CameronJ

Hmm, that is curious. Not quite sure if it’s a spacing thing or a size thing - hard to tell for sure. I’d suggest, economically speaking, that it wouldn’t make a great deal of sense to make an entirely new pickup housing just for this range of Squiers. But who knows with Fender!

The best way to try it out before taking the plunge then, is to force yourself to play directly over your existing pickups, using them as a kind of mini ramp. Does the pickup housing get in the way of your pick/fingers in a negative way? Does it feel annoying or restrictive? If so then the ramp may not be for you. This is easier if your bass has humbuckers/soapbars as you’ll have a bit more margin for error in terms of playing position. With Jazz single coils you’ll have to stay more rigidly in the same plucking position for the test to work.

My first 5 string bass had a ramp. It was an Ibanez BTB33 and I really liked having the ramp. A few disclaimers though - if you play with a pick or like to dig in a lot, you may find the ramp to be in the way. Also, as has been said, it’s not a magical fix for poor technique. Nor is it a necessary component for developing good technique. To be honest, it’s just a matter of personal preference. You may find that not being able to dig in too far helps your ability to play faster or play more consistently. You may find it limits your dynamic expressivity. The only way to know if it’ll be useful to you is to try it out yourself.

Sounds like rounds to me. No doubt. The muting is what’s causing the confusion.

Just had a read through the change log for 2.8 and there’s some really tasty stuff in there. Not least the ability to set Helix Native to compatibility mode for whatever hardware you’ve got. So for those of us running Stomp, we can set Native to behave exactly like our hardware does. The benefit being guaranteed 1:1 compatibility of presets between the two. Glorious. Unifying all the Helix platforms “under the hood” was a very smart move. Well done Line 6. Also, all the Ampeg models now being explicitly called Ampegs is oddly satisfying!

This makes me despair. Not even slightly surprised it cost $12k... And this makes me want to vom. But at the very least it was an entry-level package aimed at inspiring young beginners. It was probably decent value for money as well - probably approached the build quality of the Custom Shop Hendrix V...

Looks like the innards from a Kiloton in a new body?

Plays like...? I can’t quite tell if it’s a positive expletive or a negative one

Looks like Gibson missed an open goal here.

@skankdelvar have to say I 1000% agree with that. Would be awkward to play as you say but much more authentic to Hendrix and I bet they’d sell!

Very very good move by Fender here. And it has the right pickups too! This looks like a tempting proposition. I wonder how a Mustang would look in Pino colours...

Ooh you tease! Yeah I can see it looking nice as a headless but, to be fair, the D-Bird/D-Roc has one of the most aesthetically pleasing headstocks I’ve seen on a bass.

Especially hanging from a low slung strap

I was so busy admiring the shape I didn’t even realise it was a 5er! Even better

He has fanned knees.

As if on cue... I think it looks fantastic!

You, sir, are in need of a Sandberg!