LeftyBassist.com

This is my third and final question for the day: I saw on the musician's friend website that Fender themselves offer an aftermarket thumbrest for their basses which they claim is easy to install. I have been playing for ten years but have never done any actual work on my guitars. I have a Mexican Jazz bass with an ash body - how hard will it be to drive in the two screws needed to hold the thumbrest in place? I had heard ash is comparitively soft wood. I have an electric drill but it's not very powerful - it's designed for tightening screws, it didn't come with any actual drill bits. I'd appreciate a heads-up on any advice before I go putting holes in my baby. And on the website they say this thumbrest comes with a diagram to show you were to place it on the body - I'm already anticipating I'll have to make a copy and flip it upside-down to compensate for my left-handedness. Does anyone have suggestions on alternate placings of the thumbrest on the body or should all thumbrests go in the one standard place?

I added a "finger rest" to my SX P/J, just for looks as I'm a pick player, and I drilled the holes thru the 'guard and into the alder body.

I'm also a fan of the finger rest for looks alone. My Jazz pickguard is celluloid, however; I got a little high from the fumes when I drilled through it......

Just a little bit of history:

All the pix above show the thumb rest as it appeared on Fender basses prior to 1974. The reason the thumb rest appeared below the strings was because early bassists actually plucked the strings with their thumbs and anchored or grasped the rest with the rest of their fingers, thus making it technically a "finger rest" and not a thumb rest. As playing styles developed and the majority of players played fingerstyle using their fingers rather than their thumbs (unless they were slapping, which was another latter-day development), Fender moved the thumbrest to the bass side above the E string and near the heel of the neck around 1974.

The question you need to ask yourself is, are you adding the thumb rest purely for aesthetic reasons or do you actually want a functional thumb rest? Putting it below the G string as pictured would be the least intrusive to playing styles such as slapping/popping, but it wouldn't really function much as a thumb rest (unless you do play old school thumb pluck style). Likewise, putting it above the E string could be intrusive to playing styles such as slapping.

The reason Fender doesn't install thumb rests anymore is because it's a throwback to a bygone era/playing style. Most players utilize other areas of the bass body to anchor their thumbs, particularly the pickup covers, since most players tend to play in those areas rather than up near the neck all the time. So if you're doing it purely for looks then go with the placement below the G string.

Which is why I referred to it as a "finger rest" in my post.

I am hoping to install a thumbrest in the position above the strings (i.e. nearer to the E string, and directly onto the body, not the pickguard, and what pjmuck described as the standard placement post-1974) because I find myself constantly resting my thumb on the neck pickup casing. I have big hands - I'm 6'5" - and such a tiny little area doesn't really support my big thumb. I'm attracted to the thumbrest installation idea because it will provide more of a shelf to rest my thumb on. I mentioned earlier that my J-bass has a natural finish (beautiful) and I worry about my extra-sweaty hands doing a number on the clearcoast, so I want to keep my mitts off the body while playing.

As it is now, I pluck the strings right around the neck pickup. I usually use my fingers, but I don't slap... except on one song my band has been developing, but I'm VERY sloppy and likely to get put in my place if Flea were to walk in on one of our practice sessions... but that's another problem entirely... I just started using picks, as I newly discovered the wonderful 346 style Fender pick - perfect for my big fingers. And when I play I use the neck pickup much more than the bridge pickup. I think I'd actually prefer a P-Bass, but when it came time to pull the trigger three years ago and replace my clunker Squire P-Bass special, I was told that Fender does not make a lefty P-Bass in their Mexican plant. I had hoped to try both out side by side, but no avail. I got lucky when my local Guitar Center dude came out of the back with the natural finish J-Bass (either that or Boring Black in a lefty J), and I love the thin neck and playability. I still haven't been able to play a Precision bass, but I think that's probably more of the sound I'm looking for.

ANYWAY I am specifically curious about how difficult it will be to drive those screws into the wood. Like I said, I have a very underpowered electric drill. Can I expect the wood to behave or is there a risk or cracking, splitting, etc?

You need to drill pilot holes first; don't just drive the screws into the wood. It could crack the finish, but more likely you'll strip out the screw heads.

Thanks for the info, Dano, that's exactly what I'm worried about. I'll let you know how the installation goes - but first I have to track down the thumbrest. Like I said, I saw it online in the Musician's Friend catalog, but you have to pay extra to ship it! Definitely not worth it for such a small and lightweight part. But I've gone to two local music stores and though everyone knows what I'm referring to, and though they say they have stocked them in the past, no one carries them anymore.

There's several on ebay.

Yeah, I paid $6.08 for my thumb rest off ebay, new, including shipping.