The_original_Balu_stop

Balu Mutes

Only the sound surpasses the beauty

Last Update: April 24, 2008

It is here!

For several reasons, we think that our new, original stop mute design contains revolutionary advancements:

1) It takes the sound from the bell and projects it TOWARDS the audience. This way, you will never have a distorted sound or a loss of safety due to overplaying in order to be heard. The S-shaped tube is a Ion Balu invention.

2) It works great in ALL registers, and especially in the difficult octave bellow middle C, (C3-C4) (The stopped low C# in Tchaikovsky 6th WILL be heard like never before.)

3) Our “mute bell” is the biggest one on the market; and in this case, bigger is better.

4) The last inche of the tube, going towards the bell, is tapered (like your horn bell). This also increases your projection capabilities. This is the second Ion Balu invention.

5) We make the mute with one bell size only. In order to change the colors, you only need to change the direction in which the bell points. This saves hassle, and you can create color changes in a matter of seconds.

6) Several finishes (colors) will be available: polished brass (as seen in the picture), satin (sandblasted brass), and we are experimenting with oven melted paint (similar to custom wheels on high-end automobiles). If this paint will not affect the sound, a great array of colors will be available. If you order your mute today, we will email you before your mute is shipped, to find out which finish color you would prefer.

Each mute is made entirely by hand here in the United States. Shaping the brass is labor intensive, and it takes more time to make than our regular horn mutes. You can anticipate a wait of approximately 12-14 days for the stop mutes; but our regular horn mutes, if in stock, are still mailed within 24 hours.

All of our products have an unconditional 90-day money-back guarantee.

Ion Balu holds the exclusive right to patent his inventions until 2-28-09.

We uploaded a video on www.youtube.com so you can hear the mute and its great characteristics. We chose youtube due to their universality on playing on all computers and iPhone, iPods, and other handheld devises. Several more videos will follow with specific stop mute excerpts. Please note that the audio quality of youtube is very low when compared with a CD quality.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3irGYG5MFgY

If you are not transferred automatically, you can go to www.youtube, and do a search for "balu stop mute"

We've been asked to compare our mute with other brands. We've been asked this in the past with our straight mutes, and we believe that this would be in bad taste. Our intention is to make the best possible mutes, and we can do this without insulting our competitors, whom we respect and have good relations with. We believe that there is a place in the market for all mutes, and our products are targeting a specific performer: the professional musician. If you already own a Balu Straight or Practice mute, you will find the same difference when comparing the stop mute with other brands, and it will be your decision where to rank our stop mute. Thank you for your understanding.

Balu polished brass stop mute

The Original Balu Stop Mute

Balu stop mute $199.00

Balu matte brass stop mute