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I play guitar (badly) but i enjoy it and know i'm not great but i can play some Shadows stuff, the question is has anyone else mastered how Hank 'mutes' or 'dampens' the strings on certain tracks like Foot Tapper? It's bloody difficult to get the hand position right. Is there a knack or just sheer practice?

Sadly I think it's just sheer practice Roy.
It rubs a bit when you see other players doing it with no perceived effort!
Baz.

I'm sorry and apologise in advance but my inner pedant cannot be constrained at this point.

We do not "dampen" guitar strings unless we boil them to get another week out of them.

In order to sound the strings without sustain, we simply "damp" them. The action is correctly described as "damping" and any physical article employed to make the task easier (whether on a guitar, piano or any other stringed instrument) is called a "damper", not a "dampener".

Where's me coat...?

Strings Direct sell a damping gadget that is intended for bass but will work with a guitar.
https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/accessories-c2/string-muters-c63/gruv-gear-fump-bridge-side-bass-string-dampener-p10306
On bass it's almost too good. The string resonance is cut very short. I experimented by adding a strip of rexine in a U-shape over the fur to give the 'click and boomp' sound that I wanted.
Ray

It's really a question of practice, Roy. If you have a vintage style bridge the little grub screws can give a reassuring feel that you're in the right place. Some people (including Hank himself) use an easy mute trem arm which makes it easier. Personally, I prefer the standard trem arm but it shouldn't be too tight for it to be moved quickly for the damped section.

I'd call it palm muting. It's a matter of getting the side/heel of your picking hand in the right place over the bridge saddles, not too far forward as this can damp the pitch of the note too much so it just comes out as a dull thud, and not too far back otherwise the note will ring too much. Also you need to get the pressure right and with very light strings, you can inadvertently push the trem slightly off tune. You can hear on some of the early recordings that Hank's muting of the top E string wasn't always as efficient as the lower strings.

Also on Foottapper think there is some fretting hand work involving taking the down pressure off the fretted note.

Some people will suffer a disadvantage if they have say, a smaller hand, or shorter than average fingers. It will also help if one has a bit of flesh on the right side of the palm (viewed palm down for a right handed person).

Personally I find the top E string the hardest to palm mute- more so if I have been using the trem arm and failed to return it to the position I favour.

Kindest regards,
Christopher

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has problems muting the first string! Indeed I often try to arrange things so I can use the second instead.

I've never been a fan of funny trem arms. As I often say, if I can manage with a standard one then anyone should be able to.

Hi Roy,I call it palm muting as well and find it fairly easy if you use the fleshy part of your hand that runs from the base of your little finger to your wrist.If you are having trouble on certain strings shorten the saddle screws on said strings that should help.
Cheers Phil.

I've no problem with either a easy mute or a traditional trem arm.
On my right hand palm, I developed some callus because of the allen screws on almost all my electric guitars.
Also on my right middle fingertip, that I use to pluck some strings while I use the pick at the same time, for Equinox V and the octave double of my version Perfidia and some other tunes....
Roy, from me the same message, practise-practise-practise.... makes perfect (not that my palm mute is perfect).
You can hear my mute technique on my Wonderful land sound-file in Wonderful Land what was used on the recording thread.

Cheers Rob