mike_cabinet - Posted - 03/14/2009:  16:57:08

Mike's Mute now offers a mute for all you four string players.
Check it out at http://www.banjohangout.org/classif...asp?cid=3113

"you might as well give your son a ticket to hell as give him a five-string banjo!" (mountain minister) Earl Scruggs and the 5-string banjo.

Edited by - Banjoman on 03/15/2009 16:40:55

diarmaid - Posted - 03/15/2009:  16:06:21

Hi Mike looks lovely, though for tenor or plectrum banjos I would recommend a modification so that its flat at the top and clamped from the back face to the front face of the bridge if possible (with the knurled nuts at the back so theyre less obtrusive) as many tenor and plectrum players rest their hand on the bridge and the placement of the knurled nuts on that particular design on your homepage, could be in the way....something similar to the goldtone mute that could have a knurled nut or some form of latch on the open end could work well...good luck

Edited by - diarmaid on 03/15/2009 16:28:17

ruraltradpunk - Posted - 03/18/2009:  22:24:35

I just got one of these 4 string mutes from Mike, here's what I think:

In terms of muting the banjo, I think it is far superior to the Gold Tone mute that I was using - with the Gold Tone I was still having to stuff things in the back of my banjo to reduce the volume, as the mute itself was not sufficient, but combined with a large stuffed monkey crammed into the back of the banjo it performed a bit better. It did however move my bridge when putting on/removing unless I was REALLY careful. In contrast the Mike's Mute works great on it's own - huge reduction in volume, as a matter of fact I'm planning on playing tonight, in my apartment, until well after midnight and am confident that the neighbors won't be banging on the walls. But I do feel that Diarmaid's suggestion to reposition the knurled nuts on the 4 string models would be the way to go. I'm having to slightly alter the position of my right hand because of them. Not so much so that it's bugging me alot or anything, but it's noticeable enough that it would make me give the mute 4 out of 5 stars in a review, rather than the perfect 5,

Cheers,
Jill