Ramps

[peteb]

I am tentatively thinking of getting a ramp fitted to a couple of my basses

Has anyone here done this to a bass? What is the process of fitting them, can anyone recommend someone to carry out the work and of course, how much is it likely to cost??

[Grand Wazoo]

double-sided tape is an easy "undoable" option, some people screw them onto the body, depends how sacred is your bass to you.

[peteb]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='938112' date='Aug 27 2010, 02:24 PM']double-sided tape is an easy "undoable" option, some people screw them onto the body, depends how sacred is your bass to you.[/quote]
Dunno about sacred but would prefer to get it done professionally...

[Faithless]

You'll have to bring your bass to luthier..

Martin in Bass Gallery does this kind of thing, as other luthiers..

BTW, ramp in my ACG is 'screwed', does it make the bass sacred?

[Lfalex v1.1]

Knock one up out of MDF to begin with and make sure it does what you want/fits okay. Tape it on and you can then make adjustments to it and decide if you even like it on a given bass. If you do, then look into making a better one or having one made. Then invest in materials which may match;
The body, Pick-up covers, Fretboard, etc.

Just my 2p worth.

[peteb]

[quote name='Faithless' post='938211' date='Aug 27 2010, 03:56 PM']You'll have to bring your bass to luthier..

Martin in Bass Gallery does this kind of thing, as other luthiers..

BTW, ramp in my ACG is 'screwed', does it make the bass sacred? [/quote]
Does anyone know anyone know of any suitable luthiers or whoever in the north of England?

[Jigster]

got any pics of a 'ramp'?

[Machines]

The idea is it regulates how much you can dig into the string and makes you play 'lighter'. That's my interpretion anyway...

[stingrayPete1977]

My Bartolinis in my Jazz now read as "B T I S" as Im a right ham fisted begger

[Jigster]

totally got the wrong end of the stick - I was thinking disabled access

[peteb]

[quote name='Johnston' post='938374' date='Aug 27 2010, 07:29 PM']Oh I could do with one of them then !!!

I just thought they were a big thumb rest[/quote]
That's their other purpose!

[YouMa]

Couple of bricks and some plywood,i love bmx aswell.

[7string]

My Jackson bass has a P pickup which I rested my thumb on. When I had a Hohner Jack bass (and I'm talking many, many years ago now) it had 2 J pickups so I didn't have anywhere to put my thumb. To remedy this, I cut the side off a hard plastic bottle and superglued that onto the bass.

2 of my basses have ramps. The one on my James Tyler (on the right) is a piece off ebony which I bought off eBay sawed to shape and stuck on with foamy double-sided tape.




The one on my Conklin was made by Jon Shuker who's in Sheffield. He did a great job of getting the ramp to fit It wasn't expensive either. He de-fretted the bass for me as well.

Edited August 27, 2010 by 7string

[chris_b]

[quote name='Machines' post='938347' date='Aug 27 2010, 06:54 PM']....The idea is it regulates how much you can dig into the string and makes you play 'lighter'....[/quote]
Why don't people just play lighter?

[gjones]

[quote name='chris_b' post='938566' date='Aug 28 2010, 01:32 AM']Why don't people just play lighter?[/quote]

Hmmmmm........good question.

[Rayman]

[quote name='peteb' post='938314' date='Aug 27 2010, 06:05 PM']Does anyone know anyone know of any suitable luthiers or whoever in the north of England?[/quote]

I took my Overwater Progress to er..........Overwater in Carlisle. Martin made me a beautiful ebony ramp which cost 80 quid. It was just stuck down with double sided tape.

Further south Ged Green in Cheadle would make you one.

[Machines]

[quote name='chris_b' post='938566' date='Aug 28 2010, 01:32 AM']Why don't people just play lighter?[/quote]
It's a bit like frets, why don't people just play in tune ?

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='chris_b' post='938566' date='Aug 28 2010, 01:32 AM']Why don't people just play lighter?[/quote]

Awww, c'mon! Don't tell me that you don't "dig in" a bit more when playing live?
I would hardly have said Gary Willis' Technique sucked, and he uses one. His signature Ibanez (the expensive one, at least) comes with one. That uses double-sided tape to attach it, IIRC.

[TKenrick]

[quote name='chris_b' post='938566' date='Aug 28 2010, 01:32 AM']Why don't people just play lighter?[/quote]


The benefit of the ramp for me is not that it makes me play lighter, but reduces the distance that my fingers move 'through' the string once I've played a note. I got used to playing 'into' the pickup and wanted that feeling regardless of where my right hand is positioned.

Personally I'm not a fan of the Gary Willis string tickling approach - I feel like i get a stronger tone from using slightly more attack rather than playing lightly and trying to get my tone from the amp. Each to their own though, Willis is a phenomenal player.

Anyway, I got an ebony ramp fitted to my Squier by Martin at the Gallery. I think it was about £80

[Faithless]

[quote name='TKenrick' post='938901' date='Aug 28 2010, 07:20 PM']Anyway, I got an ebony ramp fitted to my Squier by Martin at the Gallery. I think it was about £80[/quote]


Man, that looks like a lot of money for a piece of wood..

Now, the need for a ramp thing, for me, is not because it forces me to play lighter (because I tend to play [i]very [/i]gently without the help of ramps or whatever..), but because of the economy of motion/movement it gives - fingers don't go that much 'under' the strings, and they recover way faster for another pluck..

I could hardly play without ramp now..
Try it, you won't regret it.

Easy
Faith

[theplumber]

Reeks of the kings new clothes...

[TKenrick]

[quote name='Faithless' post='938913' date='Aug 28 2010, 05:45 PM']Man, that looks like a lot of money for a piece of wood..[/quote]

Yeah, the ramp is worth about half the value of the bass itself... I wasn't sure if I'd take to the ramp so had it fitted to a cheap bass that I never gig with (I had the bass set up in E-C tuning for the same reason)

I have to say that I don't miss having a ramp when I'm doing a gig with a 4-string (which is 99% of the time) but I find it makes 5 string basses easier to navigate for my right hand.

[velvetkevorkian]

Well, inspired by this thread, I've just built one by cutting up a cheap CD case and taping it to my pickups. I like it, although I think I'm not really getting full benefit without it being radiused to match the strings- on the G string it's very noticeable (especially when using fingers and thumb, Garrison style), less so on the other strings and when playing normally. I can see a properly built one being an asset

[endorka]

Some of my basses have a ramp and some do not - the ones for more likely for "gentler" use have them (6 strings), the ones I use for more aggressive tones do not (P-bass clone). Despite what many claim, to get the right tone for some types of music, it can be necessary to dig in a bit.

They do work as advertised, but I find that if they are too close to the strings they can become irritating.

You can make a nice one really easily in a couple of hours - get a decent piece of wood, e.g an offcut from a store, cut it to size, then sand it to a radius equivalent to your fingerboard using a Radius Block. These can be bought from Stew Mac for about £10. Then apply varnish or wood oil - not absolutely necessary, but it will become grubby looking if you don't.

Attach with double sided sticky tape. This may sound cheap and nasty, but is very effective, and has the advantage of being able to return your instrument to its exact pre-ramp stage without damage if you find you don't like it.

Jennifer

Edited August 28, 2010 by endorka

[Paul_C]

[quote name='theplumber' post='938942' date='Aug 28 2010, 06:30 PM']Reeks of the kings new clothes...[/quote]

I made myself a ramp to cure my wayward/excitable playing which produced some nasty clicking noises as I bounced the bottom two strings off the last fret.



It worked really well for me, but having sold the Bongo with it on, my technique has improved such that I don't feel the need right now to use one.