Thumb rest below the G string.

[Meddle]

I've seen a lot of mostly Precision basses with a thumb rest bolted below the G string. Why was this added? I can only see it working for players who play with their thumb and want to grip their fingers round this thing.

Any ideas?

 

[yellofury]

you pretty much nailed it

back in the day people played by plucking their thumb
so you had the rest below the G to anchor your fingers

 

[mpm32]

I can only see it working for players who play with their thumb and want to grip their fingers round this thing.

Any ideas?

You're right here. It's a tug bar below the G string and a Thumb rest when placed above the E.

 

[LilRay]

That's exactly why Leo put it there. It's known as a "Tug Bar". Supposedly Leo designed the P Bass so guitarists could play bass. And most guitar players used their thumbs or picks.

God Bless, Ray

 

[fender3x]

My '74 Precision has it above the E which they did for a while in the 70s. Most of the rest of the fenders have it below or MIA.

In the '60s there were a bunch of basses that had them both above and below the strings. Never seen that on a Fender, tho.

 

[Fresh Eddie]

My '74 Precision has it above the E which they did for a while in the 70s. Most of the rest of the fenders have it below or MIA.

In the '60s there were a bunch of basses that had them both above and below the strings. Never seen that on a Fender, tho.

Around '73 or '74 is when Fender moved them to above the strings until the early '80s... a bunch of reissues have them below, now.

 

[DeanT]

This has been asked and answered a million times.

It's called a Tug Bar. In the old days, when bassists used their thumbs mostly to strum the bass, they grabbed the bar with their index and middle fingers for leverage.

 

[bh2]

I put one on my MiM 2002 P to give it some old school vibe...

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I never use it though I would consider mounting one above the E string.

 

[mccartneyman]

Check out any video of Brain Wilson playing bass with the Beach Boys in the '60s. Actually, thumb played near the end of the fretboard sounds very nice, especially on flats.

 

[Davecg2]

I've seen a lot of mostly Precision basses with a thumb rest bolted below the G string. Why was this added? I can only see it working for players who play with their thumb and want to grip their fingers round this thing.

Any ideas?

always wondered the same thing, now i know. but even knowing whats its for, it still just looks out of place to me. That said, i hate thumbrests too so...

 

[bobTHEbasser]

I put one on my MiM 2002 P to give it some old school vibe...

Link Removed

I never use it though I would consider mounting one above the E string.

Cheers,now I want a P bass again. Cracking guitar you've got there, never came across that colour before.

 

[Delta_Petra]

 

[LilRay]

I put one on my MiM 2002 P to give it some old school vibe...

Link Removed

I never use it though I would consider mounting one above the E string.

Why not just use one of the covers?

God Bless, Ray

 

[bh2]

I prob wouldn't use it anyway... I'm of the floating kind... I just think they look twee.

 

[Kink Rimson]

I leave mine on my old Japanese Precision bass as it looks great, but it sometimes gets in the way as I play up near the neck usually and am prone to strumming.

My '79 had one above the E but I had to remove that one as when I dug in the E would hit it.

I don't think a Precision looks truly 'complete' without the tug bar.

 

[jworrellbass]

Maybe Fender thought about a "Jimi Hendrex" bassist.

 

[mccartneyman]

Why not just use one of the covers?

God Bless, Ray

Because, although it's just a matter of inches, the sound of playing with your thumb right at the end of the neck is substantially different than that achieved by playing by the pickup. Try it! Rick Rosas with Neil Young quite often plays his Lakland Bob Glaub right at the end of the neck using his thumb, even though the bass has no bar. I do it myself on my 55-94.

 

[DeanT]

Exactly.

 

[Meddle]

Thanks for the responses. Yes I see the searchbar adage, but it is unwieldy and you get hundreds of results, only a few of which actually are useful. Something as open-ended as "thumb rest below G string" gets all sorts of results.