You may see in the BIAB 2025 description (I didn't) that there is a "muted electric guitar" in the new Pop & Rock Real Tracks. I didn't read it because I usually run through the styles when I buy BIAB. So I wrote a post recommending Rubber Bridge as a new style, like a dummy. eek Maybe I should read the description? Doh!

I think there are some more muted guitar sounds inthe 2025 49-PAK--not the Bonus pak.

They call it "muted electric guitar." You can find it in the Realtracks Set 459: Songwriter Potpourri, styles 99-104. PGMusic says this is a technique where "a foam mute is placed under the bridge to get a great muted effect." I've never heard of anybody using foam, but maybe it would work. Anyway, "Bridge" is a misnomer, unless you consider the saddle to be part of the bridge. A piece of rubber replaces the bone saddle that usually sits on the bridge--that's where the strings touch and that's where they are muted.

Anyway this makes 2025 BIAB an insta-buy for me.

If you're curious about what the sound is and why PGMusic included it, the rubber bridge guitar is the leading trend in indie folk (and some pop) today. It's a modded guitar with a distinctive muted sound. (It's actually the saddle that is rubber.) To be fussy about it, it's most often played on an acoustic guitar, modified with pickups. Or, as in the video below, played through a mic that runs through guitar pedals.

Inspired by Blake Mills' rubber bridge banjo, they were first modded from old guitars by Reuben Cox. Popularized by Phoebe Bridgers, it has been used in songs by Wilco, Olivia Rodrigo, Madison Carpenter, Blake Mills, Taylor Swift, and dozens of others. It's in many of the songs in Bob Dylan's "Shadow Kingdom." It's generally used more for arpeggios and repeated patterns than strumming, and often a lot of effects are put on it. A good example of the sound is Ariel Posen's instrumental "Tumble Away."



Here's a Phoebe Bridgers' "Garden Song," from "Punisher," the album that kicked off the trend. You can see how the repeated pattern drives the song. Also, it's lower than a regular guitar, so it really shows off her vocal range.



The sound is not for everybody, but to me it is very beautiful. Thanks again, PGMusic. I look forward to using it.

Last edited by Tiger The Frog; 12/20/24 03:59 PM.
Check out my YouTube video on BIAB at https://youtu.be/_vel48tBLKY
and please subscribe to my channel.