Where do you rest your thumb when playing bass?

[watton_earth]

I try and rest my thumb right on top of the neck pickup, and even on the pickguard. If my nails are a little to long then this results in unwanted twang.

I thought about installing a finger (thumb rest) but the location of the pickgaurd might make this unworkable.

You?

[incubus2432]

I used to anchor mine on the bridge p/u but forced myself to stop and now don't anchor it anywhere. It made a big difference in my comfort and improved (IMO) my playing quite a bit.

[T.A.R.]

Either on the Neck Pup or the Bridge Pup Cover.

[antonius]

I think I have what is known as the 'floating thumb' technique, where my thumb lightly touches the side of the pickups, the E or A string. It does help with damping the lower strings.

[woodyng]

I'm a floater...wait that didn't sound right....
I Have tried to anchor my thumb,and it just ends up detached,well,not DETACHED,but no longer in contact with the bass. When i play with a pick,which isn't often,i like resting my palm on the 4000's pickup cover,and playing over the nonexisting neck pickup.

[jdawe]

I'm another "floater": I don't anchor my thumb at all - when I play the higher strings I rest it lighly on the unplayed heavier strings in order to mute them, and when I play the E string My thumb floats free. (Note: I'm mainly a guitarist and only picked up bass casually a few years ago, so I'm not someone you should listen to on questions of technique).

[teeder]

I prefer to have my thumb on the opposite side of the pick from my index finger.

After playing with fingers for over 30 years, I've almost completely switched over to using a pick. When I did use fingers I would float around, but most of the time I used to anchor on the HS.

[jps]

I keep my thumb on my hand, right next to my fingers, it does no good to put it in it's case while playing bass.

[anoukane]

On the pickguard. Works perfectly fine for me.

[qwezirider]

I anchor the thumb, but all over the place. As far as Rics are concerned, against the treble pickup mount, inside the mount, against the pickup itself, against other strings, up, down, back and forth. It just depends upon where on the strings I'm getting the tone I want, how hard I play for a given song, higher notes or lower notes - my anchor point varies all over the place. Heck, on a 4004, I love that little screw holding the pickup ring in place for a good anchor point.

My optic pickup bass is freaky to find an anchor point since it has no traditional pickup mounted anywhere. The optics are in the bridge.

[johnallg]

I anchor the thumb, but all over the place. As far as Rics are concerned, against the treble pickup mount, inside the mount, against the pickup itself, against other strings, up, down, back and forth. It just depends upon where on the strings I'm getting the tone I want, how hard I play for a given song, higher notes or lower notes - my anchor point varies all over the place. Heck, on a 4004, I love that little screw holding the pickup ring in place for a good anchor point.

My optic pickup bass is freaky to find an anchor point since it has no traditional pickup mounted anywhere. The optics are in the bridge.

Bruce, off topic, but do you have a sound clip of that bass?

[jayfbv]

See if can remember how to add a picture....if so, it's a clear piece of plastic and double sided white foam tape:

[rickenbrother]

Edits made. If I have to issue one more warning, this thread is toast.

[FretlessOnly]

This is my only real beef with RIcks - the lack of a proper anchor point. I use the crook of the neck/body, the neck pickuup, and/or the PG just to the right of the neck PU. None of these are great (some because of location and others because of lack of a sufficiently big anchor), and the location of the PG screws precludes the addition of a thumbrest that could be added in my sweet spot (the dip in the PG) without any modification to the bass. But, it is a small price to pay.

[ilan]

I anchor my thumb on top of the handrest, just like I do with my Fenders that still have the chrome pickup covers. And when I play my son's Ric, I anchor on the Deluxe Bezel's thumb rest.