When you mount it on the treble side, it's a tug bar, not a thumb rest. The original Fender P basses came with a tug bar because Leo Fender assumed players would only use their thumb to pluck the strings.
Interesting info. I'm a lefty that plays right handed guitar upside, not restrung to compensate for being backwards. My bass string on bottom, treble on top, tuners pointing down, etc. You get the idea. Anyways, a tug bar is a perfect thumb rest for me, but I've always wondered the purpose for a regular right handed player.
I love that you just eyeballed it and just screwed the shit straight in, if only for joy of seeing all the butthurt in the comment section over it. But if you're going for that vintage look, go all the way and put some flat flatwounds on it for legit vintage tone.
You could go even further by installing some P-Bass Vintage sounding pickups and a bit of foam under the strings near the bridge. I've sean some people attaching foam directly under the bridge cover, so that when you install it, it automatically mutes (shortens the decay) of the sound, making it more vintage. (see James Jamerson or Carol Kaye)
One useful tips for people screwing into their guitar. Measure the length of the screw threads. Then use that measurement to mark your drill bit wrap a small piece of electrical tape at the depth you want to drill in. You really only need to drill in a very small amount as the screws are small and the screw will anchor better if you don’t create too deep of a hole.
She doesn't use a Fender Jazz, she used an SX bass from the vintage line, that comes with the covers already. It's a pretty cheap bass. She then simply replaced the pickups with DiMarzio pickups, and strung flat wound strings. She also has foam to mute the strings at the bridge. That's how you could re-create that sound if you wanted i guess.
@Juru pretty much nothing. They just look cool. The covers actually just make it harder to play the instrument since you can't rest your thumb on the pickups, and your play area is restricted.
You don't have to drill holes the screws are self tapping also to prevent putting holes in your pickguard, you can make it an actual THUMB REST and put it above the strings using the already using one of the pickguard mounting screws,you just gotta use a longer screw of the same size,then you only gotta add one hole that'll just look like a pickguard screw if you ever decide to remove the thumb rest
When Fender first produced the electric bass he had the "tug bar" on it as he thought bassists would be playing it using their thumb to strum or pluck the strings and they would hold on to that little tug bar.
This is helpful. Thank you. I just ordered some black covers for my p bass. I put all black hardware and a black pick guard on my blue bass. It looks real nice. Can’t wait to see it with the covers on.
I see a number of problems with this video. I've done this to many of my basses, and ONLY use a drill to drill primary holes into the bass. NEVER use the drill to actually screw the screw in. I ALWAYS recommend that you drill a small hole prior to putting the screw, because this allows the screw to go in straight, it won't move as you are installing it, and it won't crack the finish on the bass. If you use a drill for the screw, it may end up going in crooked or the drill may skid off the screw and skid into another part of the bass. That being said, here is what I recommend: Find a drill bit that is thinner than the screw. Visually measure the length of the screw and mark about half the length of the screw on the bit with a piece of tape. You don't want to go too deep and the tape will mark how far down to go. Place the covers where you want to place them and mark the holes with a pencil. You can always remove the pencil marks from your bass if you have to readjust. Once you are ready, remove the covers (don't drill with the covers on) and drill a small hole into the marks, again using a drill bit that is thinner and not as long as the intended screw. Then place the covers back onto the bass and HAND screw the screw into the hole. This will secure the cover on and you're done. Reply if you have any questions.
Also, when drilling, drill at low speeds (even starting and stopping). You don't want to drill at a high speed and have the drill skid out of the hole on into another part of the bass.
You should've really drilled small pilot holes for the screws. I guarantee the paint cracked and will chip off if you remove the cover now. I don't bother with mine, it just depends whether you want it looking clean with the cover off or not.
I Always use tape to mark the position and to prevent the paint from cracking. We call it 'paintertape' don't know what it is called in English. Drilling pilot holes will do as wel, combining both will ensure succes.
I pasted the thumbrest on with a little bit of hot glue first and played with it before mounting it. If it isn't perfect for you, you easily pull it off and remove the glue without leaving traces. Then after you found the perfect spot, mark the holes, remove the glue, and screw it on.
