Bass Mute - Anyone use it?
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
I used the mute the other night on a Rock a billy gig, I used my 78 4001 with flat wounds. It sounded just like an upright with my fingers and sounded just like the old tic tac basses on early 60's records when I used a pick. It didn't really bother the intonation all that much either, and I will ocasionally play way up the neck. Actually the only thing I didn't like was that the screws were a little stiff, maybe a little oil will help. I'm sure that's from no one probably ever using it. It sounded great, I think I'm going to use it more often.
Once every two months I do a Sunday afternoon two hour gig at the local county home with an "Old Time" music band. Polka's, Waltzes, "Schmaltz" etc.
Late last year I had a coffee house gig about an hour after this one ended so I brought just the Taylor AB2 fretless and an Eden Time Traveller with the CXM 112 cab. After the gig the leader paused near me as I was putting away the Taylor and said "Interesting". I felt a flush of red entering the head and asked sheepishly "My Intonation was bad?" "Oh No" he replied "not at all". "But next time could you go back to the Vox amp with the Rickenbacker and that mute?".
He's 78 years old too so that really made my day.
Don't have a Rickenbacker fretless yet but a Montezuma Brown one sounds more appealing every day.
Yes Bob a well oiled pair of mute screws does make life a tad less frustrating when one decides to "engage" the mute. I've found that starting with the treble side screw first and bringing it up until the pad just grazes the D string and then switching to the bass side screw until the E string almost stops buzzing from close proximity not yet fully damping it, snug up the G until it is just right and then finish the E. An occasional back and forth tweak after that depending on finger style or pick definition adn I'm ready to mute. I'm sure there are variations that work well for others as well.
Cheers.
Late last year I had a coffee house gig about an hour after this one ended so I brought just the Taylor AB2 fretless and an Eden Time Traveller with the CXM 112 cab. After the gig the leader paused near me as I was putting away the Taylor and said "Interesting". I felt a flush of red entering the head and asked sheepishly "My Intonation was bad?" "Oh No" he replied "not at all". "But next time could you go back to the Vox amp with the Rickenbacker and that mute?".
He's 78 years old too so that really made my day.
Don't have a Rickenbacker fretless yet but a Montezuma Brown one sounds more appealing every day.
Yes Bob a well oiled pair of mute screws does make life a tad less frustrating when one decides to "engage" the mute. I've found that starting with the treble side screw first and bringing it up until the pad just grazes the D string and then switching to the bass side screw until the E string almost stops buzzing from close proximity not yet fully damping it, snug up the G until it is just right and then finish the E. An occasional back and forth tweak after that depending on finger style or pick definition adn I'm ready to mute. I'm sure there are variations that work well for others as well.
Cheers.
I've got a 4001FL, great basses, and I guess it's time to get the oil out.
There's a mute from a 70's bass right now on Ebay, says it's soft but is not sure of the year, ad says 72 but he e-mailed me he is not sure, the mute pad is odd too, it has indentations in it with raised sections for each string, looks like an aftermarket one. He bought it in 81.
There's a mute from a 70's bass right now on Ebay, says it's soft but is not sure of the year, ad says 72 but he e-mailed me he is not sure, the mute pad is odd too, it has indentations in it with raised sections for each string, looks like an aftermarket one. He bought it in 81.
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jwr2
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dano
Bob, try www.the-music-connection.com if your looking for a new mute pad. I'm not sure of the price off hand, but I think it's just a couple dollars. I used to think the ric-o-sound was an obsolete feature and came close to putting it on e-bay. I broke it out recently and got some really cool sounds. I may have to keep it now!
Tho its kinda impossible to use it in a band situation (most of the time) - Ric - o - sound sounds fantastic.
I experimented by using this little computer USB box that has like a stereo minijack input and output on it, and a small preamp. Cos the ricky has a stereo jack right on it, i just used a line cable. I used this free (i think) sampling suite that lets me record 2 tracks at the same time ( both pickups separately that is) and then apply a full EQ , and a "Reverberer" that gives the illusion of the bass being played thru a large amp in a school hall or something.
In stereo the Rick just has so much clarity to it.
I switch the sampling to mono only and it just really lost the great tone.
I experimented by using this little computer USB box that has like a stereo minijack input and output on it, and a small preamp. Cos the ricky has a stereo jack right on it, i just used a line cable. I used this free (i think) sampling suite that lets me record 2 tracks at the same time ( both pickups separately that is) and then apply a full EQ , and a "Reverberer" that gives the illusion of the bass being played thru a large amp in a school hall or something.
In stereo the Rick just has so much clarity to it.
I switch the sampling to mono only and it just really lost the great tone.
The email address shown is down, you can email me at [email protected]
um.. if any ones interested, i could probably upload/link to a sound clip of me using the
Ric - O - Sound
Ric - O - Sound
The email address shown is down, you can email me at [email protected]
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jwr2
Yes, the more stereo a sound source is, the more screwed it gets when put into mono due to phase cancellation between L and R.
The Rick-O-Sound may sound wide and clear when the stereo signal is panned left and right and played back through a stereo system. It however loses the definition and liveliness when played back in mono (panned at the same L-R position) or through a mono system.
I'm not saying I don't like it though....
The Rick-O-Sound may sound wide and clear when the stereo signal is panned left and right and played back through a stereo system. It however loses the definition and liveliness when played back in mono (panned at the same L-R position) or through a mono system.
I'm not saying I don't like it though....
Yes, Robert. Play it back in stereo and you're safe.
Has anyone noticed that a bass/guitar equipped with 2 single coil pickups sounds a bit duller with the toggle switch set in the middle and both pickups fully cranked, when only the standard jack is used? Some frequecies, especially the hi-mids, are cancelled out when outputs from both pickups are combined (like stereo converted to mono), hens yielding a humbucking-like sound.
Has anyone noticed that a bass/guitar equipped with 2 single coil pickups sounds a bit duller with the toggle switch set in the middle and both pickups fully cranked, when only the standard jack is used? Some frequecies, especially the hi-mids, are cancelled out when outputs from both pickups are combined (like stereo converted to mono), hens yielding a humbucking-like sound.
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jwr2
The reason I don't like stereo is ... that for playing live I don't want to carry 2 bass amps around ... it takes a lot of equipment to put on a live band show ... my band has to move a full PA ... subs, mains, mixer, power amps, snake, mikes, stands, ... then we have lights ... then we have drums ... then we have guitars and guitar amps .... the bass and bass amp ...
We mike everything ... and run it into a big pa ... 3000 watts each side ... so if I want to run stereo then I have to mike 2 amps and balance the sound out ... it is enough work to have each person have one amp miked into the pa ... the amps are mainly for stage volume ... the crowd hears the pa when they see us ...
so if somebody wants to use a cheesy stereo effect it will only be detectable on a small area on stage and the people seeing band will never know the difference ... and quite often it works against you because if you don't balance the sound levels correctly then you get more from the left or right and the sound is out of wack ....
We mike everything ... and run it into a big pa ... 3000 watts each side ... so if I want to run stereo then I have to mike 2 amps and balance the sound out ... it is enough work to have each person have one amp miked into the pa ... the amps are mainly for stage volume ... the crowd hears the pa when they see us ...
so if somebody wants to use a cheesy stereo effect it will only be detectable on a small area on stage and the people seeing band will never know the difference ... and quite often it works against you because if you don't balance the sound levels correctly then you get more from the left or right and the sound is out of wack ....