Inspired by the 1929 footage of a nameless 70-year-old Catskill fiddler on YouTube, today I bought some Dolly Pegs to explore their adequacy as fiddle mutes. Hitherto I've been using all sorts of antique & commercial product made of brass, bone, rubber, plastic & wood to explore the various tonal colours offered by each, but initial experiments indicate that the Humble Dolly Peg would seem to offer a workable & versatile alternative to most of the ones I've tried. The added benefit here is that authentic folksy down-home look - and if I lose one, I've got another 49 to choose from for a replacement.

For those who haven't seen it, here's the 1929 footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_q4m4PeEMA