When playing around on my Rigel A-Natural, I realized I was getting unwanted harmonics from the strings below the bridge and thought about trying out Velcro® as a silencer. I dug around in our sewing supplies and found 1/2 inch wide cloth backed black Velcro® (not the adhesive backed kind). I cut strips to cover the strings just below the bridge with a 1/2 allowance on either side. I then carefully rounded off the allowance to leave no sharp edges (visualize a black band-aid). I sandwiched the strings with the hooks underneath the strings and the loops (softer backing) on the top. I carefully tamped the strips together for a secure mesh. This allows some stability of placement, however, it's easy to move the strips up and down to preference.
Result: it's an extremely cheap, effective, easy to make and easy to install and remove silencer. You can modify it's appearance very easily - just get creative. I can imagine manufacturers printing their names on the them and giving them away as freebies. Velcro® can be found at any craft or sewing supply department or shop for maybe a couple of bucks.There's usually enough Velcro® in a package to make several of these silencers.
