Where do you prefer to pluck the strings?

[Element Zero]

On my dual pickup Fodera, generally just behind the neck pickup. On my single pickup Stingray 5 generally right in the middle of the pickup.

 

[Jazzkuma]

I prefer to pluck the strings wherever it gets me the sound I need at that moment.

 

[75Ric]

I play mostly tunes from the 1960 - 70s, including lots of Motown and classic rock. Where I play varies with the song, but my happy spot is just in front of the pups on a pbass. It's where Jamerson played and where I seem to get a great tone. I also think my timing is a little better playing here.

 

[misterCRUSH]

I am a fretless player, and play jazz almost exclusively. I find I get the jazziest full tone when I pluck just over the end of the fretboard. I occasionally venture over the pickups on my fender Jazz when I am playing R & B or rock, but that's not very often

 

[Yellow Bang66]

So I realize this will probably vary from bass to bass, from pickup to pickup, as well as weather you use fingers or a pick to pluck the strings, how you otherwise have your tone dialed in, and also some parts/songs will call for a different tone that require of you to pluck elsewhere, but I am curious of weather or not you have a preferred spot to pluck the strings and if so where that is?

I personally prefer the tone I get from plucking the strings here, just in front of about where the 24th fret would have been, using a slightly rounded Dunlop USA Nylon .73mm pick :
View attachment 4381185

On my P/j usually always over the P(neck) PU,but recently Ive been more prone to shift around, depending on my demeanor, or attitude that day! starting to pluck between the p and jazz or shift closer to neck or between neck and P Pup. again depends just how I feel! Imean what the song needs

 

[mrcbass]

Everywhere between the bridge to the 14th or so fret.

I'd say that my default position is over the pups (maybe a tad on the finger board side) (P-bass), but different songs call for different needs.

I don't like the tone at the bridge, but some songs call for that and if I need controlled fast plucking, that's where I can make it happen. I float up to over the neck to try to create a DB feel when needed for some songs. But everywhere in between is always an option.

 

[Nev375]

I PLAY WHEREVER THE HECK I WANT!

No, seriously it's about what my ears are hearing.

The more bright sharp trebly sounds I hear from others, the more I move toward the neck reaching for those soft deep pillowy sounds. If I hear a lot of full strums, lush chords or keyboard padding I tend to move toward the bridge for a sharper attack to cut through. I'm always trying to fill out something missing in the sound. Whatever it takes to make the whole sound better.

I don't even think about it. You know how you automatically adjust the volume of your voice to order drinks in either a noisy bar or a quiet upscale restaurant. My fingers and/or pick go wherever it takes and dig in as hard as they need to get the tone required. Tone and timbre really IS all in your fingers. Use the whole dang string!

 

[QweziRider]

...but I am curious of weather or not you have a preferred spot to pluck the strings and if so where that is?

Exactly what you said in the first part of the sentence:

So I realize this will probably vary from bass to bass, from pickup to pickup, as well as weather you use fingers or a pick to pluck the strings, how you otherwise have your tone dialed in, and also some parts/songs will call for a different tone that require of you to pluck elsewhere...

It all depends on the song, the sound I want for a given song, which bass I'm using (which sure isn't the same from gig to gig)...I have no one go-to place.

 

[logdrum]

From 1/2 inch off the bridge to the 18th fret . Default if a Jazz is over or behind the bridge pickup. Same area if other pickups/ I mellow the sound with thumb which moves it middle-ish.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I'll play wherever I need to in order to produce the sound I need for the song. My default position is a bit in front of the neck pickup although I will move back behind that pickup if needed or even behind the bridge pickup. When plucking the song Barracuda, I do the galloping triplets between the bridge pickup and the bridge in order to get the string tension I need to pull those galloping triplets off consistently. But my default position is up just in front of the neck pickup. Since I'm playing a passive Jazz bass with all my controls dimed, I can vary the sound I get out of my bass a LOT must by altering where I pluck the strings.

 

[ArteK]

Typically, I play a P bass, but this applies to most basses I've owned (J, P/J, single coil Precision/Telecaster basses, Gibson dual hum bucker).

