Ramp?

[Ben Rose]

Henry,

You do not have to drill into the instrument. The ramp on my fretted bass is pressure fit between the two pickups. The ramp on my fretless is attached with a double sided tape (since it has only 1 pickup). I would not use the tape option with a gloss finish, and would be very selective of the adhesive type if you go that route. Another thing to consider is that over time, exposure to light will change the color of your instrument, but the area under the ramp will change less because it is not exposed to light. This won't look so hot if the ramp is removed.

In any rate, you could certainly experiment with it for relatively little cost. It is, after all, just a block of wood. Not too hard to make. You could even glue a little bit of cloth to the bottom and sides to ensure you don't scratch a lovely Smith while you're installing it between the pickups.

If you like the feeling of playing with your fingers over the pickups, then give it a shot. I have been using a ramp since 2000 (thanks to the master mind of Gary Willis as Anton said). Unlike Anton, I like it for both fretted and fretless basses, although on the fretted I leave a gap between the neck pickup and the end of the fingerboard. To my suprise, it also helps when playing with a pick. To each his own.