Muting in fingerstyle funk?

[JayfromDeeKay]

I really like the sound of the bassist from Tower of Power. But I just can't seem to get the sound right. It almost sounds to me as though he's muting the strings while he's plucking them; the notes sound really staccato and funky at times.

Does anyone know how he accomplishes this? Is it left- or righthand muting?

Maybe it's also because he's using a P-bass and I'm playing a J-bass.

[ThaSweet]

There's a series of video's on youtube explaining his fingerfunk style. He uses exclusive left hand muting.

Video 1 of a series of 7 video's.

Have fun watching.

[JayfromDeeKay]

Thanks a lot for that link! Great!

[sammyp]

Originally Posted by JayfromDeeKay

I really like the sound of the bassist from Tower of Power. But I just can't seem to get the sound right. It almost sounds to me as though he's muting the strings while he's plucking them; the notes sound really staccato and funky at times.

Does anyone know how he accomplishes this? Is it left- or righthand muting?

Maybe it's also because he's using a P-bass and I'm playing a J-bass.

his technique is highly original and kinda unorthodox ...you have to decide if it's for you or not .....he plays most of his notes with his 1st finger while his 2nd finger gently lays ahead of the 1st providing a psuedo palm muted effect .....

[Brad Johnson]

Fretting hand muting is largely overlooked or unknown for most bassists IME. You can get some very cool things happening by incorporating that into your toolkit.