Mute Cork Questions

[Mark]

Can some one recommend a source for good mute cork?

Is there any reason that the cork should not be attached to the mute with velcro?

[Tom]

Is there any reason that the cork should not be attached to the mute with velcro?

Seems like a good idea to me.

I believe I read that those hot, new Ion Balu tuba mutes have interchangeable corks attached with velcro

[Mark]

Ion's tuba mutes' corks do attach with velcro.

Since you gave a very favorable rewiew of Ion's mutes, should I assume that you think the velcro does not harm the tone quality?

[Mark]

should I assume that you think the velcro does not harm the tone quality?

Yeah, I know it's a tuba mute. But, this mute sounds better than any of the others I have tried and I don't want to make it worse.

[MartyNeilan]

source for mute cork: discarded bulletin boards

One thing to be careful of...
A few months ago, I built a fiberboard straight mute for my F tuba. (One day I will put up pics and instructions...) The first thing I did was go and buy a "cork" bulletin board from a big-name arts and crafts store. Guess what - it was a paper thin layer of cork over a bunch of other compressed materials! When I cut the first stip off it, the room was immediately filled with dust and I had a $$.$$ pile of junk on my hands that was now unreturnable.
A day later I went to the stationary aisle in Wally World (aka WalMart) and purchased a pack of cork squares - 1 foot square - that were perfect when cut into strips and doubled up. I used either Titebond or a similar "professional grade" wood glue to attach the stips to the mute and then on to each other for the second layer.

[Alex C]

Can some one recommend a source for good mute cork?

Is there any reason that the cork should not be attached to the mute with velcro?

I used velcro on my Apperson mute to have interchangeable cork thicknesses and I have a Balu mute (woohoo, two good mutes!) with velcro.

The velcro attachment makes the cork a bit wobbly which I am unhappy with but I know it's only because I am used to a more solid feel. I feel like I am going to loose a cork when I carry it to a gig, too. I will having to keep my ears open for that scrrrrrrratch sound.

I don't think it has any effect on the sound the mute makes but I still don't care for it.

[Art Hovey]

Trumpet and trombone mutes have corks because cork has a big enough friction coefficient to keep the mute from falling out, at least most of the time. But mutes don't fall out of upright tuba bells, so we are free to try other materials. I like to use a soft, resiliant plastic foam so that I can easily adjust how far in the mute goes, which determines how "muted" the sound becomes. The gray foam strips that come with window-mounted air conditioners work well. The velcro sounds like a very clever idea, but I don't use a mute often enough to try it.