jamden37 Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 Hi there, I've got a v weird question that I thought only basschat forum would be able to help me with. My band and I are coming up with quite a strange part of our live set. It's during a period of the song when the guitarist will be playing a solo and bass only needs one note, E. So we thought it would be a good idea for the bassist/vocalist to take off the bass, place it on a stand and walk around the stage with the mic in hand, and returning to the bass once every bar to hit the low E string with a drumstick to get the note. Only problem is, the other three strings ring out as well if you hit the note hard (which I'll be doing). Can anyone think of a quick way to mute the other three strings, hands free and mid-song. Because it's mid song, whatever's being done to mute the strings need to be done quickly (2-3 seconds) and easily removed for the rest of the song. Any ideas?? (I thought about having a capo with some padding underneath it, but this would be quite fiddly and a lot of room for error live) Will post videos of this strange sequence if we ever pull it off live. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 I don't know if you can still buy these but you could try a Bassmute https://www.bassmute.eu/bm_mainframe.html You can make it mute everything but one string if you want. Bit expensive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamden37 Posted October 23, 2019 Author Share Posted October 23, 2019 ~£100 - ouch. Forgot to mention, I'm a lowly student and on a shoestring budget 😥 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 You could maybe cut some slots in a fairly firm piece of foam and push it over the unused strings, similar to this but on the top 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 I think foam under the strings might still produce a bit of noise unless the foam is REALLY thick or solid. Worth a try though! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Tune all your strings to E? 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippy Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 What about getting a 2 string bass? http://www.krappyguitars.com/punkbass.html You could tune the second string to suit the key and switch instruments when the time comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanOwens Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 How about building a Whamola like Les Claypool uses? Rather than a simple solution, you might as well build a new instrument, right!?!??! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Did you know that a drum stick can seriously dent your bass! I didn't until a drummer hit mine with one. Never could get that dent out of the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta in Peter Gabriel's Big time. Levin developed Marotta's drum sticks to funk fingers. If there are too many strings, Atlansia has Solitaire bass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkelley Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 On 31/10/2019 at 05:39, itu said: Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta in Peter Gabriel's Big time. Levin developed Marotta's drum sticks to funk fingers. If there are too many strings, Atlansia has Solitaire bass. I was about to post the same thing. That's drumsticks on the VERY BRIEF bass part in "Big Time". That Levin invented "funk fingers" out of it was a direct consequence of how awesome it sounded.... WATCHING levin play funk fingers is HILLARIOUS - they're so long LoL, I have no idea how he has any control over it, although he is a bass playing genius... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 How about just slipping a pick under the other 3? You know, if you're a pick player, like you do anyway at home when finished noodling. I would expect it to deaden the strings enough for them not to ring too much sympathetically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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