Installing a Jaguar mute on a P-Bass

[Dynacord]

Nice work

Thanks! Your Wordpress post made it a lot easier and took the guesswork out - thus I didn't have to do a test install on scrap first so the whole process was pretty quick. As mentioned, cutting a couple coils off the spring and shortening the center screw (went incrementally so there was some back and forth - didn't have an extra screw in that size...) helped get it to where it could be adjusted low enough and still work/get the amount of muting I was going for.

 

[Dynacord]

A few other thoughts, post install, it does look like there's enough space as far as height that it could have overlapped the front edge of the bridge plate and still worked. Not 100% sure and didn't want to risk it. Would not work with a thicker hi-mass type. Had a whole sheet of foam material which looks identical to what came in the kit - which was left over from an aquarium and came from a pet store. Was probably a couple bucks.
Definitely less pitch issues with light muting. If it's set strong it goes significantly sharp.
Also worth being aware that it is radiused (very cool IMO) so might be wonky with flatter than vintage radius fingerboards.

 

[2saddleslab]

Just adding this CS beauty cause it looks so dang cool.

 

[Dynacord]

Just adding this CS beauty cause it looks so dang cool.
View attachment 5023892

LOVE it!

the best mute, and the only one that will not make your bass notes sharp, is the old ashtray cover that sits over the bridge, and the mute (window door seal) presses down on the strings at the bridge saddles. The jag mute and "the bass mute" will make your notes sharp. Soft foam underneath won't , but a hard foam will, and the nano mute sucks all the tone out of the strings IMO.

This does not seem like an apples to apples comparison as with the Jaguar mute the point is that it's switchable vs the under the bridge cover method which is fixed. One is not going to remove/replace the bridge cover between songs (or sections of songs), after all. Of course, if the Jag mute was left on all the time one could simply tune and set the intonation to compensate.
There is the related issue of one sounding better than the other. Carol Kaye is a big advocate of the mute being above (as with the cover) vs below and she has a point.

 

[bigthemat]

anyone know if these come in a 5 string model? I love the idea of an easy on/off mute

 

[Dynacord]

Finally gigged the bass with the mute on and am pleased with it. Particularly as it's pretty easy to make small adjustments once it's already snapped into position - there's enough play that it can be pressed to mute to varying degrees. I like it a lot just muting lightly - and this seems to add some P bass type punchiness when using a J as on here:



And it looks a lot cooler than a fret wrap IMO: