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P bass upgrade....

#21
IronLung1986 said:
Ernie Ball just released the Mute Noodle which is $5 on Amazon right now.


I grabbed one and it works great. Easy to put in, easy to adjust to taste, and sounds great. With foam and sponges I've always had to custom cut them to get each string muting just right. With this noodle thing I can just slide one side up or down a little more to get it sounding even. The only drawback I can find is that it mutes the G string rather heavily even when pushed way back toward the bridge. Still, it sounds good and I can see myself making more use of muting just because it's convenient to use. I just ordered a second one for my P bass.
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The design makes it look like it raises and lowers the action of the strings alternately - E becomes lower, A is higher, D is lower, G is higher. If I already have a low action seems like this could cause buzz on the lowered strings. Is that the case?
 
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#22
TheArchitect said:
I invested some money into my tone over the weekend... Which color would have the best thump? :). LOL
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Well...
The tapered piece of 3M insulating foam thats glued into the bridge cover on my '78 P-Bass is black. But, you can't really see it anyway, so... I'm not concerned with it. However...
As for a piece of sponge that's out in plain sight? I dunno... why don't you experiment some and let us know how the color affects the tone. I might be tempted to change what I have; but, since the bass sounds pretty much like it did when it was new, and that's the tone I want? I'll need a lot of convincing... :whistle:
 
#24
"Which color would have the best thump? :). LOL"

Sunburst

1760993080094.png
 
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#31
dinghy said:
The design makes it look like it raises and lowers the action of the strings alternately - E becomes lower, A is higher, D is lower, G is higher. If I already have a low action seems like this could cause buzz on the lowered strings. Is that the case?
Click to expand...
Possibly a tiny bit. I did notice a very slight amount of fret buzz when using it where I hadn't noticed any before. I didn't compare mute in vs out to see if the mute was causing it though. It was miniscule and didn't distract me when playing.
 
#33
Not as pretty to look at, but I used to use Felt laid over the strings with tape holding it down. That was Carol Kaye's go-to later on. Gentle muting and clean / even tone without any concern of pushing the strings up or sharp. If you have a bridge cover then you could tape it to the underside of that.

I will second air conditioning foam! I prefer that to sponges any day of the week!
 
#36
_Obra_ said:
I love muting a bass sound, so I found myself one of the new Ernie Ball Noodle Mute.
Here is a sound test I made just now, comparing it with the non muted sound, as muted with other muters...

Click to expand...

I just received the one I ordered from Amazon a month ago. I love it; it's much better than my home made ones (which obviously reflects more on me than the quality of selfmade mutes 🤣). Definitely worth the price for me.
 
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#37
IronLung1986 said:
Ernie Ball just released the Mute Noodle which is $5 on Amazon right now.


I grabbed one and it works great. Easy to put in, easy to adjust to taste, and sounds great. With foam and sponges I've always had to custom cut them to get each string muting just right. With this noodle thing I can just slide one side up or down a little more to get it sounding even. The only drawback I can find is that it mutes the G string rather heavily even when pushed way back toward the bridge. Still, it sounds good and I can see myself making more use of muting just because it's convenient to use. I just ordered a second one for my P bass.
Click to expand...
I got my noodle today and I had the same problem with the muting of the G string. I tried it on my two basses and the muting wasn't as noticeable on the one with flatwounds but on the other bass with roundwounds it just made the string more or less unusable. Maybe I had two-low action but the string rang out fine before I installed the noddle. I tried different ways of installing it including wrapping the last section under the main strip.

I gave up and contacted the seller and got a refund and was told just to keep it. I do feel bad but it just didn't work for me . However the muting on the E and A string was superb and pretty good on the D string but .... not the G string, especially from the 12th fret to the pickups.

Sigh ...
 
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#38
Ralph124C41 said:
I got my noodle today and I had the same problem with the muting of the G string. I tried it on my two basses and the muting wasn't as noticeable on the one with flatwounds but on the other bass with roundwounds it just made the string more or less unusable. Maybe I had two-low action but the string rang out fine before I installed the noddle. I tried different ways of installing it including wrapping the last section under the main strip.

I gave up and contacted the seller and got a refund and was told just to keep it. I do feel bad but it just didn't work for me . However the muting on the E and A string was superb and pretty good on the D string but .... not the G string, especially from the 12th fret to the pickups.

Sigh ...
Click to expand...
This is a common issue with bass mutes because the G string vibrates less and it's closer to the body. It's much less noticeable on 6-string guitars.

With the original foam mute inside the ashtray, the strings are muted from the top so the E string is dampened more and the G string less, as it should be IMO. That's how you easily get those short notes on the E string in I Want You Back (regardless of whether Wilton Felder actually used a mute).

Since basses don't come with ashtrays anymore, everybody stuffs foam under the strings, resulting in the above issue. Cut the foam at an angle that matches the height of the strings.

Check out Blake Mills weaving the cardboard strip you tear out of a pack of D'Addarios through the strings of a Tele at the bridge and getting a really great kalimba-like tone at 6:18

 
#39
When I was a very young DB player, I had an orchestra director who called mutes “sardines” because the Italian phrase for “with mute” is “con sordino.”

As much as I like my EB mute noodle, I feel like I should keep the sprint of the dad joke alive and order some of these:

IMG_0697.jpeg
 
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#40
andare said:
This is a common issue with bass mutes because the G string vibrates less and it's closer to the body. It's much less noticeable on 6-string guitars.

With the original foam mute inside the ashtray, the strings are muted from the top so the E string is dampened more and the G string less, as it should be IMO. That's how you easily get those short notes on the E string in I Want You Back (regardless of whether Wilton Felder actually used a mute).

Since basses don't come with ashtrays anymore, everybody stuffs foam under the strings, resulting in the above issue. Cut the foam at an angle that matches the height of the strings.

Check out Blake Mills weaving the cardboard strip you tear out of a pack of D'Addarios through the strings of a Tele at the bridge and getting a really great kalimba-like tone at 6:18

Click to expand...

Angling the foam help resolve that issue
 
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