The Bass Mute has Arrived

This mute is a really solid piece of rubber. It cut the volume about in half and, it might be my imagination, but I swear it makes the bass sound better! Hmmmmm, now I'm mulling over the possibility of leaving the mute on and amplifying the bass --- It will be amplified with the Happy Strings group anyway...but not at the jam sessions. Well, just something to experiment with.

Cardboard Dulcimer Mute

I discovered today that the cardboard mute, mentioned below, also works on dulcimer. I had to fiddle with it a bit to keep it from migrating to the middle of the strum area and damping everything down. I actually turned in upside down and slid it tight against the bridge. It worked great, especially on loud and fast pieces.
For slower pieces, I found I didn't like to use it so much. I can play softer and like to hear the strings ring on a song like Ashokan Farewell.

My brother mentioned that the hair ties, or scrunchies work on the nut end of a guitar. I have some scrunchies somewhere - just couldn't find them. (the story of my life.) I'm not sure how one would get them over the scroll and tuning pegs and still be tight enough to mute. I'll try it sometime when I find them...
Can't wait to get the bass mute.I won't have any excuse now not to practice!