sharper clearer wah-wah mute sound

[Doogie]

okay so i bought a wah-wah mute & found it fell out easily so i removed the thick cork & put a thinner layer of cork on it to see if it would stick further into the bell & hold better. It didn't but i noticed the sound was a bit sharper. So i ordered another identical mute with the usual thick cork just to undo the changes i had made to the first mute. Then i figured i'd remove the cork entirely from the first mute so that there would be metal on metal with no damper effect caused by any cork in the bell. The mute still had trouble staying in but the sound is a lot sharper & clearer than the mute with the cork on it. The difference is like the difference between a metal mouthpiece & a resin mouthpiece on a sax. The mute with the usual thick cork has a sound with a smooth edge to it, & the mute with no cork has a sound that is piercingly sharp especially when you play it loud. To prevent it falling out I rubbed a layer of violin rosin around the mute & now it sticks in the bell securely. I also cleaned the inside of the bell with some rubbing alcohol first to make the mute grip better. When I first got the mute I thought it was the wrong one because it fell out so easily, but after a bit of research I found that many players have the same problem & they all have different theories on how to keep the mute in place. But this idea of removing the cork completely & using rosin to keep it in place is something I came up with myself & I thought I'd let people know that it works well. I just use an old cheap trumpet so I wasn't worried about the mute without any cork causing scratches inside the bell. It's probably not something you should do if you want to avoid any scratches inside the bell of your trumpet. I hope this info gives someone something to think about if they are looking for a sharper sound from their wah-wah mute