muting an acoustic/electric

[arbarnhart]

I got an electric solid body mostly for quiet practice. I like it, but I really prefer playing acoustic and there are enough differences where it isn't the optimum practice mando; I wish it were lighter, had a lrager body and 8 strings. I am contemplating buying a low end single coil acoustic electric and filling the body with foam ("Great Stuff" or equivalent). Would that be as quiet as a solid body? The reason for electronics is two fold - I kind of like having one I can play rock star with every now and then, plus it somehow seems less like destroying it to fill it.

[mikeomando]

Uh, okay, go cheap, but when you do, you're not going to be happy with the action or the intonation. If it were me - and it probably wouldn't be - I would experiment with a nicer mandolin and a non permanent solution. You can always work up to the permanent destruction. The unamplified output of an acoustic/electric hollow body is kind of wimpy to start with. Maybe a long strip of cloth could be worked into an F hole and shaken around until you get the filling you need for the volume you want. the cloth could always be pulled back out. If you squirt "great stuff" in and it starts to expand and set, you can't really control the amount of muting. Also, if you fill an instrument with electronics in it with great stuff and the electronics wear out/fail, I don't know exactly how or whether you could fix them. You could also try urethane foam, which would be pretty easy to get in, and harder to get out, but still doable. I have the feeling that it doesn't take all that much to damp the sound of an already kind of wimpy mando. Tell us what you pick and how it works out.

[mrmando]

I like Niles' advice: get an oval-hole acoustic/electric, then make a soundhole mute out of a flip-flop sandal.

[arbarnhart]

I do need to try Niles suggestion, but when he described it he said it cut volume by about 50%. That isn't enough. My primary is an oval hole. I have stuffed it full of dish towels before and it killed sustain but did not do all that much to the initial volume; maybe cut it a third.

One question that may kill the whole idea - Is an 8 string electric being played while unplugged twice as loud as a 4 string electric?

Yes, I am cheap. With a young family, my hobbies are a low priority right now. No, I really am not too concerned about perfect intonation. I want it close enough that I don't wince and can tell if I am playing things right. Any amplification I might do would just be in the garage to play rock star on a tiny amp, plus I like being able to record rhythms into the computer (I have an adapter for that) to evaluate my timing and play along with if the timing happens to be okay.

[thistle3585]

I think I mentioned this to you before, but what would you guys think about an IV kit without soundholes. Just mount a block to support a magnetic pickup. I would assume the lack of soundholes wouldn't play a role in how well it worked plugged in. I bet you could also put a sliding port in the bass side so that you could adjust the volume.

[mrmando]

One question that may kill the whole idea - Is an 8 string electric being played while unplugged twice as loud as a 4 string electric?

Kind of like "If two trees fall in the forest..."?

I would not think it was any louder.

[arbarnhart]

Well an unplugged solid body electric 4 string is loud enough that it bothers others if I play in the same room where they are watching TV. I can play in the next room, with an open double doorway between the rooms, and it's okay. My primary motivation for getting the electric was practicing quietly but doing full on strumming because I had been trying to practice quietly with the acoustic and it was very poor right hand practice. The electric gives me fantastic right hand practice and good, but not great, left hand practice. Maybe that's the best compromise I can get, I don't know. This thread is "thinking out loud" and getting feedback on ideas. I am not dead set on doing it but I want to explore the possibility.

[mandroid]

Get a big box of earplugs #for the others?

Or make the woodshed into the practice room?


still another option , wireless #closed back headphones so they can focus on their favorite #media, and you get to do your own channel.


I was told the best violin mutes consisted of a tank of mercury. its great! a heavy liquid that resists vibrating as it wont get moving till late,
like me in the morning.

[arbarnhart]

The garage is becoming bearable again and I will start using that option also. The problem is that I have some times when I need to be around and others are sleeping.

[thiggins]

They sell this cool expanding foam at Home Depot...it comes in cans.



Tim

[arbarnhart]

They sell this cool expanding foam at Home Depot...it comes in cans.

Yeah, I know. It's called "Great Stuff".

I made a new baffle for my acoustic. Major Rube Goldberg job - I took one of those rubber circular jar openers (we have several advertising differnt things) and cut a slot in it so it fit between the bridge and neck but had "ears" on the sides of the neck. It stayed in place, by flopped over. So I made it rigid by taping a couple of posicle sticks to it - with black duct tape. I have a black top mando, so I did this with barely overlapping pieces of tape that covered the entire pad. I ran the sticks and the tape dead vertical. If you are more than a couple of feet away it looks like a molded piece of hard rubber manufactured for this express purpose. It cuts sound to less than half. It does not kill sustain. I might just continue using the 4 string electric and not bother with an acoustic/electric replacement for it. This won't let me play the acoustic all the time, but maybe often enough to have less switch over issues.

I would still like to here from anyone that has muted an acoustic with foam or some other alternative. If it took it down under 25% of normal volume I might still try that route. I think I am down to around 40% with my new mute.