Can you tell me where to stick it?

[Aaron Cheney]

I've been playing guitar for 20 plus years, and I've always kept a nice bass around for tracking. I usually just track with a pick, since I'm more comfortable that way due to my guitar experience.

Lately I've been really trying to improve my ability to play my bass with my fingers. I do all right as long as I can rest my thumb on the low "E", but when I need to finger that string I have no place to put my thumb and I end up losing my point of reference and missing the string with my fingers. What a dork.

When I finerpick on guitar, I usually plant my pinkie and keep my place that way. Obviously that won't work on bass. I know a lot of basses come with thumb rests, but mine doesn't have one. (Ernie Ball Sterling). In fact, in looking around it seems most basses don't have one.

So my question is... how are you bass players keeping your place? Please clue me in.

Or maybe I should just buy a 5 string for the "built in thumb rest".

Aaron
http://www.voodoovibe.com

 

[Toki987]

a 5 would 'bout do it for you. and if you watch some of the more traditional players you`ll see that they will position the thumb just above the E string at a 90 degree angle, they are just providing another pivot point like a seesaw to offset the activity of the index and middle fingers, not to "rest" it there. The thumb players usually use the finger tips below the G string to balance the hand so the thumb can work. There is usually no weight being applied to the thumb, just balancing the hand. However, if you developed using the upper rear corner of the bass as a pivot point for the more muscular portion of the forearm near the elbow the weight is more balanced, kinda like a crane, that way the entire hand and all the fingers, including the thumb are free to enjoy increased dexterity and no portion of the minor muscle groups have been dedicated to a support function. The muscle on the outer rim of the palm on the little finger side is more than adequate as a damper to kill any unwanted string oscillation. Thats why the contour was put on the upper rear corner of most the traditional electric basses, not as eye candy, but for a natural and logical plane that is in the same plane as the angle of the forearm when the bass is being held in the proper playing position.
Basically, it all comes down to what feels best to you in order to pull it off.
You might run into an old dude like me that has all the thumb rests and pickup covers from a long running series of Fender style basses over the years in a box somewhere and con him out of a thumb rest. 'hope that helps you some. I enjoyed talking about it.
Thanks,
Tok

 

[christiaan]

Never really thought about it..
So I just picked up my two basses.

First my 4 string with P/J pick-ups. It seems that I have my thumb on the E string when playing the A, D or G string and I move my thumb up to let it rest on the P pickup when I play the E-string.

My Ibanez ATK 5 string has just one humbucker near the bridge, just like a Stingray. I use the edge of the bridge, that extends around the pickup as my reference. (see attachment).

 

[Toki987]

nice bass. I`ve had 2 Ibanez basses and been very satisfied. My daughter has an anniversary model I bought in the mid-70`s after I quit using Fenders cause of the poor quality control.

 

[Lame Thrower]

I tend to move my position depending on the desired sound.

My bass has Jazz pickups in it, so usually I'll rest my thumb on the neck pickup for a middle of the road kind of sound.

For a rounder or thumpier tone, I'll move up and rest my thumb on the end of the neck, up by the 22nd fret or so, and actually pluck on the fretboard. To exaggerate this effect, you can pluck over the 12th fret.

For a more agressive sound with less sustain, I'll pluck over the back pickup or even right next to the bridge.

All that said, I think the "Thumb on the E unless you're playing it" method that christiaan mentioned is the "technically correct" one.

Whatever floats yer boat.

 

[Toki987]

I knew a bass player in hotlanta that didnt have a right hand. He had a leather cup with a pick holder in it. He was truely awesome at delivery of his style.

 

[Scooter B]

Aaron,

From someone who started on guitar and migrated to bass as my primary instrumment through trial and error I understand your question.

I had played "fingerpicking" quite a bit and tried that on bass but it didn't work well. There are a lot of self taught bass players with unique approaches to this but you want tio find something that works without causing yourself any repetitive stress injuries.

Toki987 had good advise on this by recomending to "anchor" your forearm primarily rather than your thumb. Finding somewhere to rest your thumb is fine but using it as an "anchor" point will cause limitations.

A lot of tonal variety can be achieved on the same bass/PU/amp setup just by changing where you finger the string from the bridge to the neck.

I think this (anchoring your forearm) is "un-natural" for most guitar players because your forearm is definitaly moving alot using a pick for rhythm and lead.

It took me a couple yeras to figure that one out and you get it in one thread over a day or two.

Good luck and happy fingerstyle. I much prefer the sound of fingers and I don't have to worry about dropping and finding picks again live.