Flats and mutes

[seanm]

I am wondering how many people who use flatwound strings also use some sort of mute.

[markjazzbassist]

never use a mute, but i do love my flats

[ljazz]

I use a mute about half of the time.

I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate the mute into the carrot at present. Any advice would be appreciated.

Ljazz

[bassbully]

With flats why mute...i dont get it. Dubby flats are muted compared to say roundwounds i dont want muted strings to the point i get nothing more than thumpy mud.

[mario222]

I don't use a mute but I love the sound of flatwounds with a pick, palm-muted at the bridge. Delicious and above all controllable thump!

[Buskman]

I voted "sometimes" due to occasionally using the thumb/palm muting technique. Does this count?

Originally Posted by bassbully

With flats why mute...i dont get it. Dubby flats are muted compared to say roundwounds i dont want muted strings to the point i get nothing more than thumpy mud.

Quite a few famous players (Jamerson, for one) incorporated a mute in addition to using flats - to aquire that much more of an "upright" vibe. Bob Babbitt uses flats & sticks a slightly dampened sponge under the bridge saddles to get his sound - works for him!

[62bass]

flats with a bit of foam muting is nothing new and was common during the early days of rock for recording. I still use a bit of foam under the strings at the bridge with TI flats on my basses. I don't use so much that it deadens the string. Just enough to take a slight amount of the upper ring out. It gives a noticeably cleaner and more present sound when recording and can be a help live too. There's also still plenty of sustain

In my opinion the guys who claim that muting flatwound strings gives a dull thud just aren't doing it right. Of course, some flatwounds get so dead after time that they give a dull thud without muting and setting the action very low will also contribute to that.

I use a bit of foam muting under roundwound strings too any time I have to use a bass strung with them.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by Buskman

I voted "sometimes" due to occasionally using the thumb/palm muting technique. Does this count?

Sure, this is a very inclusive thread!

I am really asking the question because a lot of people say "get flats and put a mute in", but I wondered how many people actually did that.

I played some Dean Markley flats that where deader than dead. Instant decay and no sustain. It was cool for an upright tone since you could play open strings without muting.