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Foam mute -- Why didn't I do this years ago?

S

subject42

Jul 14, 2010
173
110
#1
I've been playing with an oldies Motown/R&B band lately and I've been trying to get that big thumpy sound that basses had back then.

I finally cut up a sponge that I found at the dollar store and shoved it under the strings near the bridge.

And lo, it sounded awesome.

Why did companies stop including mutes on basses either as an option or as part of the default design? I think Rickenbacker still does it, but I don't know of any others.
 
#2
Fender mutes were a piece of foam glued onto the bridge plate. Fender (up until around 1980) shipped basses with bridge plates and flat wound strings. As a cost cutting move in the early 80's, Fender quit shipping basses with bridge and pickup plates. That is the same time period in which Fender was making strats with only one volume, one tone, and the jackplate, all attached to the pickguard.
 
#4
I don't think it was just cost-cutting. The muted sound seems to have dropped out of favor during the 70's or 80's.

Now (judging by posts on TB), people want "sustain" such that they can play a note, sit the bass down, go out to lunch, come back and still have the note playing.

Personally, I think the sound of a bass with the mute installed is still pretty cool. But I'm an old fart.
 
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#5
Pilgrim said:
Now (judging by posts on TB), people want "sustain" such that they can play a note, sit the bass down, go out to lunch, come back and still have the note playing.

Personally, I think the sound of a bass with the mute installed is still pretty cool. But I'm an old fart.
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I've noticed that myself. While I understand that good technique in both the left and right hand can let you control the sustain of a note with a fair degree of precision, there's some quality to a foam muted string that just sounds different.

I've actually checked the wave form of my bass playing the same piece with the mute on and off and there is a difference in more than just the falloff.

It's a shame the sound went out of style.
 
#7
I just did this yesterday, but to get an upright sound out of it (sounds more like you're saying now that i listen to it.) Personally i think people should be versatile in that sense. I like sustain as much as the next guy, but i wouldn't take my 6 string to a Motown/R&B gig/audition and i wouldn't take my foamed up 4 string to a prog metal gig/audition.
 
#8
LeoSash said:
Personally i think people should be versatile in that sense. I like sustain as much as the next guy, but i wouldn't take my 6 string to a Motown/R&B gig/audition and i wouldn't take my foamed up 4 string to a prog metal gig/audition.
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What surprises me is that the option has completely died out at the manufacturer level. It's almost always a DIY or aftermarket edition now. It's kind of a shame.
 
#11
What I heard in the early 70's, when I started playing, was that a muted electric could more closely emulate a upright bass. And as this was the sound that was still popular with producers and audiences. Of course, when I bought my very first bass, a semi-hollow body Aria, was to remove the mute. It wasn't cool enough for rock'n'roll...Cheers...
 
#12
I do most of my muting with my hands. However, I've tried the foam mute with some success. I have a few basses which ring with unwanted harmonics when I hit certain notes. The foam mute fixes that. Besides, Carol Kaye used one.....whadda ya want?
 
#14
The good thing about the Stingray mutes is you can dial in as much as you want, which is kind of hard to do with a sponge. ("Hold on, Roger, I have to shave some foam off my sponge.")

The bad thing is that unlike the sponge, you can't just reach down and yank 'em off in an instant.

For me, the good outweighs the bad. I tend to get a sound I like and go with it all night.
 
#15
bovinehost said:
The good thing about the Stingray mutes is you can dial in as much as you want, which is kind of hard to do with a sponge. ("Hold on, Roger, I have to shave some foam off my sponge.")

The bad thing is that unlike the sponge, you can't just reach down and yank 'em off in an instant.

For me, the good outweighs the bad. I tend to get a sound I like and go with it all night.
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I don't know what brand it is, but spade2you has a nice bridge mute that you flip on and off with a switch; I think the mute height is adjustable.
 
#16
I went all out and dropped $2 on foam furniture pads at Walmart. Like a foam meets felt sort of texture. Anyway you get 2 4" x 6" strips. I was able to make a few for my P-bass and my 5-string Musicman.

Definitely a cool experiment. There are custom bass mutes that go for $100+ for one mute ...or spend $2 and get enough felt/foam for 12 basses, your call, I won't judge!
 
#17
BillyIVbass said:
I went all out and dropped $2 on foam furniture pads at Walmart. Like a foam meets felt sort of texture. Anyway you get 2 4" x 6" strips. I was able to make a few for my P-bass and my 5-string Musicman.

Definitely a cool experiment. There are custom bass mutes that go for $100+ for one mute ...or spend $2 and get enough felt/foam for 12 basses, your call, I won't judge!
Click to expand...

My choice is a scrap piece of foam! But I don't use a foam mute, in fact ANY mute (other than hands), on any of my basses except one: And that would be my Carvin Semi-hollow AC50. With a foam mute it does a killer upright imitation!

I'll add one comment to the others. I found that the low strings take more damping than the higher strings. So My "standard" foam mute is now sort of a tapered trapezoid with the wide part under the B string and narrow end under the G string. Works just great!
 
#20
Bryan R. Tyler said:
I don't know what brand it is, but spade2you has a nice bridge mute that you flip on and off with a switch; I think the mute height is adjustable.
Click to expand...

This one?

I read posts that this place is hard to get a hold of, also that the muting is not sufficient.

bassbenj said:
......I'll add one comment to the others. I found that the low strings take more damping than the higher strings. So My "standard" foam mute is now sort of a tapered trapezoid with the wide part under the B string and narrow end under the G string. Works just great!
Click to expand...

Good idea! And I added adhesive felt to the bottom of mine because some foams tend to be a bit too 'grabby' on the bass finish, the felt allows me to stuff it under the strings easier.
 

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