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foam mute or not??

bearpaw

bearpaw

Jul 27, 2008
115
20
vienna
www.peterschoenbauer.com
#1
hey guys,

i am right now in the process of converting my 62 p-bass into a funk machine such as jamerson's. i will replace my fender flats with la bella 760Ms and have already set my action sky-high to kill the sustain.
now i have come across the information that jamerson had a foam mute installed in his bridge cover. i have tried that, but a) it didn't do that much and b) in close ups that i have found of jamerson, it didnt actually look like there was foam in his 'ashtray'.
could it be that the foam mute sat in his pickup cover? that would obviously do a lot more muting than it would in the bridge cover.

thanks for help,
peter
 
#3
well maybe its important what kind of foam to use... i've never seen any of those original muting bridges, so i probably installed it wrong. i just attached a pretty big piece of soft foam inside with a rubber band - nearly the whole space inside is filled up.
do u have an idea where to get one of those?
 
#4
It's the same dense black 1/2" foam Fender uses under
their pickups. My old 67 Jazz used to have it glued in
position under the big "F" ashtray.

I remember it being at a slight angle and very close to the
saddles - also, if memory serves me, it only muted 3 of the 4
strings - the Low E, A and D

You should be able to find "pickup foam" on Ebay.

Good Luck

:bassist::D:bassist:
 
#5
If you want to replicate the real thing - or the mute on my 1973 Precision anyway (they came with flats and ashtrays up to 1976 or even later) - then a piece of a (foam) mouse mat is about the right consistancy and thickness to use for the mute. Cut a "sliver" around 1/2" (13mm) across at the E string end tapering to 3/8" (10mm) at the G string. Mine was glued along the front edge of the bridge ashtray.
 
#9
You can also buy the black foam at Home Depot in the window insulation department. They sell it by the roll with sticky tape on one side. Enough for a couple dozen basses for a cheap price.

Orrrrr

You can mute your bass AND insulate your bedroom window!

:bassist::D:bassist:
 
#11
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#13
I used an old neoprene mouse mat - took a slice from it and wedged it under the strings by the bridge. Took a little fine-tuning but it definitely makes a big difference. And it's dense enough that you don't have to guess too much about how big it should be.

The alternative is muting with your palm instead, but I prefer to use the foam and just remove it if I want a tune un-muted.
 
#15
bearpaw said:
so how thick do you reckon the foam should be?
Click to expand...

How dense is it?

It's a bit of a piece of string question.

When you get a piece that you think is almost right, try cutting a second to match and try bunging both under there and see if you prefer it. :D

If you decide you need to cut more off, at least you'll have a reference mute for the last point where you thought it sounded good to compare your new cut against. :)
 
#16
bearpaw said:
i am right now experimenting with the foam ive got at home.... i hope i'll make it work. so how thick do you reckon the foam should be?
by the way, i recently found jamerson footage on utube - check it out:
Click to expand...


I notice Jamerson's playing his Jazz Bass (contrary to all those who insist all he ever played was a P-Bass)
and he's using the pickup cover for support, plucking the strings right next to the edge which would put him on the
neck side of the neck pup to get his tone.

Sorta makes me want to install a pickup cover on my Jazzes.

:cool:
 
#17
You stick a single foam strip to the inside of the ashtray so that it lays across the strings right next to the saddles.

To position it, put your bass flat on a table, peel off the protective tape so the sticky side is showing and lay the foam
on top of the strings right where they come off the saddle tops, sticky side up.

Break some toothpicks in half and stick the thick end in the holes in your bass so the points can act as guides for lowering the ashtray over them.

Now get the ashtray and very carefully hold it in position over the bridges (sight from above it) and gently lower it down over the strings lining up the holes of the ashtray with the toothpicks. When it's all the way down press it against the foam to get good adherance - and VOILA! You're done.

Pull out the toothpicks, screw it down and you be funk-ayyyy!

:hyper::cool::hyper:
 
#19
THORRR said:
You stick a single foam strip to the inside of the ashtray so that it lays across the strings right next to the saddles.

To position it, put your bass flat on a table, peel off the protective tape so the sticky side is showing and lay the foam
on top of the strings right where they come off the saddle tops, sticky side up.

Break some toothpicks in half and stick the thick end in the holes in your bass so the points can act as guides for lowering the ashtray over them.

Now get the ashtray and very carefully hold it in position over the bridges (sight from above it) and gently lower it down over the strings lining up the holes of the ashtray with the toothpicks. When it's all the way down press it against the foam to get good adherance - and VOILA! You're done.

Pull out the toothpicks, screw it down and you be funk-ayyyy!

:hyper::cool::hyper:
Click to expand...

ok this is what i did now. it's the best result i've had so far but then again i have to say, it's not changing a lot. if i remove the foam bridge, the bass has a little more sustain. maybe i was just expecting a little bit too much of a difference.
 
#20
THORRR said:
You stick a single foam strip to the inside of the ashtray so that it lays across the strings right next to the saddles.

To position it, put your bass flat on a table, peel off the protective tape so the sticky side is showing and lay the foam
on top of the strings right where they come off the saddle tops, sticky side up.

Break some toothpicks in half and stick the thick end in the holes in your bass so the points can act as guides for lowering the ashtray over them.

Now get the ashtray and very carefully hold it in position over the bridges (sight from above it) and gently lower it down over the strings lining up the holes of the ashtray with the toothpicks. When it's all the way down press it against the foam to get good adherance - and VOILA! You're done.

Pull out the toothpicks, screw it down and you be funk-ayyyy!

:hyper::cool::hyper:
Click to expand...

This is more or less the way i do it. Not exactly, but similar, it works out to the same result in the end. Works good for me, just the right amount of muting.
 

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