Double Bass Can you Make your Bass silent?

[ritzy123]

I was wondering If there is a way to make your bass silent, so I may utilize evening arco practice? (Apartment renter) Practice mutes are useless. Anybody.....Anybody....... Bueller...Bueller?

 

[Huy Nguyen]

This has been rehashed over and over.

short answer: nope.

long answer: you can try. You'd have better luck with pizz. Rags between the strings seem to be a remedy but obviously has it's drawbacks.

my solution: go buy an EUB for practicing late at night or rent a practice studio. Either way, it's more $$$.

 

[Justin K-ski]

I don't know what area you live in but here in NYC it's illegal to stop a musician from practicing between 10 AM and 10 PM. Your landlord can't put it as a clause in your lease or charge you more to practice.

 

[Deleted member 90176]

practice mute with a towel wrapped around the bridge. that works pretty well for me in hotels

 

[ritzy123]

HOw do you wrap the towel? Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 90176]

just use something between a normal bath towel and wash cloth and wrap it tightly around your bridge, which helps stops vibrations. you could also use a big towel and wrap it around the middle of your bass sever times, which should keep the back and front around the sound post from vibrating too much

 

[Thomas Stone]

I've just got my bass back from the luthiers. Lets just say my neighbours have enjoyed its 5 week absence.

I like the towel Idea and I'll give that a go, but I'm also experimenting with a heavy and dense chipboard mute that clamps onto the bridge. It isn't pretty.

If it proves successful I'll post pics.

 

[Sevitzky]

Ritzy,

Also, if you have a pin stuck straight into hardwood floors, it will conduct the sound directly into your lower neighbor's ceiling much more efficiently. So try to put dampening material between the bass and the floor - towel, pads, keep the rubber on, etc.

You can also stuff the f holes with towels and wedge towels under the tailpiece. Use in conjunction with a metal practice mute if possible.

You can also cut a hole in the back, and stuff the *inside* of the bass with blankets and towels. This will also keep the bass warm during the winter months.

 

[Heifetzbass]

You can also cut a hole in the back, and stuff the *inside* of the bass with blankets and towels. This will also keep the bass warm during the winter months.

 

[thedbassist]

NO, do not put a hole in the back of your bass, thats like bass murder.

 

[jasonheath]

I used to have a lot of problems with annoying neighbors with practicing in apartment living. The biggest problem is that the bass sound is very difficult to keep from going through walls and structures. Even if you mute the bass like crazy, you can still get that "woof woof" sound coming through the walls, floors, and ceilings.

I used to use a combination of heavy rubber practice mute, towels in the F holes, a towel under the fingerboard, under the tailpiece, and one balled up between the feet of the bridge. This doesn't completely mute it, but I always found that this was as soft as I could possibly get my bass for arco practice, and I didn't have neighbors bothering me about noise once I started doing this.

Even though it is technically legal to practice during the day here in Chicago (as well as NYC and other cities), that doesn't stop neighbors from pounding on the floor/ceiling/walls and calling the cops. Even though you are in the right, you can still have a miserable time with neighbors.

I hate neighbors.