what are the string mutes made of? the black kinda rubber thing. is it foam? im planning to put one on my musicman bridge. what glue is used?
petruccirocks02 said:What exactly is the purpose of the mutes? I'm just confused on what they're for....
Cliff78,
I have these foam dots we use in our assembly plant for adhearing CD's and DVD's to paper sleeves. I'd be happy to send you some to try out if you like. They certainly look much better than what's pictured, and just might be what you are looking for.
Let me know.....tbone
It's similar material to that used for computer mouse pads. That's what I use. After cutting to size they can be attached to the metal mute springs with "3M" double-sided tape.
I find mouse pads to be too rubbery and 'sticky' although they will work fine. My original mutes seemed a little more foam than rubber, and I found my pad material through an automotive source, and it was adhesive-backed exactly like the original stuff. Here's a post I made on another forum about a month ago;
Well I did some spring cleaning on the Rays. The mutes on my '78 Ray were hard crusty lumps, and cumbling off if you just breathed on it wrong.
I had a very small bit of foam material that appeared was exact same as the original mutes, it even had the same adhesive backing. I removed the bridge and removed the spring assembly, and had to use brake parts cleaner to get the crusty old material and adhesive off. I then cut new pads to size, stuck em on, and reassembled. It was also a good chance to clean every nook and cranny on the bridge and body while it was apart. Turned out great....
I don't mean to make this sound bad...but are you new to bass? Mutes have been around for decades.
Mutes are to deaden the string, give it more like an upright "thud" and fast decay.
The thing I liked about the Musicman mutes, is you can set how much muting you want by adjusting those thumbscrews; no mute, little mute just to take off the edge, or motown thud.
-Mike