Where do you prefer to pluck the strings?

[Fun Size Nick]

Anywhere from the neck pickup to the 19th fret, according to the tone I'm looking for on any given note. I don't really like to venture any closer to the bridge, though - for some reason I've always found it a bit brittle sounding for my personal vibe.

 

[Nephilymbass]

It varies from bass to bass because of the pickup location. But I anchor my thumb on the side of the pickup when I’m playing the lowest string so unless I’m moving my hand to get a warmer or thinner sound I mainly hover right over a pickup

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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

At a gig preferably, but all most always between the pickups of my PJ.

 

[lermgalieu]

Usually somewhere on the strings.

 

[akukulich]

My right hand is nearly always positioned on the bridge pickup.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

Anybody hold their pinky down on the pick guard, as an anchor, while picking? (like finger style guitarists)
Any pros & cons to it?

 

[CaseyVancouver]

Usually somewhere on the strings.

 

[GreyBeard]

If I'm playing a faster rock thing, I pluck closer to the bridge for a more aggressive tone. If I'm playing a ballad I pluck closer to the neck for a rounder more mellow tone. It's all in the hands.

 

[GreyBeard]

Anybody hold their pinky down on the pick guard, as an anchor, while picking? (like finger style guitarists)
Any pros & cons to it?

A while back I bought a Ibanez ATK 5 string. It has no thumb anchor of any kind. I forced myself to learn the floating thumb thingy. Now that I have mastered it, I will never look back.

 

[TrevorR]

I had a discussion with a bass player friend a few years ago who had never considered plucking anywhere other than with his thumb resting on the neck pickup - which, to be fair, is probably my default position. I pluck in all sorts of different ways and places depending on the song and the tone I’m looking for. When I went home I tried to work out how many different plucking techniques and places I might use over the course of a gig. Came up with this - eleven different plucking/picking styles if you include using a pick with and without palm mute…

NB this doesn’t include any slap or tapping type techniques (which aren’t really my thing anyway).

 

[Iristone]

I tend to play my Gibson basses between the pickups, and my Rick just behind the bridge pickup (which really is more like a middle pickup). Picked I play slightly further back, with Gibson basses I sometimes play directly over the bridge pickup.

 

[TrevorR]

Actually, this reminds me of one gig back in the wedding band days. Our set list went from R’n’R to 60s pop, from Motown to Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter, from glam to Britpop, from punk/new wave to funk and from white reggae to country rock… so lots of need to dial in different sounds on the fly for different songs.

I recall once at a wedding which my old band played, a teenage boy was watching me playing intently. He came up in one of the breaks to say he was learning bass and to ask what EQ pedals and multi effects I was using to get all the sounds and effects I was getting. I looked down at my feet where I had a grand total of a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal and a Lehle 3@1 A/B switcher for my two basses. I took him through how I use the bass pickup blend control and tones to set different core tones and then how I use different plucking techniques and strengths to modulate those tones further to get a really wide set of different sounds across the set.

I think he was a bit disappointed that getting similar results would require application and learning and developing techniques rather that just going out and buying a Megaeffects Super Electro-Wobblifer pedal!

 

[2cooltoolz]

I've been focusing on not anchoring my thumb for the last couple years. I move around a lot with my plucking. It started out about muting, and became about tone.
It's not perfect; when I feel pressured, I find my thumb locked on the neck PU, but I'm working on it.

 

[C Stone]

Different places fir different basses, depending on string gauges, rounds or flats, fretted or fretless, and whether playing finger style or using a pick.

With fretless generally thumb on the neck or pick guard edge for a big round tone and with a pick I tend to favor the bridge for better articulation and palm muting.

My baseline with most basses is thumb anchored on the neck pickup (P or J). I think the best overall tone as a whole is playing just behind the neck pick-up.

 

[comatosedragon]

I just want to thank everybody who posted the reason they play closer to the bridge in this thread. Most videos and the few live performances I have seen, the bass player tends to pluck there. I always wondered why, as it seemed uncomfortable for me, but now I understand much better the reasonings, and may adjust my technique because of this.

I generally play closer to the neck, or between the first and second PU of my triad (3 PU bass).

 

[-Asdfgh-]

EVERYWHERE!

Seriously, all of my basses are passive (or set to passive if they have preamps). And the tone knob stays dimed. I use technique and placement to change the tone for different songs. I use a pick, fingers, the side of my thumb, slap, tap, etc. And I go from plucking over the fretboard to right beside the bridge and all points in between.

For me it depends on the bass and style too. On my fret less that has tapes on if I want to sound a little like Danny Thompson, then I'm over the fingerboard. If I'm trying to sound like Ament on a fretless with rounds, further back. If I want to sound like Mick Karn... I give up.

 

[fhm555]

I spend most if my time with my thumb on the edge of the neck but will move back to the bridge pickup or any place between to get the sound I’m after.

 

[packhowitzer]

This may sound like a copout answer, but I just do what's best for the song. thump up near where the neck meets the body? sure. Play right over the pickup? check. palm mute back by the bridge and play with the side of my thumb? yep, do that too. pick? fingers? thumb? yes, yes, yes... We have a 200+ song catalog, so there is a wide variety of techniques needed to cover all the bases... ymmv.

 

[brianrost]

Everywhere from over the fingerboard (like on a DB) to next to the bridge. My default position is about halfway between the fingerboard and bridge, roughly where a P pickup is. I move between there and the bridge as needed. I play more towards the fingerboard less often, when I want a much fatter, rounder tone.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Anywhere between the bridge and up to about the 12th fret.

If you only like one tone, stay in place, if you like variety, move around.

Floating thumb is your friend.