Thumb rest below the strings - how does it work?

[Perry]

Sorry guys to be a thickie but I've been drooling over Funkysimon's P Bass.

How does the thumb rest work when it's below the strings?

[Sibob]

Fender envisaged players would place their fingers on the lower side of he rest and use their thumb to play the strings, so it was actually a finger rest!

Si

Edited February 21, 2008 by Sibob

[sk8]

beat me to it

[spinynorman]

It puts the "proper bass players use their fingers" debate in some sort of context.

I wonder what sort of market research Leo did for that design choice. Does anyone play bass like that?

[OldGit]

Sometimes ...

It gives a different sound, nice fat and round, especially if you pluck the strings over the end of the fingerboard ..
Good for fat soft reggae sounds, root-fifth country and western etc...

Edited February 21, 2008 by OldGit

[Dr.Dave]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='144329' date='Feb 21 2008, 12:58 PM']It puts the "proper bass players use their fingers" debate in some sort of context.

I wonder what sort of market research Leo did for that design choice. Does anyone play bass like that?[/quote]

Part of his thinking was that jobbing guitar players would use his invention enabling them to get more work - I suspect they may have played that way at the time. Many will have been used to a wrap round thumb pick rather than a loosely held plectrum.

BTW - proper bass players use their ears , whichever bit they choose to sound a string with doesn't really matter much.

[E_MaN]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='144368' date='Feb 21 2008, 01:40 PM']Part of his thinking was that jobbing guitar players would use his invention enabling them to get more work - I suspect they may have played that way at the time. Many will have been used to a wrap round thumb pick rather than a loosely held plectrum.

BTW - proper bass players use their ears , whichever bit they choose to sound a string with doesn't really matter much.[/quote]

yeah

[sgt-pluck]

[quote name='spinynorman' post='144329' date='Feb 21 2008, 12:58 PM']It puts the "proper bass players use their fingers" debate in some sort of context.

I wonder what sort of market research Leo did for that design choice. Does anyone play bass like that?[/quote]

I've seen John McVie play like that, and I saw a bassist playing along with Nina Simone on some video or other using the thumb technique. Tried it myself after seeing that video. Made a nice sound but felt weird and was very slow

Pluck

[OldGit]

[quote name='sgt-pluck' post='144420' date='Feb 21 2008, 02:44 PM']Made a nice sound but felt weird and was very slow [/quote]

Yup It has it's uses .. and, of course, you can hang on to that rest thing whils you double thumb your way through some Victor Wooton exercises (ha ha not really)

[Gazm]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='144368' date='Feb 21 2008, 01:40 PM']BTW - proper bass players use their ears , whichever bit they choose to sound a string with doesn't really matter much.[/quote]

I find using my ears to sound the strings most inconvenient and painful

[OldGit]

[quote name='finnbass' post='144519' date='Feb 21 2008, 04:59 PM']Bill Wyman.

But he doesn't use a finger rest.

I think Duck Dunn only used his thumb as well.[/quote]

Nah Duck's a fingers man, at least some of the time.
Time is tight, live
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM[/url]

And Bill's a pick man, at least some of the time
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMxSk3NZl0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMxSk3NZl0...feature=related[/url]

But at others a thumb man
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEefARQlfN8&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEefARQlfN8...feature=related[/url]

I suspect they used different techniques for different effects like most of us.

Edited February 21, 2008 by OldGit

[OldGit]

[quote name='finnbass' post='144574' date='Feb 21 2008, 06:13 PM']I think Bill's thrown his pick away

I saw him do a two-hour set last Tuesday with the Rhythm Kings and he used his thumb all the way through. Used a Steinberger headless as well.[/quote]
Yeah
That's on my "famous people's basses I'd like" list

[bassace]

In '61 I played a new blond Fender Jazz. I played in the Ramrods in Cheltenham not long after Brian Jones had left them to go to London and the Stones. First I played with a pick, as all bg'ers did in those days over here (I think they got it from Summertime Blues). I remember the house band on Saturday Club had a bass who used a pick and it sounded awful. Then I used my thumb to soften the attack but didn't have a lot of control. I forget who I first saw using fingers, most of the Mersey groups used fingers - not Paul - it looked weird at the time, but as soon as I copied the style I never did anything else.

Edited February 21, 2008 by bassace

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='OldGit' post='144552' date='Feb 21 2008, 05:45 PM']Time is tight, live
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM[/url][/quote]
Great video, but it went a bit weird at about 1:11 - I had to slap the side of my monitor to get the picture back

[OldGit]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='144671' date='Feb 21 2008, 08:35 PM']Great video, but it went a bit weird at about 1:11 - I had to slap the side of my monitor to get the picture back [/quote]

Life was like that then

[jakenewmanbass]

If you use the side of your thumb while resting the pinky side of your palm aganst the strings near the bridge you get a great thumpy tone.

Edited February 22, 2008 by jakesbass

[alexclaber]

Once you investigate all the different sounds you can get through changes in plucking technique EQ starts to seem rather superfluous. I play with my thumb loads nowadays, with varying degrees of muting. Different fingers sound different too and where you pluck and how hard you pluck (and in which direction) makes a huge difference too.

Alex