Where do you put your thumb?

[88persuader]

Hi ... I'm new to this group but it's an interesting thread so i thought i'd put in my two cents. In regards to finger plucking positioning I use to always brace my thumb on the pickup of what ever bass I played. If i wasn't braced I'd lose my balance and get sloppy. Well once I started playing 5 and 6 string basses, like others in this group I found myself using the B string as a thumb rest. Since I've been an Alembic owner I've made some other changes. 1st I started using heavy gage strings because I wanted to develope my popping slapping style and when i put the action low I found myself hitting the string against the neck when i didn't want to and I would sound sloopy. The heavy gage strings help me get this under control. Now because I took myself out of my comfort zone (playing multi string basses & slapping popping) I find my thumb doesn't rest on anything in paticular anymore. Generally it kind of goes where ever it wants without thinking about it. Sometimes on the B or E string, sometimes a pickup, sometimes the actual neck of the guitar (when I finger pluck the strings directly over the neck) sometimes it just rest against the body. And of course when slapping & popping it never rests! ...lol Sorry couldn't resist saying that! I sat in with a friend's band a few weeks ago and he had a Rick 4001. I felt very uncomfortable with this bass and had to play with my thumb actually not resting on anything ... suspended in air. It wasn't the most comfortable situation to be in but it was nice to know that WHERE the resting spot was or wasn't didn't stop me from doing the job. I was still able to play the 4 or 5 tunes I did with his band because i wasn't married to one resting spot. So i guess my opinion is to try ALL positions you can think of. You never know when you'll be in a situation where you'll be forced out of your comfort zone while playing some strange bass. Not to mention the different tones you can bring out of your bass in different positions and with different striking/plucking methods.  
 
That's my two cents! ;-)
Ray

[bigideas]

i currently play a fretless jazz bass (i don't like it, i don't want it, but its all i've got). the action is crazy high due to fender putting the heaviest flatwounds they had on it, and that warping the neck. now i've put nylons on it. this means i've had to be creative (and playing a well setup bass has become a rare relief.)
 
like ray my thumb goes everywhere: front pickup, bridge pickup, side of neck at joint, side of neck at twelvth fret. i also use my thumb to slap (popping is very hard on this bass), so sometimes i'm just out there. finally, i've started trying a hooked finger approach. sortuv like popping, but i'm just plucking the string that way (i've heard that jamerson did something like this). i haven't figured out where to put my thumb for that one yet. so i'm just everywhere.
 
matt