I have sat down for prolly 35+ tattoos, and let me tell you something. Tattoos hurt no matter where you get them, dont let somebody try and convince you differant. The way i see it is if i can just make it through the slight bit of pain, i am going to have an awesome looking piece that i really like and enjoy. Yes the ribs do hurt, but so does your neck, arm, leg, back, shoulder and so on. Depending on how big you want that tat, i think you will be just fine. Get it where you want to get it and deal with the pain. It will be over in a short time.