Mute Pedal Switch?

[soliver]

I am starting to play plugged in regularly with the worship band a my church. My SA has a K&K Mandolin Twin that I run through a LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI... sounds nice!

I'd like to get a mute pedal switch for the purpose of being able to tune. I like using a clip on tuner so I don't see the point in buying a fancy mute with an onboard tuner. Google turns up the JHS Stutter mute most frequently when I search:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...UaAtByEALw_wcB

So what are you guys' opinions on this? Does it behave well with Piezo's? Does it do what its supposed to?

Thoughts?

[pops1]

It is passive so it may make a click in the speaker when activated. Unless it makes before breaks. If it just breaks the signal momentarily without grounding it out first it will make noise. I can't tell from what they say.

A headstock tuner works best with very little string movement. As soft as you can strum a string, I usually use my finger and not a pick, the better. They also work better with harmonics. You should be able to tune quite quietly without something to mute your signal

[soliver]

I've seen JHS also makes an active mute:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...xoCayEQAvD_BwE

Would something like this be better?

[GeoMandoAlex]

At first when I read the title of your post I was thinking......for your banjo player.

[Charlie Bernstein]

You can find a good used AB switch for $30 or $40 - about the same as a used mute pedal. An AB pedal will do the same thing a mute switch does, and if you ever have something else to plug in (or more than one thing to plug into), you'll already have what you need.

But since you can find a good used pedal tuner for around $50, why not go the extra few bucks? They're easier to use than clip-ons. (Or tuning forks. Or pitch pipes. Or, if you're like me, your ears.)

[pops1]

I've seen JHS also makes an active mute:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...xoCayEQAvD_BwE

Would something like this be better?

I read a review where someone who bought this said it explodes with enough noise to burst your speakers.

[colorado_al]

I use a Behringer tuner pedal. $25
https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-TU3...dp/B000SJJCX4/

But you might want something with a metal box if you're gigging a lot with it.
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-611...dp/B00IACEYK2/

[rockies]

Get one of the pedal tuners, they pretty well all have a silent mute and the tuner is right at your feet or wherever you put it. Step on pedal and tune. They have an input and output so just cable in and cable out to the PA /amp. Lots of price range from the Behringer up to the Boss etc. I use one all the time in the band and when performing anytime.
Dave

[Jeff Mando]

+1 on the pedal tuner. It does what you need and your peghead will look MUCH better!

[gspiess]

I had the same general question. Someone showed me this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCMFNG4...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[pops1]

I had the same general question. Someone showed me this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCMFNG4...v_ov_lig_dp_it

I had an earlier version of this decades ago, it simply shorts the signal to ground when you unplug. In this case it's a switch.

[soliver]

I had the same general question. Someone showed me this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCMFNG4...v_ov_lig_dp_it

Interesting but it had mixed reviews about its efficacy ... and I'm seeing there are pedal tuners at a lower price... probably will go that route.

[roysboy]

''I like using a clip on tuner so I don't see the point in buying a fancy mute with an onboard tuner.''

I thought this too . Then a friend GAVE me a Boss chromatic pedal tuner . Never knew what I was missing .Love the mute feature . .....tunes pretty damned good too

[Jim Hilburn]

May have been answered but my Ibanez stompbox tuner mutes the signal when engaged and I assume other tuners do the same.

[OneChordTrick]

By coincidence this arrived today. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Donner-DT-1.../dp/B00MO6KKSK

Tuner pedal with mute for the same price as a Snark. Tunes as well and if anything easier to read. The mute is silent, except for the mechanical sound of the switch but no electrical noise.

[RFMando]

I love the hand built quality of these! A little more but quality components and hand made by a nice person! RF

http://avlifesavers.com/mutesw.htm

[PaulD]

I'm at work so I don't have it in front of me, but I like a pedal I built. I hijacked a circuit for a MXR clean boost pedal, but I changed to boost so I only get about a 12db boost (down from 20-something db) and put a mute/tune switch on it. I can either use the mute to kill my signal to the PA and tune with my Snark, or I can route the signal out a 1/4" jack to an old Sabine tuner I've had for years. I also rigged it so I can use TS cables for the signal in and out, or I can use a TRS wired as a channel insert cable to route both signals. Since I usually come out of a LR Baggs ParaAcoustic DI, that allows me to use a single cable to the stomp box.

I started building a second one for my wife to use... I need to finish that out.

[Bill Cameron]

Not cheap, but when you get around to upgrading the LR Baggs preamp, go for their current Venue DI model. Built in tuner, which also functions as a mute switch. You won’t need any other floor pedals. And all the indicator lights with the tuner make it easy to tell whether you are muted via the Venue DI.

I like the AB switch in theory—it’s cheap, functional and mine needs no power—but the lack of any indicator lights make it confusing in a live-show setup.

[Br1ck]

You can buy a cord with a switch on the plug. Planet Waves?

[Ray(T)]

Volume pedal?

[rudy44]

Volume pedal?

THIS.

It works for everything, makes no noise, you can use it for raising your volume a bit for solos if needed.

Alternatively, if you happen to use a multi-effects pedal you can set up one of your programmable patches using any effect that has a volume adjustment that you can set to "0". Both multi-effects pedals that I have used can also have the patch re-named, so I named them "MUTE".

I used to use a Digitech RP200 for stage use and had multiple patches set up for several different instuments so I could scroll to "MUTE", silently switch instruments, and then select "TELE", "LAP STL", "MANDO", "ACU GTR", and have the volumes all at the same level in the PA.

[pops1]

Try taking a stereo (tip ring sleeve) 1/4" plug with nothing wired to it and plug it into the FX loop. I shorted the signal in my fireeye FX to ground with a switch for a mute. Simply plugging in a 1/4" plug worked, but wanted something simpler. a switch could replace the FX jack for a mute switch.

[colorado_al]

Just make sure you get a tuner or switch with a true bypass so that it doesn't affect your sound when mute is off.

[Perry]

I've had the LR Baggs; a Pendulum SP1 (twice) a ToneBone Pre-Z....the best plugged in sound I get is with my K&K Twin through a Red Eye Twin pre-amp. Someone had one for sale here last week. You step on the unused channel for silent tuning. I too prefer a clip on tuner. The more knobs on a piece of equipment the more I screw it up. The Red Eye just has one EQ know more treble or less. I love that.

The Red Eye also has the bonus of being impossible to get a bad sound out of it. Also has a boost switch for your solos or to make a part pop.

If you can get a hand on an Red Eye to try it you might be surprised.

Her is a review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXYSroVAQ8E

[soliver]

Opting for one of these as a Christmas gift for myself:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0ZX82FPL&psc=1

Don't need to hurry as I'm not scheduled to play in the worship band again until after the new year.