Carol Kaye style felt mute

[thegummy]

I want to try taping a piece of felt over the strings as a mute a la Carol Kaye.

Does anyone know what type of felt to use?

And where I could buy a small amount of it in Britain?

[uncle psychosis]

You can do the same thing with a bit of washing up sponge or similar. Lots of photos here:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/carol-kayes-method-of-muting-open-strings-with-felt.701308/

[thegummy]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1463767437' post='3053976']
You can do the same thing with a bit of washing up sponge or similar. Lots of photos here:

[url="https://www.talkbass.com/threads/carol-kayes-method-of-muting-open-strings-with-felt.701308/"]https://www.talkbass...th-felt.701308/[/url]
[/quote]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think that would have the same effect as the felt taped over the top?

She says to use foam under the strings if you finger but if you only ever pick then felt over the top. That made me think there was benefit to using the felt over the top.

[Dad3353]

Felt or any other soft cloth, such as a hair ribbon..? Try your local haberdashery, see what they can show you. Corduroy..? Baize..? I don't think the actual grade of felt is the critical part. Try it out with a folded hanky, first..? I doubt that Ms King used anything rare or difficult; more probably whatever came first to hand.
It's all in the fingers, anyway..!

Edited May 20, 2016 by Dad3353

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1463770764' post='3054007']
...more probably whatever came first to hand.
It's all in the fingers, anyway..!
[/quote]

As demonstrated by Tony Levin when recording with Peter Gabriel - the thing that came to hand was a nappy!

[Geek99]

Chopped up mouse mat is pretty close to the original material, I heard

[pfretrock]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1463770764' post='3054007']
I don't think the actual grade of felt is the critical part.
[/quote]

I think she mentioned capillary matting felt somewhere (used in horticulture), but it's no good for metal

[spyder]

I use these...... http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/homebase-performance-4in-gloss-sleeve---2-pack-833438

Strip the foam off the inner case and you have the perfect size to fit under the strings by the bridge.

[thegummy]

Thanks for the replies. I'll see what they have at the haberdashery for felt. Might try out some of the other tips though, see which I prefer. Cheers!

[lojo]

I can hear the difference between a washing up and a car sponge on my 62RI

Seriously though good luck with this, I love playing my muted P bass, I use the foam out of case molding, it's quite dense , never done it over the strings though

Edited May 23, 2016 by lojo

[chris_b]

[quote name='thegummy' timestamp='1463766380' post='3053971']
I want to try taping a piece of felt over the strings as a mute a la Carol Kaye.
[/quote]
The CK method is just a light damping of the strings which leaves much of the sustain. Seems like this method would dampen the outside strings more than the inside strings. I've never done this but I would imagine it leaves enough sustain for this to work on a gig.

Most foam under the strings is full on damping, which kills so much of the sustain and that IME only works in the studio or when DI ing through a PA system.

I've tried foam on a gig and IMO it killed most of the dynamics in my sound. Took too much life out of my playing.

Edited May 23, 2016 by chris_b

[thegummy]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1463987648' post='3055458']
Seems like this method would dampen the outside strings more than the inside strings.
[/quote]

I got some felt from a little haberdashery stall and this is exactly what it did. So I tried just rolling up the felt and putting it under the strings but I didn't like that sound either. Think I'm maybe doing it wrong. I'll try one of the other methods.

[chris_b]

Maybe it would work if you wove the felt through the strings and put the tape on very loosely. So there is no pressure on the tape. Just to stop the felt sliding out.

[discreet]

This pic from Carol Kaye's playing tips:

[CokeyW]

Have you tried Fretwraps? They wrap around at the nut leaving enough to room to fret properly at the first fret. They can be tightened or loosened to vary the amount of muting and slid over the nut for songs which don't need it. More pricey, but that's because they work.

[Conan]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1464024456' post='3055858']
This pic from Carol Kaye's playing tips:


[/quote]

And it has the added advantage of looking great too!

[Geek99]

Nice tortoiseshell there

[discreet]

Using foam or felt or rubber mutes is a right pain the arse. Develop your palm-muting/pick skills instead. You can apply as much or as little pressure as you like and can mute fretted notes as well as open strings on the fly.

[markdavid]

I use the foam that was in a seymour duncan pickup box (see below picture) and it works fine , I put in under the strings though not over them. I have also used a cut up washing up sponge to do the same thing and this also worked fine

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:219779]

Edited May 24, 2016 by markdavid