Whats the other pickup

[BassGod2013]

On some 60s style jazz basses, there's this pickup off away in the pickguard area. It's about 1 1/2 inches long and it is in an angle. I just gotta know.
What?
And
Why?

 

[BassBob1]

Are you talking about the "tug bar"??? You grab it with your fingers and play with your thumb as many early players sometime would. It was moved in the 70's as a thumb rest.

 

[addylewis]

It's not a pickup - its something some bassists used to rest their fingers on whilst they played with their thumb...

 

[shrimpflea]

i love the tug bar.....i don't use it, i don't need it....and yet i still love it.

 

[Pilgrim]

It's not a pickup - its something some bassists used to rest their fingers on whilst they played with their thumb...

It's something Leo THOUGHT they would anchor their fingers on while playing with their thumbs. Didn't work out that way. That's one of the very few things Leo got wrong on the early Fender basses.

 

[BassGod2013]

It's something Leo THOUGHT they would anchor their fingers on while playing with their thumbs. Didn't work out that way. That's one of the very few things Leo got wrong on the early Fender basses.

I tried using it that way....yeah I can see why