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

[alxi]

Been playing bass for about 4-5 years. I took a few lessons back in the beginning with an old timer. One of the first thing he show me was to mute the strings with a piece of foam near the bridge to kill sustain and high frequencies.

 

[bass12]

For my last two studio sessions I used my Fender Jazz with flats and some foam under the strings between the pickup and bridge. I'd never done this before and it worked fantastically.

 

[missbassfreak]

This thread is a good resource.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f233/patton-mute-pad-985663/

 

[bkbirge]

I like to put foam mutes on my upright to get that upright sound.

 

[zon6c-f]

My '72 Rick 4001 came with a rubber mute; adjustable at the bridge.

I think it was for the 'McCartney' Rick tone; whether using rounds or flats.

I tried it just once..never again..I wanted that zingy Brit-Prog tone.

Had it been a lever/ on-off maybe I would have utilized it during my years in a country covers band.

72 was stolen mid 80's; replaced with a 78..never noticed whether or not it even had the mute/ bridge.

 

[Immigrant]

There is a TBer that designed thee MacDaddy of all mutes. The thread was around here a couple of months ago and he was in the process of fabrication. I wish I could remember his moniker but all that comes to mind is car polishing compound of some kind.

I like the cheap sponges that come with kids' drawing toys, like Crayola brand sponges. You can get one for free if you dare stroll through a daycare center. Not during business hours though. That'd be just weird.

 

[Mr.Fingers]

Luckily the new American Vintage series do come with the foam-mutes already installed.


And for the J-bass lovers, there are spring-mutes as well!

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[JohnMarley]

It's really useful for playing Reggae. I quite often play with my thumb and palm mute but it gets a bit tiring if its for a whole gig. Much easier to use the sponge!

 

[SquierJazz72]

I don't play a whole lot that involves that sound, but I have experimented with foam muting, just to see. Same thing. Chunk off a kitchen sponge. Adjustable, not really. Easy to undo with just a yank, yes.

 

[etoncrow]

door/window facing insulation is foam with adhesive on one side. Glue it to your ashtray bridge cover and you have the old style Fender mute.

 

[Mr.Fingers]

I use the Fender pickup foam. it's perfect for the job, and you're not forced to buy one meter of it

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

I like to put foam mutes on my upright to get that upright sound.

- Steve

 

[MrLenny1]

I prefer a foam mute, but others say use the palm mute method and thumb.
it works OK but it is not really comfortable and hard to keep even pressure
on all strings. I see a business oppurtunity, a small clamp on, adjustable foam pad.

 

[Bowe]

I use the Fender pickup foam. it's perfect for the job, and you're not forced to buy one meter of it

3/8" weatherstripping (on the tag) - for the price of the 2x3" sections at GC you could probably buy an entire roll at a Home Depot and seal those leaky windows, doors, and that old Portaflex.

 

[ODDBALL]

Here is the place to go. Great mute! Great service.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f233/patton-mute-pad-985663/

Shaun

 

[Old Fart]

...... I'm an old fart.

My name is Old Fart and I am a mutaholic.

Actually, it depends on the music. I recently did a recording project that called for a double bass, which I do not have. But I do have a mute and a P. Sounded great.

And in a general sense, I’m moving away from the apparently ubiquitous focus on tone. Really, those subtle tone elements get lost in the mix anyway. I’m a bass player, not a treble player. I play bass as if it is a stringed, tonal DRUM. My job is to lay the bass pads out there for the other musicians to run the basses, and to make people dance. The effect I am looking for is an authoritative, easy to hear and feel…..thump. Leo Fender understood. Mutes are effective. Indeed, they can drive your tonal spectrum down BELOW that of the kick drum.

 

[missbassfreak]

Here is the place to go. Great mute! Great service.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f233/patton-mute-pad-985663/

Shaun

indeed!

 

[synaesthesia]

I wonder if anyone thinks if the sonic difference with a foam muted roundwound and flatwound stringed bass is really that perceivable?

 

[Pandabass]

I wonder if anyone thinks if the sonic difference with a foam muted roundwound and flatwound stringed bass is really that perceivable?

You bet. The attack is definitely different.

When needed, I use foam-filled terrycloth covered car wax applicators cut in half or thirds. You can kinda roll them up for different muting.

 

[Feral Feline]

I like to put foam mutes on my upright to get that upright sound.

I'm opposite. I took the foam out from behind my upright's tailpiece 'cause at the time I didn't know how to play bass guitar, but I wanted to get that electric sound with good sustain. I'm trying to get as much sustain out of my upright as possible. I've got a Diamond compressor that helped get some sustain, but then the bass started feeding back so I got a Boss LMB-3 Limiter-Enhancer to set a threshold that cut out most of the feedback, but not all so I took the foam that was behind the tailpiece and cut it up and stuffed it in the ff-holes.

Further to getting an electric bass guitar sound on my upright I'm using those giant triangle picks, kinda what the bass balalaika players might use, and round-wound SuperNils. It's getting there, but it still isn't quite enough like bass guitar. So I got an M5 and I'm going to try some distortion and EQ. If that doesn't work, I'm going to try rigging up a Fernandez Sustainiac thing-a-ma-bob to the Underwood pickup...

While it still feels awkward, I've recently started learning to play electric bass guitar, and Boyo!, things'll be much easier when I get comfortable on bass guitar. Luckily I've got some left-over door/window gap foam. I'll give that a try on my Jaguars and see if I can get them to sound like my DB did before I started fine-tuning it. If that doesn't work, I've got a car-wash sponge I can cut up.

So far this thread's been all about damping near the bridge, but what about damping near the nut? Anybody using Jennifer Batten's String Damper that mounts on the headstock and flips up out of the way? Kinda like the one from the 80s, it was called the Kleen-Axe.

Don't know about Kleen-Axe, but you can still get the Batten String Damper through All Parts