ChromaCast Michael Angelo Batio Signature String Dampener (CC-ST-Damp-MAB)

I don’t shred much, but I saw some Michael Angelo Batio videos and was so impressed with the guy’s playing, Knowledge. Energy, and enthusiasm that I decided to try his string damper, So far it is practically useless to me because I haven’t found an arrangement in which I can flip it on and off at the right points, but it works well and I am still trying!!

It worked on my MAB3, after a whole lot of adjustment to get the sweet spot. However, I find the dampening pad somewhat wide, it takes up the whole width of the first fret. I am actually planning to cut off about a quarter of the width, maybe even half. The material used for the pad is also somewhat flimsy that it will not dampen the strings uniformly. But overall, it is really great. It made it really easy to undampen the strings, if I’m playing with open strings, unlike when I’m using a dampening strap or something wrapped around the neck.I’m keeping it mounted on the MAB. It doesn’t work as well on my Schecter C1.

I have wanted one of these every since I saw Michael Angelo as he was then known back in the day during his MTV appearances. This device facilitated him to play guitar with one hand because his other hand was on his other neck of his double guitar or his quadruple guitar. 25 years later, Amazon makes it easy and at this price how could you say no? So I have to admit that when I first put it on, I did not know what to do. Yeah, seems easy you know but you better get it done right, It takes some experience. After three months I have it down where, I have enhanced my creativity due to this device. Now it’s there for more than just a show. Because I will leave it on permanent , I’m going to get a set of black Stratocaster pickup covers to make it blend in more. That’s my guitar in the picture with the device on. So remember your first girlfriend? You didn’t know what to do but you just did what came naturally. And how you are now is long removed from the first time you tried this. That’s the way this string dampener is. You must try to use it without watching videos on it. And when you have developed worthwhile skills with the dampener, take a look, if you need to, and see what others are doing. And by this time, you will not be a clone of another mans creativity that came before you. I’m talking about the string dampener there. Use the Dunlop Jazz 3 (black) or Jazz 2 (red) picks along with your own custom guitar that you’ve put together. I stress this very much, Don’t be a Clone. Find out what your like and make your style a blend of all your influences. The difference between a good and bad artist? A good artist knows how to hide where his art comes from and what it is inspired by. (Some Radiohead fans even remove their volume knob because he does it). Unlock your own greatness for it may be more bountiful than what you’re limited to from idol worshipping. Admiration is always okay but remember to always be developing yourself and to not focus on the Radiohead guitar players knob.

I love Michael Angelo, but this product is not helpful at all. I seriously doubt it resembles what he uses on his guitars as this is extremely cheaply made, the screws are all super soft aluminum so tightening anything to get the right amount of pressure to mute the strings means you will strip them out.I tried this thing for months and just now threw it away today.

So far I've had a really good experience with this. There are a number of complaints/issues from other buyers, and I can definitely see where this could be the case. I have a number of guitars and checked out the necks and string placement on each one and decided to put it on my Dean Custom. It fit perfectly after removing the truss rod cover as instructed. I can see I might have an issue with my Les Paul and maybe the Mockingbird, but not sure. On the Dean it works FANTASTIC! Installation was simple and it performed exactly as described. Pull it down to contact the stings and "WHAMMO" no more open string noise! This lets me know what I need to work on as far as string muting goes. Definitely going to use it during recording sessions to give me that super quite response. As for the build of the device, it's not bad. Sturdy construction and all the fittings were workable. The only issue I had was how the pad was attached. It was very sloppily glued to the crossbar. In fact it appeared when I first opened the package to be a used unit, but after further inspection, it was just poor manufacturing. It looked like they tried to glue the pad onto the bar and it fell off and then they re-glued it, in a slightly adjusted position. But overall very pleased.

It works great. Better than I expected. Way better than hair ties. It dampens the strings and is easy to flips on and out of the way. It seems durable enough that it should last. On the down side, the dampning material is 3 layers so it looks a bit shody and the rubber on the top half of the clamp is a bit too thick and causes some very light contact with the strings behind the nut, and the truss rod cover needs to be removed. (For reference this is on a PRS SE 24) Also I'm wondering how the rubber will react with the guitar finish. I will probably replace the rubber with something thinner and finish friendly. But the bottom line on this is It makes unwanted string vibration a thing of the past and things like sweeps sound much cleaner.