{"id":11138,"date":"2017-05-02T10:55:07","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T15:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/?p=11138"},"modified":"2017-05-02T10:55:29","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T15:55:29","slug":"what-is-a-tug-bar-on-an-electric-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/gear\/hardware\/what-is-a-tug-bar-on-an-electric-bass.html","title":{"rendered":"What is a tug bar on an electric bass?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On our Facebook page we shared a few images of a 1961 Rickenbacker 4000 (which you can see here<\/a> if you like), and in the description it was mentioned that the bass features a tug bar.<\/p>\n

Some people were confused by this and posted a few comments asking what a tug bar is. Fortunately, a few fellow bass enthusiasts were quick to answer:<\/p>\n

\n

It’s a tug bar when the finger rest is below the strings instead of above. When it’s above, you rest your thumb on it and play with the fingers, when its below, you anchor your fingers on it, and pluck the strings with your thumb.<\/p>\n

The “tug bar” is below the strings to allow you to get some grip. I have the inverted version “thumb rest” mounted above the strings. Some players use the top\/bottom of the pickup to do the same thing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Both of the above explanations are correct. Generally speaking, if what is now known as a finger rest or thumb rest is mounted on the treble side (“below” the strings), the traditional name for it is a tug bar. When placed on the bass side (“above” the strings), it’s known as a finger rest or thumb rest.<\/p>\n

Why are there two names for the same thing?<\/h3>\n

When the bar is on the treble side, the function of it is to provide something to grab so you can play more easily with your thumb.<\/p>\n

When the bar is on the bass side, the function is to rest the thumb so you can play more easily with your four other fingers.<\/p>\n

Is it wrong to call a tug bar a rest?<\/h3>\n

No. On the vast majority of electric basses that have this bar, almost all of them are installed on the bass side. It’s usually true you only see the bar installed on the treble side as a tug bar on vintage reissue models (such as the Fender American Vintage ’58 Precision Bass), or from bass builders that specifically either want a vintage-style instrument, or an instrument that can be played seated or in the upright position.<\/p>\n

Even for the bars we carry<\/a> for P-Basses, Music Man basses, Rickenbacker basses and so on, we don’t call any of them tug bars even for the ones that can be installed on the treble side due to the fact just about everyone refers to them as thumb rests.<\/p>\n

One of the few instances where it actually matters calling a treble side mounted rest by its proper name of tug bar is when shopping for vintage electric basses. Knowing that little tidbit of information does show you know your vintage instruments well (even if you’re just faking it).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On our Facebook page we shared a few images of a 1961 Rickenbacker 4000 (which you can see here if you like), and in the description it was mentioned that the bass features a tug bar. Some people were confused by this and posted a few comments asking what a tug bar is. Fortunately, a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}