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In addition to "Slapping" and "Tapping", the style of playing with muted strings as used by players like James Jamerson, Rocco Prestia, Anthony Jackson, has become popular again. The simplest way to imitate the sound and playing style of these players is by muting the strings with the palm of your hand and picking the strings with your thumb.The disadvantage of using this technique is that it limits your playing speed and the freedom to pick the strings in different positions towards the neck. Using a piece of rubber foam to mute the strings could solve this problem, but it is not really handy fumbling it under the strings between different songs. For this reason some manufacturers of basses were providing in a muting system on their bridges. The adjustability and results were not always satisfactory, so in the end they were hardly used. In cooperation with Edwin van Huik from the Bass Connection in the Netherlands, luthier Ellio Martina designed a new muting device for bass guitars. The original idea was to design a muting device with excellent muting capabilities, to be engaged quickly and easy to install on almost all known models of basses being around. The Bassmute presented here, is the final result of our efforts. Within the physical limitations of a minimum height between the basses'body and the strings plus enough room between the rear pickup and the bridge to install, we believe we succeeded. |
