Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Your key word is "always" which is not what I would want to happen.The device Jeff referred to is interesting for it's versatility,quick on/off.
I just wish they were more readily available to inspect before purchasing.

So, until then, its palming for me.

fatcat wrote:Your key word is "always" which is not what I would want to happen.The device Jeff referred to is interesting for it's versatility,quick on/off.
I just wish they were more readily available to inspect before purchasing.

So, until then, its palming for me.

I do have a need for quick changing mute capability as The Karma Kings does a medley where I need to instantly go from muted to unmuted setting and I find that palm muting does get in the way of some playing ability.

So far, nobody with experience has commented on it. I theen I'll take the subject over to the BGC.

I can't say how well it works,as mine(aMIJ) has no mute.

My Harmony H 25 has a similar mute which works well.
Couldn't find a picture on the net to borrow.

kiramdear wrote:A simple strip of felt, folded and taped to the body over the strings at the bridge is what Carol Kaye uses. She always uses this mute.

Interesting she tapes over the strings--probably not anywhere near enough pressure to screw up intonation with felt, and the muting effect is probably subtle. This is also why I prefer sponge over high-density foam for the under-the-string approach. There's nowhere near enough pressure to mess up the tuning and the resulting tone is very useable.

I'm going to Jo-Anne's to look for their specially made bass foam rubber felt spongy mute material stuff, not sure if I should get the blue cheque or green plaid version. Suggestions?

Colour match it to your bass-du-jour.

jps wrote: I find that palm muting does get in the way of some playing ability.

This doesn't happen in my case as there isn't any ability to get in the way of....

In all seriousness, the biggest problem I have had with mechanical muting systems in a live gig context is that they either take too long to engage (e.g. Rickenbacker, Musicman) or that it is difficult to dial in the desired amount of muting on the fly (e.g. Ovation Magnum, Fender floating-bridge mute). Given you can adjust the Bass Mute for string spacing, I suspect you could set it up to match your own preferences with respect to the amount of muting and have the benefit of instant muting, so the product has potential to provide something that existing systems don't deliver. If this is actually the case, it's quite interesting.

Oddly, I have found the old foam block method to be the best compromise in terms of speed of engagement/removal and getting the right muting effect. It's still a bit suboptimal live, and it's easy to lose, but it's cheap, light and easy to replace....

antipodean wrote:

jps wrote: I find that palm muting does get in the way of some playing ability.

This doesn't happen in my case as there isn't any ability to get in the way of.....

Since I have never heard your playing I won't/can't say anything clever or insulting!

antipodean wrote:Oddly, I have found the old foam block method to be the best compromise in terms of speed of engagement/removal and getting the right muting effect. It's still a bit suboptimal live, and it's easy to lose, but it's cheap, light and easy to replace....

...except that I only have a very quick 1,2,3,4 to get the mute off the bass and start playing Day Tripper!

No luck finding anything, let alone anything that matches my basses. I might have an old pad around here somewhere from my old camping days that went under my sleeping bag that could work.

I do like that each individual string mute on the Bass Mute can be adjusted for best/desired muting strength; I'll have to see if they make one in Ruby.

jps wrote:

antipodean wrote:Oddly, I have found the old foam block method to be the best compromise in terms of speed of engagement/removal and getting the right muting effect. It's still a bit suboptimal live, and it's easy to lose, but it's cheap, light and easy to replace....

...except that I only have a very quick 1,2,3,4 to get the mute off the bass and start playing Day Tripper!

No luck finding anything, let alone anything that matches my basses. I might have an old pad around here somewhere from my old camping days that went under my sleeping bag that could work.

I do like that each individual string mute on the Bass Mute can be adjusted for best/desired muting strength; I'll have to see if they make one in Ruby.

Just use a piece of foam under the strings at the bridge, it can be a pain to get in, but it can easily be ripped out and thrown to the side in four beats.
And the Daytripper bassline doesn't start at the beginning of the song either.

IvanMunoz wrote:And the Daytripper bassline doesn't start at the beginning of the song either.

Right is starts at the downbeat of the second measure. I also have to change some settings on the controls of my bass before that first note, too.

I may just buy a Bass Mute and see how I like it.

And a pure master using an inch square section of foam.....

and towards the end, well

jps wrote:

IvanMunoz wrote:And the Daytripper bassline doesn't start at the beginning of the song either.

Right is starts at the downbeat of the second measure. I also have to change some settings on the controls of my bass before that first note, too.

I may just buy a Bass Mute and see how I like it.

Personally, I'd just keep in the mute, since daytripper was played on the Hofner anyway.

IvanMunoz wrote:

jps wrote:

IvanMunoz wrote:And the Daytripper bassline doesn't start at the beginning of the song either.

Right is starts at the downbeat of the second measure. I also have to change some settings on the controls of my bass before that first note, too.

I may just buy a Bass Mute and see how I like it.

Personally, I'd just keep in the mute, since daytripper was played on the Hofner anyway.

Then I'd have to pull it off immediately for Suffragette City.