Ive been asked to join a ska band and although i listen to alot of ska music i ahve neevr really played any ska music before and mainly play jazz and classical music. I am interested in buying a new mute and would like to know if a particular type of mute is used in ska as it would be useful if i made sure i had this mute.

staight mutes, cup mutes, and harmon wah-wah mutes are used most commonly. in a ska band the music usually won`t say what kind of mute to use... you just pick your own. i usually use the harmon

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If you are going to play more jamaica ska style, cup mutes are sometimes used, as well as harmon mutes. But if you listen to ska you won`t hear a lot of mutes, if any.
I don`t play with mutes in ska anyway, but I play more uptempo ska with also a tenor sax and a trombone player, so if I use mutes the others should play softer too.
If you play a solo it could be nice, but that depends on the style.
Check out our site, so you can hear some ska. It is in dutch, so you probably won`t understand what we sing
www.j-stars.nl
Good luck, ska is the best!