Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone here have any experience with this?

http://www.bassmute.com/bassmute/bm_mainframe.html

I saw a photo of this on a bass in a magazine and found it intriguing.

For this reason some manufacturers of basses were providing in a muting system on their bridges. The adjustability and results were not always satisfactory, so in the end they were hardly used.

Wonder who they're talking about here.

Grey wrote:

For this reason some manufacturers of basses were providing in a muting system on their bridges. The adjustability and results were not always satisfactory, so in the end they were hardly used.

Wonder who they're talking about here.

Obviously Musicman - the original muting system on the Stingray was a bear to use.....

I use a Barker mute Jeff. Nothing mechanical about it but just the right amount of muting.

sloop_john_b wrote:I use a Barker mute Jeff. Nothing mechanical about it but just the right amount of muting.

Cool, thanks for that JB. I am looking for something better than my palm for the 4004 and for my Elfin 5s. I do like the idea of an instantly switchable mute but I wonder just how well a mute that works on the side of the strings functions given the direction strings are plucked (away from the mute) at least for the initial attack.

Leo had this design which looks interesting:

http://www.google.com/patents/US3427916

Grey wrote:

For this reason some manufacturers of basses were providing in a muting system on their bridges. The adjustability and results were not always satisfactory, so in the end they were hardly used.

Wonder who they're talking about here.

It's not "obviously" Music Man Sabre bass: Leo Fender put a foam pad under the ashtray of P-basses. The first Jazz basses had individual mutes, as did the Mustang bass. Of course, 4001/2/3. And the Ovation Magnum. I'm sure there are others; that's just all I can think of right now.

If the player's bass doesn't have a built in mute, the best thing is simply a square of foam shoved under the strings at the bridge.

Surely every early muting system has been a bit clunky? I find the mutes on my Stingray a little too subtle and the 4003 a bit too obvious. Never had the opportunity to try one of the early Fender systems.

I find the idea of a built-in or "instantly switchable" mute a little redundant because don't you have to re-tune anyway? The time-saving is kind of pointless in the end. With the Barker, it's just a good-quality piece of foam (perfect height and density IMO) which you can stick behind the nut or something when you're not using it, then shove under the bridge very quickly and re-tune as necessary.

I found a big yellow sponge (the old-school material that is not very dense) and cut it to size and I prefer the results with it to anything else I've tried (pretty much just different Rics and MusicMans). A much more authentic mute sound with a still recognizable ADSR and intonation doesn't get mucked up either. Takes a couple of seconds to put it on or pull it out, and the strings hold it in place.

I have an old mouse pad around here somewhere, remember those? That should be about the right density.

My EB 2 C's mute is the ideal one.Instantly on, or off, no re-tuning necessary.
Too bad the rest of the bass is a dog.

fatcat wrote:My EB 2 C's mute is the ideal one.Instantly on, or off, no re-tuning necessary.
Too bad the rest of the bass is a dog.

IIRC the mute on that is right next to (up against) the saddles, right? That helps minimize (or eliminate) tuning issues.

I uses a small peice of foam rammed under the strings at the bridge (under the ashtray cover) on the stang.
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=402183&hilit=fender+mustang+bass
For my Hofner, I just have a peice of foam between the bridge and the pickup, it mutes it sufficiently.

jps wrote:

fatcat wrote:My EB 2 C's mute is the ideal one.Instantly on, or off, no re-tuning necessary.
Too bad the rest of the bass is a dog.

IIRC the mute on that is right next to (up against) the saddles, right? That helps minimize (or eliminate) tuning issues.

Nope, there's a bit of space between the mute and the bridge.Something that helps is that the mute is very narrow.

It's a stretch to call that"saddles".Intonation can be iffy.

(It was hard to find a suitable image)

Yeah, I guess there are better bridges than just that angled spacer bar on the plate The new hipshot bridge for Gibson basses is pretty nice but a mute would have to be added to it.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessor ... ndt_rdir=1

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.