Guessing where the screws go is not something you would do to an instrument.For the pick guard holes it would be easy to trace a template from a 13 hole pick guard.For the bridge a few measurements would be a reasonable.So would pilot holes.If you are going to instruct others you might want to do things right.
Get some 1/8" thick rubber with a self adhesive and cut and stick them onto the ashtrays before you screw them down. They will sit even and not rattle.
This is probably a dumb question but is it possible to add an additional single split coil pickup to the bridge of an MIM p bass? So I'll have two single splits?
Your comment is 4 years old, so you may know about this by now, but check out a Fender Blacktop Jazz bass. It's such an interesting bass to me. It's got a normal single split p-bass pickup and another single split in the bridge position. It has 3 jazz bass-esque knobs (volume for neck pickup, volume for bridge pickup, and master tone). It's discontinued so it's not super common but there's 1 on Reverb right now for $650. Not perfect condition just I think it's worth it.
Hey! One question. How is used the thumb rests? I think you have to put it near the E string, no? Is the same as putting yout humb on the pick up, but now you have the pick up cover, no?
Nice p bass! Did you drill through the pickguard as well when installing the pickup cover? My p bass has holes in the pickguard, however they do not fit the cover as its a bit wider. Is this normal?
Yes, I wouldn't recommend drilling down any farther than necessary, just drill far enough into the pickguard so that the screws can be inserted. To answer your second question, lots of P-basses will have holes in the pickguard for no reason. Drill new holes if you are going to add a bridge pickup / neck pickup cover
would not the thumb rest be more useful on the top side of the strings? The PB and PJ has the P pickup so low down on the body that my had does not fall comfortably for me to rest my thumb on the P pickup. I thought of putting a thumb rest on, but on the TOP side of the pick guard for use as a thumb rest.
I just got a Mexico Fender P-Bass and wanted to mount covers over the bridge and pickup. I found out that one screw for the pickup-cover would only go through the pickguard and end inside the cavity next to the pickup-wires. Do you think that would cause a problem? I don't want the cover to fall off, but I don't want to drill through the wires either :D
It really depends on the size of screw that you decide to use. I would recommend comparing your screw with each drill bit - both the size and length of the screw. You want a drill bit that is thinner than the screw, and measure about half the length of the screw because you don't want to drill too deep either. The drilled hole is just a primary hole, and the screw itself is what will be used to secure the covers.
Has nothing whatsoever to with what either of those guys said 🤣 The covers were purely cosmetic. The 50s had this sort of weird aesthetic about covering up inner workings of things. You'll see it on all virtually mechanical things of the era. They simply considered the pickups, bridges, etc to be unsightly, so they covered them up. By the late 60 most players had removed them, so Fender stopped putting them on. The rear cover did serve one real purpose though - they would glue a piece of foam rubber on the inside, which would press down on the strings, emulating the thump of an upright bass (which of course the electric bass was meant to sound like).
i don't get whats up with the "thumbrest"... are you left handed? because im right handed i think it should go by the E string Can anyone explain me? i play with pick but i'm starting to play also with fingers; i use to rest on the pickup it self and then go down the strings
Are you just putting the tug bar in for aesthetic reasons? As no reason for it in modern playing methods as far as I know. Why not put it above the strings so you could actually rest your thumb on it for playing?
I always thought that the real purpose of the pickup cover was to help quiet that annoying 60 cycle hum that single coils made incase of poor electrical grounding, lack thereof or radio transmission and interference. You also have to remember that this was conceived in an era before 3 prong ground plugs and sockets in which what is now part of our current electrical code. Everyone be careful out there..
I'd take it in and have that sort of thing done by an old school pro that gauges all that sort of stuff with Rolex Style precision the next time I had a setup done myself. It's cool to see it done but I think your stuff is just the slightest uneven......Looks like a real pretty girl with a bad tooth to me but that's home style repairs.
When you mount it on the treble side, it's a tug bar, not a thumb rest. The original Fender P basses came with a tug bar because Leo Fender assumed players would only use their thumb to pluck the strings.
It was also designed to emulate the upright's board to assist the transition to electric bass...
I though I was going crazy, trying to figure out what the hell anyone thumb would be doing down there 😎
If only Leo knew what could be done with his bass!
