Ever since the likes of Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and Wilco brought the intimate sounds of rubber bridge guitars to the masses, players have been desperately looking for ways to achieve the sound on a budget.
Oddly enough, one of the best DIY hacks came from the world of tennis, thanks to an unassuming $12 racket accessory that sent TikTok into a frenzy. Unfortunately for rubber bridge fans who were too slow to pick one up, that accessory has now been discontinued.
But fear not, because the guitar player who first championed the racket string dampener has made a purpose-built replacement that is even better.
Rubber bridge acoustic guitars were pioneered and popularized by Reuben Cox of Old Style Guitar Shop, who custom-built models for big-name players and casual players alike. The plinky plonk tones of the dampened, muted strings – caused by the presence of a rubber bridge – quickly took the indie (and, later, mainstream) music worlds by storm.
Naturally, the internet – and TikTok in particular – went nuts for rubber bridge guitars, and before long players turned to the Babolat Vibrakill string vibration dampener for a DIY shortcut.
Since that tonal discovery, the original version has sold out, and the next-gen iteration from the sporting goods firm simply no longer works on guitars. As such, popular gear guru AudioHaze has fashioned an alternative – one that is engineered specifically for guitars, not tennis rackets.
“You can't buy them anymore,” AudioHaze explains in a new Instagram video, referencing the Vibrakill. “The internet went crazy and sold out of the things. So when Babolat decided to cancel it, I decided to make one for the musician.”
His answer? Plunk. A small rubber strip with six indents to better sit against the strings of an acoustic. It works in a similar way to the tennis racket accessory, by dampening the strings and reducing vibrations, but the design also has a nifty added benefit.
“It's a softer, more resonant mute, and you can even put it in different spots to have a hybrid mute,” Cox explains.
So, for instance, you could only mute the bottom three strings to dull down the bass notes, and let the high notes ring out with greater chime and resonance. Better still, the instrument doesn’t have to be married to the rubber bridge sound indefinitely, as it can be removed and re-introduced at will.
Moving Plunk closer to the bridge increases the strength of the mute, while doing the opposite makes it more subtle. For $19.99, it could be something of a gateway tool for players wanting to experiment with the rubber bridge aesthetic, without needing a new guitar entirely. And it works on electric guitars, too.
The Plunk is available now. Head to Plunk for more.
In related rubber bridge news, Orangewood’s Juniper aimed to introduce a more budget-friendly option to the market, but later came under fire from some players. Cox has since addressed the controversy.
