foam mutes, what do you use?

[C.Linton]

I pretty much use weatherstripping like SurferJoe46 does (post #13), either that or stuck on the underside of a bridge cover.

[Pilgrim]

The original foam mutes (I still have one) were a heavy weatherstripping-type foam. Over time that material compressed a bit between cover and strings and it wasn't as aggressive as new foam would be in the same position. Most players today like a lighter foam that doesn't deaden the strings quite as much.

[BZadlo]

Originally Posted by bass_lord_mutha

That's funny that you mention that, because I was contemplating buying a BassMute a year or so ago and thought "The only added advantage here is having multiple degrees of muting or having no muting at the flick of a lever. How lazy have we become that we can't take half a second to pull the foam off or 2-3 seconds to put in back in?"...But that's just my opinion, of course. I used 2 different thicknesses of foam cut from some packing material to get different degrees of muting.

I just move the foam around to achieve multiple degrees of damping. Closer to the neck= more damping. I actually usually keep my foam at a slight angle to get a little less damping on the higher strings.

There's also the palm of your hand...which is free.

[jrcorp]

Originally Posted by Jay2U

I used foam muting a year ago. The most effective muting, without sympathetic vibration of adjacent strings, consists of a small piece of relatively dense foam per string. Each string its own little mute, this prevents acoustic coupling through the foam.

This has me curious. I wonder if anyone has tried making something with separate foam pieces, maybe with some room for adjustment on the fly? I saw a video today involving the BassMute made in Holland, which seems like an awesome piece of gear but expensive for my needs.

[DiabolusInMusic]

I use the mute that came with my Mexican Fender Standard Precision Bass..... ha!

[SurferJoe46]

He's not my hero - but I saw this somewhere and re-Googled it for ya, and it's on TB!



I guess if V.W. does it - it must be golden - right?

[bass_lord_mutha]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

He's not my hero - but I saw this somewhere and re-Googled it for ya, and it's on TB!



I guess if V.W. does it - it must be golden - right?

Ummm.....not the kind of muting we're talking about here. The neckband is to dampen sympathetic string vibration to lessen or eliminate unwanted ringing when tapping or slapping, the muting in discussion here is the old-school thumpy Motown type of muting (i.e. James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt)

[bass_lord_mutha]

Originally Posted by BZadlo

There's also the palm of your hand...which is free.

+100,000,000,000

[Earache]

Originally Posted by jrcorp

This has me curious. I wonder if anyone has tried making something with separate foam pieces, maybe with some room for adjustment on the fly? I saw a video today involving the BassMute made in Holland, which seems like an awesome piece of gear but expensive for my needs.

With the right foamy stuff, making it four sided, you can change the surface area touching the strings by twisting it hence making it more triangular so only the corner is engaging the strings. Works for me.

[FrednBass]

i use a pice of kitchen sponge.

[Phalex]

I use a hunk of foam from a self inflating padded envelope. Maybe an inch on the thick end tapering to maybe a half inch under the G.

[SurferJoe46]

Chest hair works too:::