Interesting info. I'm a lefty that plays right handed guitar upside, not restrung to compensate for being backwards. My bass string on bottom, treble on top, tuners pointing down, etc. You get the idea. Anyways, a tug bar is a perfect thumb rest for me, but I've always wondered the purpose for a regular right handed player.
I’ve had fenders forever and always wondered about that
I love that you just eyeballed it and just screwed the shit straight in, if only for joy of seeing all the butthurt in the comment section over it.
But if you're going for that vintage look, go all the way and put some flat flatwounds on it for legit vintage tone.
allrequiredfields man this was beautiful
You could go even further by installing some P-Bass Vintage sounding pickups and a bit of foam under the strings near the bridge.
I've sean some people attaching foam directly under the bridge cover, so that when you install it, it automatically mutes (shortens the decay) of the sound, making it more vintage. (see James Jamerson or Carol Kaye)
One useful tips for people screwing into their guitar. Measure the length of the screw threads. Then use that measurement to mark your drill bit wrap a small piece of electrical tape at the depth you want to drill in. You really only need to drill in a very small amount as the screws are small and the screw will anchor better if you don’t create too deep of a hole.
Looking cool, I noticed the bassist in Khruangbin has the guards on too.
She doesn't use a Fender Jazz, she used an SX bass from the vintage line, that comes with the covers already. It's a pretty cheap bass. She then simply replaced the pickups with DiMarzio pickups, and strung flat wound strings. She also has foam to mute the strings at the bridge. That's how you could re-create that sound if you wanted i guess.
@Juru pretty much nothing. They just look cool. The covers actually just make it harder to play the instrument since you can't rest your thumb on the pickups, and your play area is restricted.
You don't have to drill holes the screws are self tapping also to prevent putting holes in your pickguard, you can make it an actual THUMB REST and put it above the strings using the already using one of the pickguard mounting screws,you just gotta use a longer screw of the same size,then you only gotta add one hole that'll just look like a pickguard screw if you ever decide to remove the thumb rest
Always drill a pilot hole.
Thanks for the tip about bending the pickguard I thought I had to buy another one bigger.It was sent flat too
I think the covers look cool, gives it that old school look. That thumb/finger rest thing seems weird though.
When Fender first produced the electric bass he had the "tug bar" on it as he thought bassists would be playing it using their thumb to strum or pluck the strings and they would hold on to that little tug bar.
This is helpful. Thank you. I just ordered some black covers for my p bass. I put all black hardware and a black pick guard on my blue bass. It looks real nice. Can’t wait to see it with the covers on.
Cool
I see a number of problems with this video. I've done this to many of my basses, and ONLY use a drill to drill primary holes into the bass. NEVER use the drill to actually screw the screw in. I ALWAYS recommend that you drill a small hole prior to putting the screw, because this allows the screw to go in straight, it won't move as you are installing it, and it won't crack the finish on the bass. If you use a drill for the screw, it may end up going in crooked or the drill may skid off the screw and skid into another part of the bass. That being said, here is what I recommend:
Find a drill bit that is thinner than the screw. Visually measure the length of the screw and mark about half the length of the screw on the bit with a piece of tape. You don't want to go too deep and the tape will mark how far down to go. Place the covers where you want to place them and mark the holes with a pencil. You can always remove the pencil marks from your bass if you have to readjust. Once you are ready, remove the covers (don't drill with the covers on) and drill a small hole into the marks, again using a drill bit that is thinner and not as long as the intended screw. Then place the covers back onto the bass and HAND screw the screw into the hole. This will secure the cover on and you're done. Reply if you have any questions.
Also, when drilling, drill at low speeds (even starting and stopping). You don't want to drill at a high speed and have the drill skid out of the hole on into another part of the bass.
Thanks for the tips
I just got a hammer and hammered the screws in. Cant afford a drill and the paint and everything was fine afterwards
@@DioStreams HAHA
@@DioStreams I too, like to live dangerously
You should've really drilled small pilot holes for the screws. I guarantee the paint cracked and will chip off if you remove the cover now. I don't bother with mine, it just depends whether you want it looking clean with the cover off or not.
thanks for the tip.
I Always use tape to mark the position and to prevent the paint from cracking. We call it 'paintertape' don't know what it is called in English. Drilling pilot holes will do as wel, combining both will ensure succes.
