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Techniques for damping strings

#23
One Bad Monkey said:
He'd have to put it on by the bridge (the complete opposite of where its meant to go), but it might work.
Click to expand...

I play a lot on the first fret and open strings so this would be hard to use as demoed in the videos. Looks useful, however, if you're doing lots of mid-to-higher fretwork such as the tapping demoed in 2 videos or other types of soloing. I'm pretty much a meet and potatoes player.

http://www.gruvgear.com/fretwraps

Also, this device goes on top of the strings, so CK might not be happy with me as I am plucking instead of picking.
 
#24
I've tried making various foam mutes to put underneath the strings as close to the bridge as possible. I used black weather-stripping from Home Depot. It was $8 for a roll far larger than I'll need. The one I got is 3/8"x 3/8".

The amount you described, where you see the foam raising up between the strings seems to be too much for me. I had to stick two strips on top of each other, but severely cut one of them down. It just touches the strings, really just enough to stay put. I can slide it in and out without anything catching at all, and I cut it on an radius to match the radius of my strings. It took a couple of hours, and several pieces to get the perfect sized piece for me, but mine is pretty good now. I really don't notice too much of an interference with the harmonics but the sustain does drop out a bit. I actually think I could use a *tad* more foam to get a bit more thump, but the bass I made it for has nickel hexcore rounds on it. If the bass had flats, it would probably be perfect.
 
#25
String choice can make a big difference as well. Some strings have way too much ringing even after a slight mute with your fingers. I find that various flat wound strings are much easier to mute naturally, just not the bright ones. Pyramid Gold Flats have a natural short decay without deep thumps, and you really notice it in a live mix. I also have no problem muting TIs after a few weeks old. Any kind of bright string is going to give you a bit of trouble with muting, so you might want to try a light-to-medium gauge flat wound that's known to be a bit dark and raising your action a bit (the lower the action, the harder to mute).
 
#27
Ukiah Bass said:
For those of you who are shaping foam to the radius of your strings, how do you do the shaping? Seems like scissors would mangle the foam.
Click to expand...

Very sharp scissors or a knife works OK, but only on firmer foam . . .

On foam that's a bit softer (like a typical rubber foam sponge) you don't need to get an accurate radius - you just need to get it roughly and adjust the foam at the bridge to taste (cut as a rectangle, and experiment with different orientations to get it right).
Seems to work OK. Try out a few ways, and let your ears decide!
 
#28
Ukiah Bass said:
For those of you who are shaping foam to the radius of your strings, how do you do the shaping? Seems like scissors would mangle the foam.
Click to expand...

I used the sharpest scissors that I had in the house. It did mangle the foam. I cut a small piece off each time rather than one smooth curved cut. It was hard to get it 100% even from string to string, hence why it took some time and why I wasted some foam. My current piece is not perfectly consistent, but it's good enough for playing live.

A sharp razor may do a better job for one swift slice, but it would be hard to get the radius accurate.
 
#29
I tried a spungy foam and got pretty good results. The harmonics are very good. But decay isn't nearly as good and musical as the tissue mute. With this mute, the decay is longer than I'd prefer. I'd gig it if I had to, but really want a shorter decay without sacrificing harmonics.

(Good think Halloween approaches; I may need to stock up on black tissue to match the color of my Fender bass.)

The picture shows the strings are embedded in the mute. I suspect the spungy foam is not exerting enough upward pressure on the strings to produce faster decay. Probably why the harmonics are so good. A trade-off when external pressure is applied.

The next step is to find some foam with a slightly harder consistency. Maybe like the foam in the case of a good microphone. I know where to get some but it will take a week. Feel free to chime in if you have other suggestions.
 

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#32
Ukiah Bass said:
I play a lot on the first fret and open strings so this would be hard to use as demoed in the videos. Looks useful, however, if you're doing lots of mid-to-higher fretwork such as the tapping demoed in 2 videos or other types of soloing. I'm pretty much a meet and potatoes player.

http://www.gruvgear.com/fretwraps

Also, this device goes on top of the strings, so CK might not be happy with me as I am plucking instead of picking.
Click to expand...

Right, in order to use it the way you want, you'd need to slide it under the strings by the bridge, which is not the way it's originally intended. I have them on my basses, so maybe it'll be worth a try to hear if it works.
 
#35
I was able to get pretty good results, from a foam dish sponge. But the thing was ugly as all heck. I think I want to remake one, but this time.. make a black slip that goes over it so it's not so darn ugly!

I must admit.. they're darn useful. And it took me about an hour to cut the sponge correctly... and I ruined about 2 sponges to get one useable piece I was entirely happy with (minus the ugly blue sponge appearance).
 
#36
Sni77 said:
All I see is a cat. Are they good for dampening?
Click to expand...

Cats are more/less instinctively potty trained, so unless the become incontinent due to some illness, they keep the dampening limited to the box. Nor do they salivate like dogs, so no wetness at that end either. ;)

But as far as damping, the foam brush end is there tucked into the bridge cover.
 
#38
Looking again at the BassMute, I see their device varies the size of each piece of foam based on the string. As shown in their diagram (attached), the smallest piece of foam is for the G string, on up to the longest piece for the E string. All of them apparently damp each respective string from the side instead of from underneath. Varying the length is yet another factor that may be hard to achieve with a homebrew solution. Any BassMute users care to chime in with your experiences?
 

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#39
Ukiah Bass said:
I bought a foam paint brush at Home Depot. It damped the strings too much, almost muffling the tone. The foam was a slightly harder consistency than the green foam mute mentioned above.
Click to expand...

There's a plastic core in the one I use, but the foam itself is pretty soft. I folded it in half to put a bend there so it could more easily follow the radius of the board.

How did you set it against the strings? For me it works well tucked into the bridge cover because you can vary the force against the strings.
 
#40
landau roof said:
There's a plastic core in the one I use, but the foam itself is pretty soft. I folded it in half to put a bend there so it could more easily follow the radius of the board.

How did you set it against the strings? For me it works well tucked into the bridge cover because you can vary the force against the strings.
Click to expand...

Yes, that plastic insert is a pain. It's glued to the foam so they are hard to separate. I simply tucked the foam under the strings. Was the perfect height, or at least seemed to be. I hope to get a piece of slightly denser foam this Friday and will try that and report results.
 

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