It's been two months now. Having a great time learning to play.

I find that sometimes it sounds better to start the tapping motion with my finger resting on the string, mainly on the melody strings as I move closer to the pickups (but sometimes on the bass side depending on what I'm playing)...there's a "thud" from my finger impacting the string just preceding the note that gets more pronounced as fret-to-string spacing is higher, especially when I'm trying for a softer note. Resting my fingertip on the string before striking the note seems to be the most reliable way to eliminate it.

It's situational, of course. For example, not needed when the string is already down from a previous note.

I am assuming this is one aspect of technique development that is a necessary part of playing the Stick, but at the same time wondering if there's some reason I should avoid it. Anyone care to share some thoughts?

Sounds like you're "grabbing" the string a bit before tapping the note. This is a common problem with a "finger-energy" only approach, that doesn't really happen with hand-movement supported tapping.

If you've got my DVD check out the very first section on basic Hand Movement, and also the section on Melody Movement.

http://www.greghoward.com/free_hands/dvd