Help: Thumb rest on Bongo?

[adouglas]

I've used the floating thumb since forever...one really big advantage to it is that once you get comfortable playing that way you can easily play all over the place and change your tone at will. If you lock yourself to one spot by relying on a thumbrest (or even the pickup edge), you're stuck with whatever tone that produces.

But everybody has his/her own preferred style. Yours is to rely on a thumbrest.

I agree about buying another pickguard and attaching the rest to that. IIRC a couple of years ago somebody did that very thing and detailed the process with photos. Dig around and you might find the thread. Or I might be crazy.

If memory serves, he drilled the pickguard and also countersunk it from behind, so he could screw the rest on (again from behind) as well as (maybe) gluing it. That struck me as a very clean, professional way to do the job.

[Jornan]

What is a floating thumb? Sorry, my English isn't good, so I don't understand everything

Anyway, I've become more used to the Bongo now, and find it OK to rest the thumb on the humbuckers even though it's not an edge there. Guess I just needed to get used to it =)

[adouglas]

Floating thumb means that instead of planting your thumb in one spot (like on a rest or the edge of the pickup) and leaving it there, you locate your thumb on the string below the one you're playing.

For example, if the note I'm playing is on the E string, I put my thumb on the B string, and so on. If I'm playing the B string and feel that I need a reference, I use the edge of the pickup.

[Jornan]

Ok. Then I use the floating thumb It's just on the E string that I need a place to have my thumb because I only have 4 strings.

[Spot]

Originally Posted by adouglas

Floating thumb means that instead of planting your thumb in one spot (like on a rest or the edge of the pickup) and leaving it there, you locate your thumb on the string below the one you're playing.

For example, if the note I'm playing is on the E string, I put my thumb on the B string, and so on. If I'm playing the B string and feel that I need a reference, I use the edge of the pickup.

actually, this technique is not the floating thumb technique, i could describe it for you but my English is limited and an image is better than words (or a video in this case)

YouTube - Todd Johnson Bass Guitar : Floating thumb technique

YouTube - Todd Johnson Bass Guitar : Floating thumb technique

this way, your thumb damper ALL the strings below the one you're playing. This is what my teacher learn me to help me eliminate the string's cross talking and its really helpful on a 6 strings

[fidooda]

oh nice, i will try this