My dad used to have a Gretsch (sp?)Chet Atkins style guitar that had a mute built into it, that you could switch on and off. It was a length of felt mounted on a metal piece that you could raise up to contact the strings...It didn't seem to work too well though, not enough control over how much pressure to apply to the strings, and kind of gimmicky, I thought.
I agre with you, Michael K....why spend hard earned bucks just to muffle the strings? Especially with a guitar that's known for its sound. Mudjack's point has merit - whatever works for you, that's your "style." Personally, I like to hear exhuberant playing on accoustic guitar - strings plucked so hard they bang into adjacent frets, rattle, a la John Fahey, etc. Seems to add ummm..."feel" to the music.
And like Don said, just because you can play fast doesn't mean you should all the time. That's the beef I have with some rock guitarists who have lightning fast fingers but no discriminant judgement as to when the music calls for fast playing and when it doesn't. IMHO those guys aren't musicians, they're proficient technicians.
Kat, Martin should hire you to do some advertising copy for them. I think you could definitely help them sell some guitars.
Regards, Neil