Given that he did no measuring and ended up with the bridge cover too high on the body, I get the impression that he just doesn't care.
@@zackstewart4109 lol!!
I pasted the thumbrest on with a little bit of hot glue first and played with it before mounting it. If it isn't perfect for you, you easily pull it off and remove the glue without leaving traces. Then after you found the perfect spot, mark the holes, remove the glue, and screw it on.
Great tip
Guessing where the screws go is not something you would do to an instrument.For the pick guard holes it would be easy to trace a template from a 13 hole pick guard.For the bridge a few measurements would be a reasonable.So would pilot holes.If you are going to instruct others you might want to do things right.
Nice, I was planning to do the same, this video is verry helpfull
Get some 1/8" thick rubber with a self adhesive and cut and stick them onto the ashtrays before you screw them down. They will sit even and not rattle.
We want to hear how it sounds with all that metal on there. Want to know if there's fuzz, vibrations , etc
How long before you took them off and tossed them in the case?
This is probably a dumb question but is it possible to add an additional single split coil pickup to the bridge of an MIM p bass? So I'll have two single splits?
Probably, but that would be a lot of work. Why not just get a PJ pickup P Bass ?
Your comment is 4 years old, so you may know about this by now, but check out a Fender Blacktop Jazz bass. It's such an interesting bass to me. It's got a normal single split p-bass pickup and another single split in the bridge position. It has 3 jazz bass-esque knobs (volume for neck pickup, volume for bridge pickup, and master tone). It's discontinued so it's not super common but there's 1 on Reverb right now for $650. Not perfect condition just I think it's worth it.
Hey! One question. How is used the thumb rests? I think you have to put it near the E string, no? Is the same as putting yout humb on the pick up, but now you have the pick up cover, no?
I have down as a tug bar ( finger rest ) not a thumb rest. it could be use either way.
Greg Kocis YT oh! It makes sense, hahahaha. Perfect, thnaks!
Nice p bass! Did you drill through the pickguard as well when installing the pickup cover? My p bass has holes in the pickguard, however they do not fit the cover as its a bit wider. Is this normal?
Yes, I wouldn't recommend drilling down any farther than necessary, just drill far enough into the pickguard so that the screws can be inserted. To answer your second question, lots of P-basses will have holes in the pickguard for no reason. Drill new holes if you are going to add a bridge pickup / neck pickup cover
shouldnt you leave a really tiny gap inside the ashtray so that way it doesnt touch the bridge from the back?
I'm not sure, I'll look into that.
would not the thumb rest be more useful on the top side of the strings? The PB and PJ has the P pickup so low down on the body that my had does not fall comfortably for me to rest my thumb on the P pickup. I thought of putting a thumb rest on, but on the TOP side of the pick guard for use as a thumb rest.
I like it on the bottom side, I can play the strings with my thumb and use it to hold my fingers
I just got a Mexico Fender P-Bass and wanted to mount covers over the bridge and pickup. I found out that one screw for the pickup-cover would only go through the pickguard and end inside the cavity next to the pickup-wires. Do you think that would cause a problem? I don't want the cover to fall off, but I don't want to drill through the wires either :D
Holy shit same
@@semoush It didn't cause a problem for me. It' neither fell off nor damaged the wires : ) So go for it, it looks just awesome
@@HakunalMatata Thanks
Kalo dipake ke musicman keren ga ya?
does p bass cover & j bass cover have a difference in terms of size?
Thinking about doing this to my P Bass. What size drill bit did you use? Thanks for the video
Thanks for the comment. I don't remember what size drill bit I used. I guess I picked one that was smaller than the screws.
Greg Kocis YT I ended up adding a bridge cover, pickup cover and thumb rest to my P Bass. Your video helped. It was a quick and simple process
It really depends on the size of screw that you decide to use. I would recommend comparing your screw with each drill bit - both the size and length of the screw. You want a drill bit that is thinner than the screw, and measure about half the length of the screw because you don't want to drill too deep either. The drilled hole is just a primary hole, and the screw itself is what will be used to secure the covers.
Fender says 5/32 bit
I know most bass players have no use for them on the bottom, but I don’t consider myself a bass player. But when I do play, I’m a thumber
wouldn't it be good to take the pickguard off and do this?
