Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

[Loigle]

I wonder if these exist aftermarket? Old Teisco guitars seem to have them, but I haven't tried one in person:

https://reverb.com/item/3728684-teisco-et-230-silvertone-k2l-sharkfin-guitar-1967-tobacco-sunburst

Here's a version for bass, but I haven't found a guitar equivalent: https://www.bassmute.eu/bm_mainframe.html

I'm looking for something that can be activated on/off with a button or lever.

cheers

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

I'd be interested to know the exact advantages of having one of these, as I've never seen one in person either.

 

[Loigle]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

My assumption, is that it allows you to play with muted/damped harmonics. Basically palm muting without having to use your palm. Al di Meola uses this tonality a lot.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

Some people just use a hair tie scrunchy thing around the nut. I think Gruv Gear makes a whole line of products that do this.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

He is talking about a mute at the bridge, not the nut.
I have owned a few guitars with them (I like oddballs). I always took them off and reinstalled before selling.
It is like palm-muting all the strings all the time. And if I remember correctly they engage more quickly and easily than they disengage.
Stick something soft under your strings next to the bridge to see if you like the effect.
The Fender Jaguar I learned to play on had one.

 

[Securb]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

I have played a few guitars with a mechanical mute and find them useless. I palm mute a lot and find the best technique when doing so is not an on/off situation as you get with a mechanical mute. There are different amounts of pressure that can be applied and the distance of your palm from the bridge give an array of dynamics. Palm muting is a great way to control the attack/sustain of the note, think of it as the sustain pedal on a piano or attack/decay controls on a synth. The hair tie scrunchy thing Dave is talking about is great when doing techniques that require two hands on the fretboard.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

In the distant past, I just used a piece of neoprene weather strip. I had to experiment with different thicknesses, widths, and densities until I found what worked for me. It was great and could easily be taken off or put back on (I didn't use the sticky strip on the back of the neoprene).

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

Oh, another thing I did was to weave a thin piece of flexible plastic in the strings next to the bridge. Again, I had to find just the right width and flexibility. This created a buzzing sound when I played to simulate the sound of a sitar. Back in the 60's the electric sitar was pretty popular, but I didn't have any money to buy one so I improvised.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Finding a Mechanical Guitar Mute?

Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridges can be found with a mute, or it can be installed as an aftermarket add-on.

For bass, the Rickenbacker bass bridge has two mutes built in, one on the top two strings and one in the bottom two strings. It’s activated by raising it into position with a set screw, not a switch, however. I tend to keep the lower two with the mute all the time and the upper two open.

Gretsch guitars has a mute for hollow bodies but it requires drilling holes to install.