TromboneChat

I was searching for the company that used to make the wooden mutes, Facet Mutes. I have some of them and they are wonderful. Did they go out of business?

The guy's name is Bruce Lee. He moved to Colorado and I believe he sold Facet Mutes/retired from the business. His Facebook page indicates he is in Rochester, NY now and is an AR Resonance Mouthpieces dealer. You should look him up; he's a very friendly guy.

For the longest time they had them out at CIOMIT repair school in Colorado. Those mutes didn't seem to really catch on.

I thought Terry Warburton bought him out?... Doug

I have a wooden Facet cup mute.
Love it. Nice sound. Beautiful.
Afraid to drop it so I (very) seldom use it.

I was looking to get new ones for my large bore tenor.

I tried them at an ETW a decade ago and really loved them. Each one had a unique sound and played great. Wish I could buy them now!

They sounded good but I found them very hard to handle.

If anyone wants a wooden straight mute theres this guy in Latvia that makes superb mutes - they are the best wooden mutes I've ever played. They are expensive but they are in tune and play sweet. I think he has his own website but here is his advert on ebay. Doug I think this is the guy who you tried his mutes way back and really liked them?... Doug

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324047257702

I would definitely consider trying those.
Not the same guy though... The nice bucket I had was made by Roland Ruhm from Feldkirch
Austria, but I heard that he died , probably about 15 years ago. Does anybody here remember Roland? I met him at the ITF in Feldkirch.

DougHulme wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 12:28 am If anyone wants a wooden straight mute theres this guy in Latvia that makes superb mutes - they are the best wooden mutes I've ever played. They are expensive but they are in tune and play sweet. I think he has his own website but here is his advert on ebay. Doug I think this is the guy who you tried his mutes way back and really liked them?... Doug

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324047257702

Thanks, I’ll take a look at these.

DougHulme wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 12:28 am If anyone wants a wooden straight mute theres this guy in Latvia that makes superb mutes - they are the best wooden mutes I've ever played. They are expensive but they are in tune and play sweet. I think he has his own website but here is his advert on ebay. Doug I think this is the guy who you tried his mutes way back and really liked them?... Doug

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324047257702

https://nartiss.lv/en/product/wooden-mu ... ss-latvia/

I keep a Facet cup around for when I have a book that requires soft low register/below staff playing. Best cup I've found for this by far. It will be a sad day when it finally breaks/disintegrates.

I contacted Bruce Lee on Facebook. He said that the mutes were a great product, but the guy who bought the business couldn't sustain it. Bruce tried to create a line of mutes on his own, but he needed a manufacturer, and unfortunately costs were prohibitive, and he had to abandon the project.

I thanked him for the work that he did, and I'm glad that I still have mine, and I enjoy playing them to this day.

A couple of them have small cracks on the stem, but otherwise they're in great condition. They're quite durable.