Foam padding near the bridge??

[Pmo]

Not sure if I'm even wording this correctly but here goes.... I recently read in a book about playing "blues bass" that it is common for bassists in this genre to place a small piece of foam under the strings at the bridge, in order to get a better "blues sound". I am a newbie to bass (have been playing for just under two years), and loves blues bass. However, this is the first time I had ever heard of this. Is anyone familiar with this effect/modification? If so, what does it impart to the overall sound, tone, etc?? Thanks in advance for your input.

Pmo

 

[ddnidd1]

There's plenty of information available. Here's just one thread.

FOAM MUTE

 

[Chicory Blue]

I use makeup wedges. Some folks use a kitchen sponge. You can basically just jam whatever you want in there and if you like the sound then you did it right.

--^@

 

[bassbrad]

To add some historical context to this subject, Leo Fender was trying to make the electric bass mimic the sound and attack of the upright bass, to get the characteristic attack and short sustain there was a foam rubber mute on the underside of the bridge cover to dampen string vibration on Precision and Jazz basses. Not just Fender basses has this feature but also Rickenbacker and even the early Music Man basses had an adjustable mute of foam rubber or heavy felt. Later on these mutes were removed as players wanted longer sustain, brighter sound and more attack.

Some players use sponge rubber, felt or other types of muting, others may employ a palm muting technique. When I want that sound I use a Fump GRUV GEAR · Fump - Bridge Muter/Dampener for Bass Guitar · MAKE LIFE GRUV

 

[Pmo]

Thank you. The historical context is very helpful, as I really didn't understand the "why". I tried it out last night with some foam, and found that it really gives the E/A/D stings a lower, muffled, really cool sound, but the G string wouldn't vibrate at all. I pulled back the foam so it just barely touched the G string and was able to get a sound. Fun stuff. Thanks for the replies...

 

[lz4005]

Another piece of context for understanding early bass muting is that amplification in the 50's was nothing like what we have today. They were playing through what we would consider underpowered amps with non-functional EQ and speaker cabs better suited to guitar.

...there was a foam rubber mute on the underside of the bridge cover to dampen string vibration on Precision and Jazz basses.

Jazz basses had individual adjustable mutes under the strings, not foam on the cover.

 

[bassbrad]

Another piece of context for understanding early bass muting is that amplification in the 50's was nothing like what we have today. They were playing through what we would consider underpowered amps with non-functional EQ and speaker cabs better suited to guitar.



Jazz basses had individual adjustable mutes under the strings, not foam on the cover.

View attachment 2788531

True the earliest Jazz Basses did have the individual mutes but that changed after a couple of years.
Early bass amps were very often half or less than the guitar amps, oh the lessons we learn over time.

 

[Bass Man Dan]

My 1986 Stingray has these. I never even tried them because I play rock.

 

[Feral Feline]

Use a dirty ol' sock, and then nobody will play your bass without permission (or with).