New to the forum, excited to share my discovery so I joined. I was looking through the forums for a discussion on bass ramps but to no avail.
I have always been a fan of the functionality of bass ramps, and was curious enough to want to put one on my jazz bass. I work for PRS and our Grainger basses have a really amazing/functional bass ramp, but as you can imagine, they're not for sale by themselves. Gary swears by them, saying that it allows for a player's fingers to stay closer to the strings after they have been fingered, in turn allowing for more dexterity and speed.
After days of scowering the web I could not find a company that sold affordable bass ramps by themselves so I got to thinking. Why can't I make one on my own? After all, a ramp is purely functional, and is such a small piece of material.
I decided to go to Home Depot to look at some raw materials, and after about an hour of looking I came up with this cheap, simple way to get the job done on your own.
First, go to the flooring section and look at their vinyl plank (fake wood) samples. They are free, and come in 3-4 inch squares that are very easy to cut with utility scissors or a knife. They had over 40 styles of fo-wood that honestly look real.
Next buy some acrylic double sided tape to attach the cut samples to your pickguard.
Lastly, measure out the space needed and cut. For a jazz bass you will need to make a small piece to go under the ramp, so the ramp lays flush on the pickguard, and across where the pickguard ends between pickups.
I have attached a picture of my final result. I have to admit, I'm really happy with my results. For less then $10 you can have a great ramp that can really help your playing. Yay DIY!
Hope this helps, let me know if anyone tries it. I'd love to hear about your results.
