Fret Wrap vs. Foam Under Bridge

[TerribleTim68]

Hey gang,
So I know the first answer is gonna be "Learn to mute correctly" and I'm willing to accept that. But, considering that I just got my first 6 string 2 days ago I figured I'd start somewhere like a sane person first.

So here's my question:
Of those of you who actually use one or the other (so NOT you amazingly perfect players who can mute like nobody's business and think the rest of us are just crappy players with bad mechanics), who can talk to me about the pros/cons of using a fret wrap or using foam under the saddles.

I've seen some people swear by foam under the saddles, does that really work? How exactly does it work? Where do you get your foam? Why would you prefer that over a fret wrap? Wouldn't it mute literally everything, including the stuff you actually play?

As far as fret wraps go, I've seen some varying methods here too. Some guys are putting it literally at the 1st fret, some guys are putting it just barely past the nut. What's the best location for a fret wrap and why would you want it there vs elsewhere? How are you handling playing open strings with one?

So yeah, here we go....huge argument incoming in 3......2.......1.......GO!

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

They serve different functions. A foam mute by the bridge mutes the overall tone of every note you play and reduces the amount of sustain drastically. This gives a much more old-school sound similar to what you might hear on Motown records, and these were actually built into old Fender bridge covers.

A FretWrap is used to mute the excess ringing of open strings. As it’s at the nut it has no effect on anything but open strings. This can help when playing multi-string basses or performing techniques that might increase the chances of sympathetic vibration from the open strings like two-hand tapping.

 

[TerribleTim68]

Solid answer @Bryan R. Tyler, thank you!

 

[BigAlBass69]

They serve different functions. A foam mute by the bridge mutes the overall tone of every note you play and reduces the amount of sustain drastically. This gives a much more old-school sound similar to what you might hear it on Motown records, and these were actually built into old Fender bridge covers.

A FretWrap is used to mute the excess ringing of open strings. As it’s at the nut it has no effect on anything but open strings. This can help when playing multi-string basses or performing techniques that might increase the chances of sympathetic vibration from the open strings like two-hand tapping.

Asked and answered. Thank you Professor!

 

[2strings2frets]

Mr Tyler is right; like he said. I occasionally use foam, thicker or thinner depending on the amount of deadness I want in the sound. It’s a fine line also I cut it a little long so it is easy to grip and pull out for the next number. Foam scraps from a reupholster or Walmart are just fine. Enjoy

 

[sunbeast]

They serve different functions. A foam mute by the bridge mutes the overall tone of every note you play and reduces the amount of sustain drastically. This gives a much more old-school sound similar to what you might hear on Motown records, and these were actually built into old Fender bridge covers.

A FretWrap is used to mute the excess ringing of open strings. As it’s at the nut it has no effect on anything but open strings. This can help when playing multi-string basses or performing techniques that might increase the chances of sympathetic vibration from the open strings like two-hand tapping.

To clarify (but not really necessarily applicable to the OP’s needs)- using foam under the strings need not reduce sustain dramatically. This is dependent on type of foam, thickness, width, cut, etc. it is possible to just barely cut some of the harmonic ring from notes without significant loss of sustain by using a well chosen/cut piece of light density foam.

 

[DeepFriedBass]

Ah, see? You got too many strings and now you need foam.

 

[Les Fret]

Hey gang,
So I know the first answer is gonna be "Learn to mute correctly" and I'm willing to accept that. But, considering that I just got my first 6 string 2 days ago I figured I'd start somewhere like a sane person first.

The best way to learn muting is to not use a fretwrap or foam. First learn to mute properly before you use a fretwrap otherwise you will rely on the fretwrap for muting and you will never learn to mute. Especially in the beginning this is crucial.

For me a fretwrap is only helpful when tapping on a six string. And even then I would advise to tap without a fretwrap first.

