Muted/muffled: How to get there

[stevensivak]

I am looking to mute/muffle the sound of a G&L-

Listened to the Big Muff and it is all electronic sounding and kinda ugly...

I just want to mute the entire sound from attack to decay- remove the highs and lows...
you know, that kinda thing but with no distortion-

anyone have an idea????????

 

[jez79]

Sounds like a job for the tone knob on your instrument, or palm muting/attacking with thumb
An eq pedal might help you if you really want a pedal for it, but i would expect best results using your bridge hand to make this sound
Check out Gary Willis' palm muting tone/technique

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

If you are a picker, palm mute. If you are a finger player, lightly hold your pinky on the string you are plucking. This is how I do it, I had to steal it from somebody but I just do not know who, so I cannot give you a reference.

You could always use foam mutes on the bridge or fretwraps on the headstock.

 

[stevensivak]

Thanks for the technique suggestions..

Did not know that there was no box that could provide this
sound shaping at the push of a button!

 

[J Posega]

Thanks for the technique suggestions..

Did not know that there was no box that could provide this
sound shaping at the push of a button!

You might be able to get it with a hard squishing compressor combined with an EQ pedal to rolloff all your top end.

Or the EHX Knockout lets you do similar kind of tone shaping without compression.

 

[stevensivak]

the knockout sort of does it, yes!

I guess this is going to have to be done the old fashioned way!

 

[Dave W]

Super dead strings, possibly flatwounds will help too.

If you're looking for a dead sound like that I really think you've got the wrong bass. G&L's (I'm just assuming it's an L2000) are very hot and can be bright sounding. What you describe is like a James Jamerson thuddy sort of sound (P bass with flats).

 

[electracoyote]

I am looking to mute/muffle the sound of a G&L-

Listened to the Big Muff and it is all electronic sounding and kinda ugly...

I just want to mute the entire sound from attack to decay- remove the highs and lows...
you know, that kinda thing but with no distortion-

anyone have an idea????????

So, you thought the Big Muff would "muffle" your tone? I guess that's a fair assumption, based on the name, but now you know it is a super distortion/fuzz box. It won't muffle anything on its own.

The way I get to muffled is some combination of one or more of these: flatwound strings, foam mute just above the saddles, or some type of palm/hand muting in your playing technique.

See what happens when you roll those tone knobs back on your bass and amp too.

 

[stevensivak]

misleading name for sure.... the foam and the flat wounds will do it, but they can't be quickly changed out in the middle of a song...

Is this a business opportunity?

 

[P-oddz]

Is this a business opportunity?

Sure is...
http://www.bassmute.com/

 

[stevensivak]

that is cool! anyone stocking it or tried it??????

 

[Feral Feline]

Foam
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/recommend-effects-for-vintage-p-bass-tones.1133989/

 

[okcrum]

Check out the Bobby Vega video. If that's the sound you want (around 1:08), palm muting is your friend. He's playing a very bright sounding J. You can fingertip mute with your fingering hand by playing over top of the frets, but it's a harder technique to learn.

 

[BazzTard]

I bought a Bass Mufler

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=bass+mufler&_sacat=0


http://www.talkbass.com/threads/mufler-any-experience.643664/

I know you can make something from foam, but then bits of foam come off etc,this one has a soft cloth cover,is just the right length and height,and it's BLACK, ROCK AND ROLL !

ten bucks I think.Easy to pull out mid song, I'm gonna attach a loop so I can attach it to my cord.

 

[Fxpmusic]

Gruv gear also has a cool bridge muter being developed. I use a sponge but it is a pain to get in and out during gigs. I tried the Gruv Gear prototype at name and that just slides in and out quick. Getting it as soon as it comes out. +1 on the flats, tone off and foam.

 

[callofcthulhu]

You want a compressor/limiter that can work on a specific frequency range. There are a few, but they're pretty expensive (FEA Dual Band etc.).

If you're looking at the EHX Knockout, you might also look into the Mole (also by EHX).

 

[Joshua Pickenpaugh]

Thumbs up for checking into Gary Willis' palm muting techniques.

 

[devnulljp]

Palm mute or shove a piece of foam under your strings at the bridge.
I have a piece of weatherstripping in the the bridge cover of my tele bass.

 

[CGremlin]

I'm kinda weird in that I usually mute with my fretting hand unless it's something that won't work with that, in which case I palm mute. A lot of the stuff I've played goes back and forth between being muted and not, so bridge mutes haven't been an option for me.

 

[dannybuoy]

I bought a Bass Mufler

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=bass+mufler&_sacat=0


http://www.talkbass.com/threads/mufler-any-experience.643664/

I know you can make something from foam, but then bits of foam come off etc,this one has a soft cloth cover,is just the right length and height,and it's BLACK, ROCK AND ROLL !

ten bucks I think.Easy to pull out mid song, I'm gonna attach a loop so I can attach it to my cord.

I bought one of these and hated it, I much prefer to just use regular foam. Interested in a Bassmute for my P-Bass though!