Fender Jaguar - mute plate adjustment

[enuenu]

I just picked up a 65 American Vintage Jaguar. A bit of an impulse buy as it was different and on sale. I was intrigued by the mute plate and did some research to find out what it was. However when engaged, my mute plate does not mute the strings equally. It barely touches the bass strings and presses too hard on the high strings. It's basically useless, the guitar sounds like garbage with it engaged. Can this be adjusted to nicely mute all strings to the desired level?

[mrbrown49]

Its a finicky animal.

https://mmguitarbar.com/2017/04/17/demystifying-part-5-the-fender-mute/

[catscurlyear]

my jaguar didn`t even have one,say`s it all i suppose.

on another note My Jaguar`s trem lock has never worked apart from when i first tried out the guitar and it was actually locked at that point ,i had to forcibly unlock it cause it was stiff has eck and it made a clunk! and a boing! and has never worked since. i think i`ve sussed out that Jags are a work in progress because i have had to change so many things on mine which makes it workable for me in a live situation .but i do like it

[WRGKMC]

Its been a long time but I believe the string height plays a role in how evenly the mute pad contacts the strings.

Since your lower strings are muted, it may be a sign the strings are lower on that side in relation to the body and you'll need to correct the neck angle or the strings radius compared to the frets.

 

The mute should be able to handle up to a 9.5 radius. A 7.5 radius may make them too high in the center for the mute to contact them and have too much contact on the ends. If you have a greater radius on the strings and you have poor contact then its likely a worn pad.

 

The screws that mount the mute are under the bridge determine how high it rises when tilted. I suspect you can probably use a washer to tilt the mute if needed but I'd fix it by making sure the action is properly adjusted so it wouldn't be needed.

 

The mute material can be worn or flatten out and prevent it from dampening the strings.

A new piece of foam usually solves the issue. I think the originals were that black rubber mouse pad type foam. If its a newer guitar they may have changed what they use. You can find self sticking weather stripping at a hardware store that should work, or Google up a replacement if needed.

 

There's an adjustment procedure here. https://mmguitarbar.com/2017/04/17/demystifying-part-5-the-fender-mute/

 

As Mr. Brown mentions, its a finicky item and even properly working its one of those things you try out then never use again.

You have much better control simply palm muting the strings.