Customer Reviews

Super Sensitive Spector Violin Mute Copper

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The reviewer S. Jacobs says that this mute did not have a big effect on his violin's volume. That's because this is a performance mute, designed to be used in a concert when the composer marks "con sordino" on your part. The intent of a performance mute is not to drastically decrease the volume, but to effect a small volume decrease while simultaneously adding a different texture to the instrument's sound. If you're looking for a mute that will keep your neighbors from calling the police when you practice the Shostakovich violin concerto at 2am, I suggest you purchase a big fat Glaesel practice mute instead: Glaesel Violin Ultra Practice Mute.

I play mostly in orchestras and chamber groups these days, and I can honestly say that as a performance mute, this item works wonderfully. I spent a lot of time trying out various mutes, but I was never happy with them. The rubber Tourte mutes that are so ubiquitous would rattle when sitting on my strings, and they were always getting ripped off when I placed my violin in its silk bag so I was always removing them after a performance and occasionally forgetting to put them on before the next performance...oops! The metal & plastic tubing Glaesel mute could stay on my strings permanently, but I found that with heavy use the metal gripping mechanism ended up wearing down the strings...really, you should never have metal squeezing your strings, it can wear out the windings.

This mute sits on my violin at all times, and the rubber is soft enough not to deform the A and D strings with the constant pressure it puts on them in order to stay in place. Best of all, it is easy to slide on and slide off even when you have only a few beats rest!

I knocked my rating down to 4 stars only because the color is not copper, it's brown...ugly rubber brown. I am used to my mutes being black, and I really don't know why Super Sensitive decided to make their mute brown. Super-Sensitive finally came out with a black version, but it's only available through their website (as of now) and I'm not paying $9 + S/H for a tiny piece of rubber just because it's black!

Since most of the time I have for practicing is well after my family is asleep, I needed to quiet down my violin without affecting the tone too much. After asking around, I bought this mute at the recommendation of a friend. It's very easy to install, just slip it between the A and D strings and push the mute lip up over the bridge.

Although the tone wasn't badly affected, the mute didn't seem to have a lot of effect on the volume either. I've since started using a rubber over-the-bridge "Glaesel" mute and am much happier with the decrease in volume.