Greetings from the new “Old Guy”. I need a little guidance here. I bought a Michael Kelly Dragonfly five string to noodle on and explore. This bass does not have a thumb rest. The advice that I have gotten so far is to use the fifth string as a thumbrest, but I find that uncomfortable. I don’t know if that is because I have never played a bass before or because it is just not right for me. After all, it will ALL be new and uncomfortable for me. So, help me,out here. Should I install a thumbrest or bite the bullet and quit whining about it
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can do both
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Just learn to play with the floating thumb technique, particularly since you’re playing 5 string.
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Beautiful instrument. I don’t know what I would do for an acoustic but yeah, I would suggest either string anchoring or floating thumb.
For me, my choice would likely be a pick 
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I don’t think I’d be comfortable installing a thumbrest on a beautiful acoustic like that. I’d experiment with anchoring on the string and floating technique first.
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Oooooh, that is a classy case of “Problem Solved”. I like that.
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Or he can install a finger ramp that would be awesome too
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Welcome to the group @Jim_Comeaux ! And as problems go, this is a pretty good one to have. I’m still a rookie, but i can say for sure that floating the thumb works best for me. It also helps with muting when playing the higher strings. This is coming from a player who only plays 4 string for the moment, so your mileage may definitely vary. Best of luck, and keep us updated on how it works out!
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Thanks everyone for your quick and useful advice.I did order the “clip on thumb rest” that was recommended. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I’ll give you a review after I try it out. I leave medium along fingers, but I wonder if there will be enough room for me to reach all the way down to the “G” string without moving my thumb around too much. I don’t know that this will be an issue. I am a flat picker on 6 string and mandolin, so and so anchoring the thumb will be a new experience as well. I’m brand new and looking for my “style”. It will come to me eventually. I plan to experiment with floating thumb, flat-pick, anchored thumb, and anything else that pops into view. I’m really looking forward to the journey.
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Sympathetic vibrations are an issue on bass guitar, so you’ll probably need to get of the thumbrest at some point to use your thumb to mute the lower strings, but that’s part of the learning process we all go through 
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O.K., I received the thumb rest and am not particularly impressed with it. I don’t see anything wrong with it, it’s just kind of “meh”. Maybe I shouldn’t expect so much from a $20 add on. I put it on my Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5 string and it’s too early to make any decisions on whether or not it is going to stay on, but I expect that it will. I did find it to be bit too smooth in texture, so I put just a tiny amount of violin resin on it and now my thumb doesn’t slip off of it so easily. It doesn’t get in the way, and again again this is my first couple of weeks with a bass and I haven’t had time to develop any preferences. I will try the thumb rest, the “floating thumb” and just anchoring my thumb on the top. I’ll use whatever works out best for me. So far, I am leaning toward resting my thumb on either the “B” string and plucking with the index and ring fingers and using the thumb to pluck the “B” string. It just seems like that is what my hand wants to do intuitively. We’ll see how it works out.
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When I first started playing 5 string, I still thought I wanted a thumb rest. Within a few weeks I was glad I didn’t install one. I either use the B string for that, or my thumb is busy muting other strings (floating thumb or lately anchoring my thumb one string below the one I’m currently plucking).
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I am at stage one of my Dunning-Kruger effect journey into the bass world. (The rest of you can just Google it) Neither my Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5 nor my Dean EAB 4 string have a thumb rest or a pick-up to rest my thumb on, so I ordered one. It’s not working out well judging by my first attempts. I am searching for “what’s right for me”, with the understanding that I don’t know enough about this instrument or how to play it to make a sound (no pun intended) decision. So, I am experimenting and trying to find the right technique for me. The thumb rest that I got is just too short to work for me. It does not allow me any freedom of movement as far as where I pluck the strings. To me, that just doesn’t feel right. It may be that there is a somewhat longer reach that my fingers have to make in order to reach the “G” string, because it is a 5 string. So I’ll put the thumb rest on the 4 string and see if that makes a significant difference. I want to next try plucking the “B” string with my thumb and using both the index and middle fingers simultaneously on the other for strings. It seems that I should be able to get much more power and volume that way. With an acoustic bass guitar that is a perennial problem. I don’t gig, so I don’t have a great need for volume or power, but still when standing between a dreadnought guitar and a five string banjo at a jam, I want some VOLUME! As I said earlier, I’m playing old time fiddle tunes and bluegrass, so it’s 99% roots, fifths, octaves and a couple of walk up/downs. Nothing outrageous. Well, it sounds good on paper, let’s see if it works out.
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I will be making my first 5 string attempts later this week. So i hope i can transition it smoothly.
I’m really hoping that i can Just float my thumb. Seems to work decent on my 4 string basses. Not so much on the junior jet, though.