Question for Archaea or other weight lifters

[SteelBlue]

a good solid general rule of thumb is a thumb length away from the middle section of the bar with no thread for bench press.....

Fus, to be only a thumb length from the middle of the bar seems awfully close to me, and more of a triceps exercise. Unless you mean a thumb length from the outside of that unthreaded section, which is exactly what I do as it is the most comfortable for me.