Mutes on Old Gretsch Chet Models

[Alan Peterson]

Don't know if any of you have had the need to replace the mute cushions on early Gretsch 'Chet Atkins' model guitars. Mutes on my '65 Gent were in pretty rough shape; the old stuff got dry & crumbly, while the adhesive holding it to the 'elevator' cleat turned gummy and nasty.

I've found the same rubber material that is used to make mouse pads works pretty well. Get a $2 pad from the local computer store, cut it to the same contour as the cleat using a hot wire cutter, glue it down with some Duco and you're good.

The thick felt used in piano hammers works OK too, but you'll need to 'pick' it a lot to soften it up. If you can still find large felt ukulele picks you can trim down, those would work OK too, but the rubber still has the most "give" and works best.

[Mark Wybierala]

The direct replacement mutes are available from Fender and are not expensive at all. I recently was able to acquire the entire mute assembly for an early country gent directly from Fender.

[Alan Peterson]

Good to know. For a very long time, us 'Gent players had to invent our own repairs when Gretsch was on the ropes. Glad to see Fender is on top of it.