 

[Blackie Jr]

Had a Walnut Rickenbacker bass with adjustable mutes, which I liked initially...was always adjusting them...got to be ridiculous

As a long time guitarist I knew palm muting and sort of switched to it

Muting with palm heel and playing with thumb is a heavier thumpier mute than muting with knife edge hand and playing with fingers, at least for me

Sometime I mix muted parts with unmuted notes

Also have felt picks and thick rubber picks to add to thump mute mix

But of course Jamerson and Babbitt used foam so *** do I know ?

 

[sunbeast]

Had a Walnut Rickenbacker bass with adjustable mutes, which I liked initially...was always adjusting them...got to be ridiculous

As a long time guitarist I knew palm muting and sort of switched to it

Muting with palm heel and playing with thumb is a heavier thumpier mute than muting with knife edge hand and playing with fingers, at least for me

Sometime I mix muted parts with unmuted notes

Also have felt picks and thick rubber picks to add to thump mute mix

But of course Jamerson and Babbitt used foam so *** do I know ?

The Rickenbacker mute is fairly impossible to set up for even muting across the strings in a way that is easy to recreate quickly on the fly. A piece of well-trimmed foam that you can install an remove will do the job far more reliably IME! I also generally use palm-muting, but it is usually for a different effect than a static foam mute.

 

[MirandM]

Isn't using foam a bit like driving a car with an automatic gearbox, while manual gear shifts gives much more fun?
In my 36 years of playing I only used it once on a bass that had it installed on buying. Removed it the next day and never ever even thought of using it again. Just my humble opinion.

...So here's my question:
Of those of you who actually use one or the other (so NOT you amazingly perfect players who can mute like nobody's business and think the rest of us are just crappy players with bad mechanics), who can talk to me about the pros/cons of using a fret wrap or using foam under the saddles.
...

sorry about this post but I don't (or at least not until I've had a fair number of drinks) consider myself not in the least a perfect player.

And if I were to choose, I'd most probably use fret wraps, they seem more efective to me.

 

[MattJ]

James Jamerson had foam under the bridge of his P Bass on nearly every Motown hit. I guarantee it wasn’t for his lack of technique. But damn it sounded good.

 

[jnewmark]

James Jamerson had foam under the bridge of his P Bass on nearly every Motown hit. I guarantee it wasn’t for his lack of technique. But damn it sounded good.

Huh. I read where he never took the bridge cover off the Pbass, which had the built in mute, on top of the strings ?

 

[MattJ]

I know he had the ash tray on a lot, but I saw a picture the other day with it off and you can see something under the strings...I’ll see if I can dig it back up. Either way, his strings were muted at the bridge almost always.

 

[pintspiller]

I know he had the ash tray on a lot, but I saw a picture the other day with it off and you can see something under the strings...I’ll see if I can dig it back up. Either way, his strings were muted at the bridge almost always.

Maybe he preferred the sound of the mute under the strings rather than over.

There's interviews of Carol Kaye on YouTube of her still having the mute on top. When she stopped using a P with the bridge-cover installed she just started taping the foam on!

 

[Old Blastard]

When a friend decided we would start an old school rockabilly band, I put some foam under the flat wounds on my hollowbody Ibanez jazzbox AFB200 and use mostly my index finger to pluck. It really serves that trio big time on every song with no need to remove it. It's the only bass I use a full time mute.

For the Americana trio Im in, I use a different bass, usually semi hollow with nickel rounds and palm muting and a pick for certain songs to get a particular sound for that number. Mostly I use fingers otherwise.

I don't mute at all, play a Solid body bass with brighter roundwounds and mostly use a pick for the rock trio I'm in.

For me Muting and the bass are tools to shape the sound. I use my amps (Rumble, Genz Benz, Hartke combos) the same way.

Im interested in how others use muting and techniques so I'm looking forward to this thread

 

[Watchootognbout]

This is how and why I use a Fret Wrap.

It mutes the open B and E strings while tapping the other strings on my sixers.




It serves the same purpose as the mute on my NS/Stick.

 

[Old Blastard]

That makes sense. There are times when I'm playing fast runs and the open strings ring when I don't want them to ... probably poor technique on my part ... but this would likely solve the issue until I get better, which could take a while