Palm muting

Hey guys, so what's the trick to successful palm muting consistently? :) I've read before that listening to a player who can't palm mute correctly is painful, I must be the one they're talking about because it is quite unbearable. What I have is a Kramer Focus with two single coil pickups at the neck and middle, and a humbucker at the bridge. Anybody have suggestions about how the guitar should be setup,and maybe some technique suggestions? I've followed instructions I've found online, but don't get the chug chug chug sound they describe, just some inconsistent mess.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

It should be pretty simple. Just put your palm down over the bridge of the guitar until the strings are half muted. They chunk the strings with the pick.
Keep practicing until you get it right.

You might have a problem with certain guitars tho. I've tried several that I can't use that are difficult to palm mute with. I've found the simpler the setup the better.

It sounds like you just have to either practice a whole lot more or try a different guitar.
If you're signed up as a highband user there's a ton of lessons on palm muting with sound files and tabs. Just use the search feature.

not really sure what you mean by inconsistent mess, but if you're not getting the sound you think it should be, turn up the gain if you amp has it

You can get different tones through palm muting. Palm muting closer to the bridge lets the notes ring through better. Palm muting closer to the neck makes it sound more like a *clunk* noise... where the notes don't come through as well. I generally play with my strat in the 4th switch position (activating the middle and bridge pickups)... and I usually palm mute either between the middle and bridge pickups... or directly over the bridge pickup. Experiment with that and see what sounds best for you. Don't be afraid to push down a little on the strings with your palm either. The harder you press the more it will mute the notes. Since you have a humbucker in the bridge, your palm muting would probably sound the best when you activate the humbucker and palm mute over the top of it or just slightly the the bridge side of it. Different people do it different ways. Just find what works for you.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Earlier today, by accident really, I had the volume on my amp up a lot louder than usual, and tried muting a power chord. It wasn't perfect, but sounded a lot closer to what I had wanted to hear. So I guess one important thing about muting is to play it at something a little louder than the "don't bother the wife and kids" setting. :)

Doesn't hurt to crank the volume on the pickups a little more, either.

Once you get the technique down pat, you can mix it up a little with unmuted notes.

Re: "don't bother the wife and kids"...
If they really love you, they'll indulge you. :D