besley
Well-known member
My local uke club has gone banjo uke crazy. At last night's jam there were 13 people, and 6 banjo ukes! As you might imagine things got loud.
Which got me to thinking about mutes. Up to now I'd just been using some quilt batting in the open back of my Firefly. But I knew there were actual banjo mutes available, so I thought I'd try one. In particular, this one by Gold Tone.
Got it yesterday, and sent it back today. In use you slide it over the bridge of your banjo (or banjo uke) and from the comments it is well regarded - at least by banjo players. But getting it on the bridge of a banjo uke is a pain because the string tension is so much less that the bridge is invariably knocked out of place during installation. Which means you have to reposition the bridge and probably retune. And while it does reduce the volume, it also drastically changed the tone. Instead of a banjo, it now sounds like a cheap guitar.
Not worth it. Stick with the quilt batting (or old socks).
Which got me to thinking about mutes. Up to now I'd just been using some quilt batting in the open back of my Firefly. But I knew there were actual banjo mutes available, so I thought I'd try one. In particular, this one by Gold Tone.
Got it yesterday, and sent it back today. In use you slide it over the bridge of your banjo (or banjo uke) and from the comments it is well regarded - at least by banjo players. But getting it on the bridge of a banjo uke is a pain because the string tension is so much less that the bridge is invariably knocked out of place during installation. Which means you have to reposition the bridge and probably retune. And while it does reduce the volume, it also drastically changed the tone. Instead of a banjo, it now sounds like a cheap guitar.
Not worth it. Stick with the quilt batting (or old socks).