Holding your bass

[Dave Martin]

I realize that this is below the elementary level for you guys, but the Niels Orstead Pederson videos (and the other jazz and classical bass videos I watched for the next couple of hours) lead me to ask if there's a generally accepted angle for holding a double bass while standing. The bluegrass and country guys I grew up watching pretty much let the side of the bass rest against them at a 90 degree angle, while the jazz and classical guys in the videos tend to keep it more so that a rear corner of the bass points towards them (call it a 45 degree angle). I see the need to keep it closer to 45 degrees for arco work (for unfettered access to the low strings), but since my work is primarily pizzicato, I haven't really thought about this sort of thing at all. But watching the videos makes me think that perhaps I should...

And while I'm thinking about it, where do you guys place your right thumb when playing pizz? On the side of the fingerboard? Undrneath the fingerboard? Floating in no particular place?

Sorry for the simple questions; I blame whoever posted the link to the Pedersen video...