If you’ve ever tried to palm mute on a guitar equipped with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, odds are that rather than pure silence after the mute, you heard a metallic ringing. That is because while you’ve successfully muted the strings between the bridge and the tuning keys, the strings may still be vibrating behind the bridge, which can cause the Bigsby to ring out. In a loud live situation, this may not be noticeable, but in the studio, sensitive microphones may pick it up while recording.
Luckily, the solution is simple. Since the space between the bridge and the Bigsby doesn’t contribute to the vibration of the strings across the neck, you’re free to keep that area permanently damped. You can use any kind of cloth, fleece, felt, or other fabric and either wrap it around the strings between the bridge and Bigsby or stuff it between the strings and the body. This will dampen the strings without affecting your tone when playing, and the material is soft enough that it won’t affect you using the Bigsby. And when you go to palm mute, there won’t be any resonating string vibrating the Bigsby, and your ringing problem will be solved.