I’m fooling around with a bass I found lying around here and am trying to learn to play it a bit. I play some guitar, so deciding which fingers to use to fret is not posing any real problems. But what about the other hand? I need some general guidelines on when to use which finger, that is on which strings. Also, it seems that most bass players that I’ve watched (not very often) use their index and middle fingers. Is the thumb used by many doper bass players? Also, I’m curious to know where on the strings you pick. Do any of you use the thumb rest, or do you perhaps place your thumb on a pickup for support? I am aware that where you pick the strings has an effect on the sound, I’m just curious where most players generally play. Also, if you have any other tips you might want to throw out, they would be welcome.
As an example, maybe you could say what fingers you would use on this (me, I’d let my fingers do the walking, starting with the index):
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :--------------------------------5—7-----------------
A :-----------------------5----7-------------------------
E :------------5------8----------------------------------
Finally, for any other beginners, this site has helped, with the exception of no mention of the picking hand that I can find. Know of any other good sites?