

 

[IamGroot]

No need for apology...

You might want to practice resting your thumb in multiple places, as there is no "right" place to rest it, and you get different tones depending on where you do. The more free you become with your right hand, the easier it will be for you to adjust to other basses in the future, and more versatile player you will become.

Know too that you don't even have to always rest your thumb anywhere, AND you can rest it on the B string too. Or E string on a 4.

Welcome to Talkbass!

What he said....good advice

 

[micguy]

Here's a picture of one of my basses, with a thumb rest between the pickup and neck. When I'm playing the E string, my thumb is on the side of that. When I'm not playing the E string, my thumb is on top of the thumb rest, muting the E string. If I want to play over the neck, by thumb goes up there - on the side of the neck when playing the E string, on top, muting the E when I'm not playing the E string. My thumb rest design (and technique) naturally evolved as an "extension" of the fretboard - using a technique that worked OK there, but optimizing it a bit (more width) for use closer to the neck pickup. I will sometimes rest my thumb on the pickup, but not closer to the bridge than that - the closer you get to the bridge, the stiffer the strings are, and to keep my hands healthy, I keep them where it's easier to pluck.

 

[klokker]

I never rest my thumb on the pickup, can't even imagine it. I'm pretty much floating thumb, where my thumb rests on the string above the one I'm playing for the most part. When I play the low E or (B on a 5) I don't anchor at all.

But there are really good bass players that are really into anchoring their thumb on the pickup, so not everyone is like me.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I never rest my thumb on the pickup, can't even imagine it. I'm pretty much floating thumb, where my thumb rests on the string above the one I'm playing for the most part. When I play the low E or (B on a 5) I don't anchor at all.

But there are really good bass players that are really into anchoring their thumb on the pickup, so not everyone is like me.

This....for the most part...im experimenting some....i damaged my hand 'badly' a few years back and the bent wrist/anchored thumb really made it worse.

Coming from guitar played with a lot of gain, i learned to mute with the right hand...it was a matter of transferring that to bass, though i 'rarely if ever' finger-picked on guitar and started bass with a pick...i soon got away from practicing that method (pick) and it took a while to adjust the 'floating thumb' technique properly but now i can easily use my fingers and thumb to pick with little to no pain or strain.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hey guys, new to site and been playing for a couple months now. Question:I have an Ibanez 5 string bass, I know most sites recommend you rest your thumb on pick up, but with dual pick ups, do you rest on neck or bridge pick up? Sorry, new here. Help

No matter what kind of bass your playing, you rest your thumb on your strings. That's how you mute them.

 

[hennessybass]

I usually rest my thumb on the E string (4 string player), and just have it float when I'm playing the E or moving across strings a bunch. Sometimes I might rest it on the front pickup, sometimes on the back pickup, very occasionally on the neck. Mostly just floating out there in space.

I usually play right in front of, or over, the neck pickup. But sometimes behind it (in between), and sometimes more over the bridge pickup - that's about as far back as I go. I also really like to play on-top of the neck - right around the 15th and 17th frets. I slap the strings against the neck, and get really weird harmonic overtones and cool sounds.

As far as your thumb - rest it where it is naturally comfortable. As far as right hand position, find a place that feels natural and makes a sound you like, and that should be home base (your tone). Then you should be moving up and down from there to make different tone. Short, tight, staccato, sharp, fast, etc, down near the bridge. Fat, round, warm, legato, big, etc, up closer to the neck.

 

[klokker]

No matter what kind of bass your playing, you rest your thumb on your strings. That's how you mute them.

That's one way to go about it, but there are some pretty good bass players that do it differently. Check out Billy Sheehans video here at 2:40. There's no way I could ever play like that, it would drive me crazy, but there you go and I ain't going to argue with him. This guy really anchors in a way that I don't at all. I get it as well, that he isn't probably the "norm". He warps his left hand thumb around the neck which also would drive me up a wall, but it works good for him.



Again, at 2:40.

 

[two fingers]

No need for apology...

You might want to practice resting your thumb in multiple places, as there is no "right" place to rest it, and you get different tones depending on where you do. The more free you become with your right hand, the easier it will be for you to adjust to other basses in the future, and more versatile player you will become.

Know too that you don't even have to always rest your thumb anywhere, AND you can rest it on the B string too. Or E string on a 4.

Welcome to Talkbass!

Exactly this....including Welcome to TalkBass!!!

By the way @Joe Nerve your inbox is full.

 

[Jeffhilife59]

Resting the thumb on the pick up (yes...I know a lot of pros do it...does not mean it is safe to do so..) can lead to injury problems at a later time. This is because the wrist is invariably bent. The "floating thumb" technique is great in that it is comparatively safe AND you mute unwanted string sounds too.

Here is a demonstration of the FT.

Thanks so much. The video makes perfect sense.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Exactly this....including Welcome to TalkBass!!!

By the way @Joe Nerve your inbox is full.

Thanks. Have to renew my membership... will do tomorrow. Werkin tonight.

 

[Les Fret]

Rest your thumb on the B string not on the pickup.