I play right on top of the P pickup (or the neck pickup in dual pickup setups). Most of the time, I rest my thumb right on the pickup whenever I'm playing notes on the E string, and on the E string when playing notes on any other strings).

When fading a note at the end of a song, I palm mute with my right hand right on the bridge at the end of the strings.

For these two reasons, I've found that I can't use any shiny bling covers for pickups or bridges. They ALWAYS get in the way at some point. I just can't help it. I think they all look gorgeous, but I have to remove them whenever I buy a bass that has them. (I tend to save them for the next owner.)

 

[coy garcia]

On the neck for simulated Upright tone, at the bridge for Pick type tone...somewhere in the middle for everything else...the same for every instrument I play.

 

[Brich]

Pluck where the song calls for. Over the fingerboard, neck/bridge pickup and everywhere between the neck heel and bridge regardless of pickup location. I did a zero mod build on my musicman so I can comfortably play in there positions and still have a thumb rest. So versatile

 

[groooooove]

kind of like asking a painter what color they paint with.

obviously we all have default right hand positions, and I typically play over the pickups. BUT, there is so much tonal variation from plucking over a bridge pickup, all the way up to over the frets. jaco was great at this. using the whole area gives a much more versatile result.

this is one thing we should take from the bowed instrument world - a cellist uses the whole range, from over the fingerboard to nearly touching the bridge, to create different textures. a cellist would be insufficient if they kept the bow in one place. our fingers work the same way, it's just less pronounced.

 

[Ric5]

I pick, pluck, slap, and many other methods and the location is all over from the bridge to the neck.

 

[JW56789]

Wherever it sounds best for what I'm after right now. More bottom towards the fingerboard end, brighter towards the bridge. More obvious on a single pickup bass. Actually, the real 'on the fly' tone adjustment that doesn't involve turning ANY knobs.

 

[TOOL460002]

Aside from standard thumb on pup, I tend to anchor on the end of the neck because I use three fingers a lot, and the shorter travel and "bounce" off the fretboard makes for more efficient playing, plus I've been trying to mix in tap so being closer is just a must. For classical guitar style plucking I anchor with my pinky on the bottom of the neck, pulling up more. Slap at the end of the neck.

 

[Gustopher]

My hand naturally falls around the pickup on my pbass and stingray. I tend to pluck there. When I use a pick, I will either play in front of the pickup towards the neck or I will be palm muting and riding the bridge.

 

[NoiseNinja]

kind of like asking a painter what color they paint with.

obviously we all have default right hand positions, and I typically play over the pickups. BUT, there is so much tonal variation from plucking over a bridge pickup, all the way up to over the frets. jaco was great at this. using the whole area gives a much more versatile result.

this is one thing we should take from the bowed instrument world - a cellist uses the whole range, from over the fingerboard to nearly touching the bridge, to create different textures. a cellist would be insufficient if they kept the bow in one place. our fingers work the same way, it's just less pronounced.

^^ This ^^, is the only correct answer. Sticking to one right-hand playing position is as blinkered as always playing at the same dynamic or always playing the same note at the same fret/string position when most have from 2 to 4 possibilities.
YMMV

It does depend on the kind of music you play though, doesn't it?`

Just like you normally wouldn't EQ your bass differently several time in the cause of a song.

Not all music will require of your bass to jump up and down tonally every 5 seconds.

It's like saying a painter shouldn't be allowed to paint monochromatic paintings, or that photographers shouldn't be allowed to shoot black and white pictures.

And even a painter who do use several different colors when they paint might still very well have a favorite color, in fact it is even quite common that painters will use one or a couple of "signature" colors more so than others in their paintings.

Also at least on my main bass I have way more than 2 to 4 different tones depending on plucking position, more like 10 to 20 different tones depending on where I pluck, yet I prefer the tone of one specific spot most of the time, unless the music specifically calls for something else.

Finally just because you do tend to change things up during a song doesn't mean that you can't have a favored tone or physically prefer to pluck in a specific spot, which is really what I asked, already mentioning in my OP that there are many reasons why you wouldn't want to just stick to that one spot all of the time.

So no, there isn't such a thing as 1 single true ultimately correct answer to my question, in fact claiming there to be so is about the only wrong answer.

 

[Katoosie]

Depends on the song. That includes sound, technique... Etc...