Why? you still need the holes in the pick guard.
Hi, can you please
explain me what those covers are for?
They look great btw
Tonal and aesthetics
You should have much chrome on your fender guitar as possible. Look at classic cars from the fifties and it will all make sense.
@@mistergoat7357 no tone change whatsoever
Can I ask what’s with the covers?? Like what is the purpose of them??
forces plucking in the sweet spot and provides pizacotto on the bridge side. I think there's an electrical element to this, too.
Has nothing whatsoever to with what either of those guys said 🤣 The covers were purely cosmetic. The 50s had this sort of weird aesthetic about covering up inner workings of things. You'll see it on all virtually mechanical things of the era. They simply considered the pickups, bridges, etc to be unsightly, so they covered them up. By the late 60 most players had removed them, so Fender stopped putting them on.
The rear cover did serve one real purpose though - they would glue a piece of foam rubber on the inside, which would press down on the strings, emulating the thump of an upright bass (which of course the electric bass was meant to sound like).
It was to block the pick ups from radio frequencies originally actually
To protect the electronics in case of nuclear blast.
@@shanesmallwood7396 haha in the 50s that was apparently a thing
Hi, can you perform slap technique with the pickup cover?
yes
What is the number of drill bit did you use for the pickup cover
I don't remember. Sorry I can't I just winged this project
i don't get whats up with the "thumbrest"... are you left handed? because im right handed i think it should go by the E string
Can anyone explain me? i play with pick but i'm starting to play also with fingers; i use to rest on the pickup it self and then go down the strings
Its used as a tug bar, Leo Fender originally thought players transitioning from upright bass would pluck with their thumb.
Thanks for posting! Working in your socks, nice. ha
Thanks for the comment.
hi, is this the standard MIM p bass in arctic white?
This is the MIM P Bass, I got it used so I'm not sure of the exact shade of white it is.
What for?
Est-ce que je détecte un léger accent québécois ?? Cool vid btw
Are you just putting the tug bar in for aesthetic reasons? As no reason for it in modern playing methods as far as I know. Why not put it above the strings so you could actually rest your thumb on it for playing?
i like it so i can put my fingers on it when i play the stings with my thumb and yes mostly because I would like the way it looks.
I always thought that the real purpose of the pickup cover was to help quiet that annoying 60 cycle hum that single coils made incase of poor electrical grounding, lack thereof or radio transmission and interference. You also have to remember that this was conceived in an era before 3 prong ground plugs and sockets in which what is now part of our current electrical code. Everyone be careful out there..
it was, but now it's just for vintage look.
Greg Kocis YT Gotcha..
I just mounted mine on a new American Original P. Swear to god, there's a noticeable tone improvement.
Do you think a bridge cover would fit on a music man stingray
Saucy McSqueeze don’t do it
How do you change strings with the bridge cover on it?
You just take the bridge cover off to change the strings.
Drilling 'super straight'? Man....
yes
Straight as in, not even vaguely straight...hack
"straight"
>drills literally on the side instead of straight
Why buy fender branded parts when 90% comes from same factory as non branded
It’s a fender bass, so why not?
so many popovers could not see the video!
you can close the popups
The covers use dome head not counter sunk!!!!
Tone improves dramatically.
Leo put those expensive chrome steel cover pieces on the rig for good reasons.
BOYCOTT CHINA
It’s not a thumb rest it’s a pull bar!
The item is listed as Thunb Rest on the Fender's site and just about every other site where you can buy one.
@@gregkocis When it’s above the E string it’s a thumb rest and when it’s below the G string it’s a pull/tug bar.
I'd take it in and have that sort of thing done by an old school pro that gauges all that sort of stuff with Rolex Style precision the next time I had a setup done myself. It's cool to see it done but I think your stuff is just the slightest uneven......Looks like a real pretty girl with a bad tooth to me but that's home style repairs.
thanks for the comment and tip
You're an idiot.
pretty ugly in my opinion i wouldnt put that on my bass.
He did it wrong. Sad.
Tug bar, the single most useless bar for a bass.
True. But it looks kinda cool lol.
i actually cannot watch this !
No ones making you lol
ha ha very true
Does this cover will fit on 5 strings jazzbass?
I don’t think so
@@gregkocis alright thank you