Conference napalm::guitar

     hey bud -where's your hand??I do it on the bass but had difficulty
    until I realized you must be as close as possible to the bridge or else
    the string's pitch s changed (sharp) and sounds like doodoo!!!!!Also
    the part of your hand you use makes a big diff.....I use the meaty part
    where my thumb is attached.
    -hope this sheds a little light;
    -Bill

It's difficult to be sure without picking up a guitar and doing it,
but to mute (or "damp") I think I rest the side� of my right hand
on the strings near to the bridge. This allows the hand to still
swivel to pick the various strings (but obviously picking is a bit
more restrained than when you're not damping the strings).

�by "side" I mean the edge of the hand below the little finger

I can't see how the scale of the guitar should affect this, but if
you've got big hands perhaps you should go full-scale to make
left-hand fingering less cramped (particularly high up the neck).

Hope this helps...
DC

    I use a number of different right-hand muting techniques. As was
    mentioned in the last note, the most common form is probably to rest
    the fleshy side of your hand across all of the strings close to the
    bridge. I sometimes place my hand actually *on* the bridge, which gives
    less of a damping effect. Sometimes I turn my hand a little when I do
    it so that I'm actually damping with the base of the hand near the
    wrist. This kills less of the overtones. I also sometimes damp only the
    first string or first couple of strings by using the flesh at the base
    of the thumb. There are numerous variations on these. Experiment.
    
    - Ram

    what applications/situations do you mainly use muting on?  (i.e., Chords 
    with lots of distortion?)
    
    Mike

    
    If it feels/sounds good, what's the diff?  Is there a wrong way
    to play guitar?  How about Jeff Healey?  
    
    I don't consciously think about it most of the time, it just happens
    and I'd go, "Hey, that sounds good, I'll keep it".  Most of the 
    time, I end up muting the open A(ala Randy Rhodes) or open D.  
    Although I have been known to mute F on A string.  
    
    Let me stop babbling before anyone figures out I don't have much
    to babble about...
    
    J-Dot             

	You got a Mustang. First, remove the bridge cover and stow it
	safely somewhere. That'll make it easier to do the on-the-bridge
	type muting that Ram was talking about.

	When to use it? I use doing single note Minor or Phrygian runs
	to get that ever-popular Spanish/Flamenco flavor. There's some
	examples of this on Return to Forever's "Romantic Warrior" album
	as it's one of the top items in Al Dimeola's bag-o-trix.

	Where to next? Try muting for the pluck and then applying a little
	finger grease at the fret. That gives a muted attack but lets more
	of the note back in ... is that `aftertouch'? Sounds good if yer
	running LOUD.  *thDwerrrRRR*

	Anybody out there good at muting like this for hammer-ons? I've
	found that takes a much more delicate touch and I've got a ways
	to go yet....

    I very rarely use the bridge mute, only on atonal-minimalist type
    clicks and chugs. More often, I use the palm of my hand to mute some
    time after I've struck. I'll also put my pinky on the high E string,
    but this is more for placement than anything else.
    
    							John.

    I use muting to kill the mud that otherwise sounds when you repeatedly 
    strike the the bass strings (E, A, and maybe a little D) on the guitar.
    For example, a common shape in playing the blues or a lot of rock
    is two-note chords on the bottom (pitch-wise) strings, e.g.
    
    	B	B	C#	C#	B	B	C#	C#
    	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E  
    
    with the E's on the sixth string and the other two pitches on the
    fifth string.  This shape forms the heart of just about Chuck Berry
    tune and a million other derivations.
    
    I find that muting,  using  the fleshy part of my hand that's in
    line with my pinky, gives the this type of rhythm playing a chunka-
    chunka feel that helps propel the rhythm section.
    
    Like someone else said, I also use muting to kill the ring on certain
    strings that were left over from a previous chord or ones that I
    want to remove from this chord.  In that case, I typically mute
    with my left hand.
    
    Regards,
    John K.

    
    There several tecniques for muting. The most commonly used by todays
    rock players is the bridge muting, as discussed early. The thing is
    though, this technique is quite hard to perform on the G B E strings,
    because it tends to deaden them too much.
    
    A couple other ways of muting are to actually rest the right hand on 
    the strings as you pick. This *does* works well on the G B E strings.
    You have to be VERY gentle with the amount of pressure on the strings,
    but after a while it become natural.
    
    A cool trick for all you mute fanatics out there is to play some left
    hand pull offs with open strings, and literatly grab the TOP of the 
    neck with your right hand, letting the hand apply very gently pressure
    to the strings, making sure that you aren't actually fretting any
    notes. Try the following lick. Its played very fast, with no picked
    notes at all. You have to hamer on the string changes too. All the
    time, the right hand should be holding the neck just so the palm heel of
    the hand is muting at the first fret.
    
    E|-5-2-0-3-2-0-5-2-0-3-2-0-(repeat)----------------------------------
    B|----------------------------------5-2-0-3-2-0-5-2-0-3-2-0-(repeat)-
    G|-------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    E|----------------------------------------------------------
    B|-- repeat above section once more, exactly as written ----
    G|----------------------------------------------------------
    
    E|-5-2-0-3-2-0-------------5-2-0-3-2-0-------------5-2-0------
    B|------------5-2-0-3-2-0-------------5-2-0-3-2-0-------5-2-0-
    G|------------------------------------------------------------
    
    E|-5-2-0-------5-2-0-------5-2-0--------3-2-0-5-2-0-------------------------
    B|------5-2-0-------5-2-0-------5-2-0--------------5-2-0-3-2-0--------------
    G|-------------------------------------------------------------4-2-0-3-2-0--
    D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------2
    A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------V
    E|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Have fun.
    -Tony

    
    I think a good song to learn to help palm muting is "Ain't Talkin' 
    'Bout Love", assuming that you like VH, and many, many other 
    VH songs.
    
    A lot of Randy Rhodes's stuff also has some extensive palm mutes.
    
    J.