Using mutes

[Boogie.Man]

I'm curious about how others of you set the mute pads on the new Classic Series. Is there any suggested way or is it just the old set them however it sounds best to the player? I adjusted them to the point that the adjustment screw starts to get a little loose. This applys maximum pressure. I've also backed them off a little from that position. It seems like I can get maybe three settings, full on, lightly touching and off.

Does it cause premature wear to leave the mutes fully engaged with the strings while stored?

Thanks,


Ken

 

[Vintage7]

Ken:

When they were still on my SR, I would dial in the E mute about half way, the A string a bit less, followed by just a hair on the D & G.
I did this to get the effect of palming the strings at the saddles. Just to get a little less sustain.
The cool thing is that you can add as much or little as you want.

Try this: Mutes all the way up, bass @ 3/4 and treble @ 0. Then play staccato notes with a pick.
You can mimic a keyboard synth or a Steinberger bass.
I used to drive KB guys nuts.

Experiment and have fun!

I don't think it causes premature wear to the mutes if they're "full on".
What I found was that they dry out disintegrate over a long perion of time.

Jim

 

[Boogie.Man]

Thanks.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dmk]

I keep mine lightly touching the strings. The option on the Classic to adjust the amount of pressure is a real plus. The mutes on my "other" bass are under the bridge cover, and it's all or nothing depending on whether the bridge cover is on or off.

 

[drTStingray]

I haven't got my Classic yet but do find them really useful on my 93 fretless.

It's also useful having the ability to apply different pressure on the mutes to each string - for instance, it's possible to get unmuted pops on the g string with muted thudiness on E, A and or D - as someone else has said (and also Bass Player magazine review) this feature gives a whole range of additional tone possibilities - it also means you can get a palm muted sound without affecting ability to play complex lines (eg Motown).