NAMM 2019: Ibanez debuts 19 new bass guitars

#21
two fingers said:
It sits under the strings usually between two pickups. It is designed (as I understand it) to stop your plucking fingers so that you don't dig in too hard. It sort of cleans up one's technique I gather.

I have wanted to try one for a while now.
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That’s pretty much all there is to them. Not hard to make your own either. A piece of wood rounded to match the string radius is all it takes.

I’ve tried a few basses with ramps. They were ok. But I personally thought you had to give up too much flexibility when it came to plucking technique. With some players it allows them to play notes significantly faster. Which is great if you’re into that fusion jazz bass shredding thing I suppose.

Not my cuppa. But it does have its uses. And the only real way to know if it’s for you is to try one.
 
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#24
Sid the Kid said:
Umm this is your comment rite?
"A neat new 32” scale SR is on the list too! "Ibanez may be "my favorite" bass company simply for the chances they take.

Let’s see a Premium or Prestige Mikro next!
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Congrats and Props for the new basses & new changes , but far from being the best or favorate by all means! maybe to you wish is cool.
 
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#26
instrumentalist said:
Can anyone tell me what a "finger ramp" is??
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#28
two fingers said:
It sits under the strings usually between two pickups. It is designed (as I understand it) to stop your plucking fingers so that you don't dig in too hard. It sort of cleans up one's technique I gather.

I have wanted to try one for a while now.
Click to expand...

I'm a ramp player, and for me it helps to facilitate palm muting by giving a larger area under the strings to rest all of my fingers. I find that it (the ramp) helps me to play "more normally" with both fingers when palm muting.

Shameless Name Drop Time: I very briefly had a few lessons with GW years ago in Spain, and after he built my first ramp I found it very hard to get away from. I find playing with a ramp so much more comfortable; more surface area to pluck the strings. Try one, it may change your playing for the better (it did for me).
 
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#29
40Hz said:
That’s pretty much all there is to them. Not hard to make your own either. A piece of wood rounded to match the string radius is all it takes.

I’ve tried a few basses with ramps. They were ok. But I personally thought you had to give up too much flexibility when it came to plucking technique. With some players it allows them to play notes significantly faster. Which is great if you’re into that fusion jazz bass shredding thing I suppose.

Not my cuppa. But it does have its uses. And the only real way to know if it’s for you is to try one.
Click to expand...

I've never tried one but would like to out of curiosity!
 
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#30
madbass6 said:
I've never tried one but would like to out of curiosity!
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They are kind of an interesting idea. They keep your fingers from going down too far beneath the string when you play. So by minimizing the distance you need to bring your fingers back up for the next downstroke there’s a noticeable increase in playing speed for most people. And they work really well for synth and tracking type pedals since they effectively limit your attack so tracking tends to improve.

Here’s a DIY (more on YT) that walks you through building your own.

 
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#32
rutrho said:
I tend to use the bridge pickup of ibby as a ramp all too often, to the point where I'm going to install a ramp on that bass at some point in the near future. Hopefully they have more fretless offerings!
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Somebody should probably start another thread on the ramp experience. It’s been awhile since it’s come up.
 
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#38
It's so hard to tell on the Ibanez website, so I'll ask here - Does anyone know if they make ANY 5 string bass with 19mm string spacing at the bridge? I saw the comment above that they're finally making wider spacing at 18mm, so I'm not clear if any exist wider.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
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