Comfortable Pick-ups

What is the most comfortable pick-up to rest your thumb on?
What to avoid?

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Best I have found are the humbuckers on a Yamaha TRBX304, which have a special little thumb cutout.

Normal humbuckers are usually good too.

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PB pickups are not ideal at all for this. but, well … I do with what I have … :grin:

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Reverse P’s seem even worse :slight_smile:

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about the basses I have (which are probably not a good representation of the gear that 2020 bassists use) the two best ones for thumb position are the SBV with its JB-like but with rounded edges pickups, and the Grabber with its soapbar-sized single coil.

The two Precision are not very comfortable because of the screws, and the Ibanez Jetking is horrible with its sharp pickup rings.

But I think that modern basses with soapbars are probably the most comfortable option.

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Yep, I would say the same. Screws can be rather annoying on P and MM-style pickups whereas J pickups tend to offer only a small surface to rest on.

Only downside on my Sandberg seems to be finding the right way to rest my thumb :sweat_smile:

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Can confirm, super clever design!

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that’s really worse on P pickups because the width of the pickup is more narrow

I’m pretty much sure that what I said is not english-proof at all. :kissing:

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It’s clear enough. :wink:
Worst P-pickups are those that have those Lego-block like edges digging into your thumb :confounded:

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Reverse P style are a pig of a thing to use unless your double jointed hence the addition of many thumb rests.
I used to think the same of the P bass and added a thumb rest but then I got my Mustang and Rickenbacker :scream: .
You can just get away with using the pickups as a rest but it’s rather like hanging off of a cliff edge by your fingertips.
If you want to add a thumb rest I highly recommend the no-mod ones. No extra screws and can be removed without leaving and lasting damage to your bass

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