Perhaps some one with more knowledge than I can help me out with a problem I have with the thumb position?
There is simply not enough flesh (meat?) between the nail and the first joint of my thumb to effectively hold the G and D strings down firmly on the finger board. So, it simply straddles the string like an arch ( Its probably the natural shrinking of old age :crying) producing no, or at best, muffled tones. To compensate, I have been using the joint itself as the stopping-point. There is only a shift to the right of less than a half inch but it does throw out the alignment of my fingers. Often I simply use the harmonic instead of stopping the string, but as you can imagine it is awkward when fingering, lets say, a chromatic run with the harmonic in the middle.
Other than switching to thicker gut strings, what do you suggest? Is this a common problem? Should I just forget about it?
Thanks in advance. I hope this isnt too trivial a question?
Gerry G
There is simply not enough flesh (meat?) between the nail and the first joint of my thumb to effectively hold the G and D strings down firmly on the finger board. So, it simply straddles the string like an arch ( Its probably the natural shrinking of old age :crying) producing no, or at best, muffled tones. To compensate, I have been using the joint itself as the stopping-point. There is only a shift to the right of less than a half inch but it does throw out the alignment of my fingers. Often I simply use the harmonic instead of stopping the string, but as you can imagine it is awkward when fingering, lets say, a chromatic run with the harmonic in the middle.
Other than switching to thicker gut strings, what do you suggest? Is this a common problem? Should I just forget about it?
Thanks in advance. I hope this isnt too trivial a question?
Gerry G
I've discovered the beauty of arco and the pleasure of pure legato on the bass after many years of playing pizzicato and bowing only endings and intros. And. . . I like to do things right. 
