To anchor or not to anchor?

[velvetkevorkian]

I always thought it was more of a pinky rest for pick players.

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='Kirky' post='589668' date='Sep 4 2009, 01:53 PM']An aside - what was the logic of Fender and other manufacturers putting thumb rests [i]beneath[/i] the strings?[/quote]
IIRC, it's from back in the day when nobody was sure how the new-fangled electric bass guitar was going to be played. A lot of early players plucked with their thumb (or a thumb-pick) -- the thing below the strings was a [b]finger[/b] rest.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='589752' date='Sep 4 2009, 03:16 PM']IIRC, it's from back in the day when nobody was sure how the new-fangled electric bass guitar was going to be played. A lot of early players plucked with their thumb (or a thumb-pick) -- the thing below the strings was a [b]finger[/b] rest.[/quote]
Or 'tug bar'.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='nottswarwick' post='588094' date='Sep 2 2009, 10:21 PM']The one exception would be "disco octaves" - I find these easier to do if I anchor on the pickup.[/quote]
Yes, I find those quite difficult without an anchor.

[Doddy]

I don't find the floating thumb technique comfortable,and tend to use a 'movable anchor'
where my thumb is anchored on either the pickup or strings,depending on where i'm
playing.
The only time I'm not anchored is if I'm using my thumb and fingers to pluck,which I usually
do for fast triplet runs and occasionally for octaves.