Ramps: I finally get it, I think!

[christw]

...and I don't even have a ramp!

For years my little brother has been on my case for digging in too hard on my basses. I never though so and chalked it up to his ideal bass tone being just that, a single fundamental tone-just a gut churning rumble. Well, I liked my treble and mids so I ignored him for years.

I use good size strings for my main players, drop tuners with Roto 66 Drop Zones, and even end up playing deep enough that I knock the strings off the fretboard like I was slapping. It gives me an aggressive hybrid slap/pop tone with the right bass and lets me play funky, but it wasn't efficient. It's quite tiring after a few songs, actually.

So, along comes this Ibanez Destroyer with a massive humbucker in the mid position. I strung it up with my old Roto 66 and it kills! Why? The massive bucker keeps me from digging in and lets me get that weird hybrid tone but with speed and precision I didn't know before. I can't get my fingers caught or hooked nearly as easily and it gives me something the others didn't. I have superior control and my raunchy tone! I might end up ramping my basses that I dig in too much on.

On a side note, I do tone it down for my 5'ers where I play by the bridge for honk. I use an especially dynamic touch on my fretless. The 4 bangers get the absolute worst of it and I always play way down in them and lose my control though. Maybe I should look into ramps?