Bought Ric 4003—no dampener

[sonic 7]

Screws don’t work…I think it is unthreaded below the end of the screws…

I was being sarcastic, those screws are a pita. Try turning them counter clockwise about a quarter turn each at a time and get the mute so that it’s the same height on both sides. And then raise it a little at a time keeping the mute even side to side. If one side of the mute is higher/lower than the other it causes the screws to bind so you have to be careful to raise and lower it evenly.

 

[BrazosBass]

Thanks! Great tip! Will try it!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The nuts on the bottom of the mute screws are held captive by a little dollop of glue, which may be gone on yours, so they arent moving the mute plate. You could fix it by removing the bridge and re-gluing the nuts, but its hardly worth it. The mute itself takes a good bit of fiddling to get even string contact, and it just doesnt work all that well unless you leave it "on" all the time.