Capos?

Many years ago, I bought a capo called a Fretspanner. If you aren't familiar with them, they are wide. In fact, it is wide enough to cover the fretboard, while spanning the entire distance between the first and second fret. It contacts the strings at 2 points and that is real reason I bought it way back when, to ensure positive contact against the strings. I've probably had this capo for 25 years.

Over time it has begun to wear not only where the strings are contacted, but also the padding which presses the back of the neck. The wear in that padding has created a couple of subtle marks on the back of the neck of my D25.

What is a great capo both in terms of string contact, while being gentle on the finish and wood on the back of the neck? Anyone?

West

Thanks P,

Kyser must have it going on. I really like their soundhole humidifiers. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

West

I use a Dunlop Trigger.

Is the Dunlop your basic spring loaded capo Don?

West

I 've been using Shubb's for 20+ years. Still have my original. Discovered this past year that one of the local shops carries replacement rubber pads for the strings and plastic screw covers for tightening, so it got refurbished with new parts... and is going strong again...

West R Lee said:

Is the Dunlop your basic spring loaded capo Don?

West

Click to expand...

Yep,

[img:700:595]http://img3.guitarcenter.com/dbase/pics/products/0/4/3/248043.jpg[/img]

Thank you sir.

West

only problem with the Kyser and the trigger type is when you clip them to your headstock, it leaves little dents in the wood, found this out the hard way with my D-25 I was at a session one time and saw a lady with a Kyser clipped to the headstock of her Martin D-45 :shock: I mentioned to her that she might want to re-think that.

I've used a Shubb ever since. In fact, their newer guitar capo has a little roller wheel in the mechanism for smoother action.

The other thing I like about the Shubb is that it is one of the smallest, low profile capos you can get. I learned this when I went looking for a mandolin capo, because the neck is so small you basically have to wrap your hand around the capo in order to play the frets just below it :?

I use the Dunlop, too. No complaints. I've borrowed both a Shubb and a Kyser at open mic. Of those two I did like the Shubb better. Only because it was pretty nice to have it so unobtrusive.

I hear you, Dred, about placing the capo on the headstock! A friend asked to play my 12 at open mic a couple months ago, and when I let him the first thing he did was remove my capo and clamp it to the headstock. I cringed - and had a very patient, kind word with him after. He hasn't asked to borrow it again.

It's funny you bring up capos, though, West. Just before logging on here I was watching videos of Phil Keagy on YouTube. Great player and I'd love to see him in person. On one song he was using two capos! He had the top 4 strings capo'd at the 7th fret and the lower 2 at the 5th. Couldn't tell you what tuning he was using to require that, but it looked interesting. I think the song title was something about Shades of Green.

Well, about time to get up and go to work now. Later!

Like most of us, I've used many capos. It wasn't until I walked into a swing guitar group with a capo hanging from my strap that I realized the degree of scorn they elicit from some players. The heck with them, I say.

I have a friend here in town who also uses two capos - she likes to play with unusual tunings, and with two she can keep two bass strings ringing "open" from (say) the fifth fret, with the treble four capoed up to (say) the seventh. Gets some very cool voicings that way.

Recently I've been using a G7 Capo . I'm a great fan of industrial design, and this one meets most my needs - good clamping, clean and consistent pressure across the fretboard, easy on the back of the neck, and very quick to place/remove with one hand operation.

Capo epic

As I play exclusively in an open tuning (Vestapol D-A-D-F#-A-D), I use capos A LOT. I own a couple dozen and of various makes. There are some out there I haven't tried - just not curious anymore. I used Shubb for years, but in some tunings on some necks, I can't achieve that perfect tension that clamps the strings but doesn't press too hard to throw the tuning out slightly. I also didn't like the fact that I had nowhere to put the Shubb and I didn't always have a shirt or vest pocket handy. This was a major inconvenience. For the last 20 years I guess, my capo has been the Kyser. Milton Kyser even made some up for me in a BRIGHT green - now I never lose them. I like the Kyser and it works perfectly - even using two for a drop-D effect - in standard tuning put a regular capo on the first fret and a drop-D capo on the third fret and you get the drop D in F. Anyway, I DO clamp my capos on the headstock, but haven't had any noticeable damage - except that if you do so on the Guild inlay, there is a residue apparent - string residue on the rubber - and has to be wiped off occasionally. I haven't seen any indentions, but then, I'm not that worried about cosmetics - only about structural things and playability - so, I'm probably not detail oriented enough. So, there's my opinion/offering. I've never tried the Dunlap, but will sometime when the opportunity arises. It seems a close cousing of the Kyser design. Aye! dbs

Thanks guys, a lot of very good information on a seemingly simple subject. I certainly value your opinions.

West

I just took another look at that Phil Keagy video. Not only is he using two capos, but it looks one is a Shubb and one is a Kyser. Not much help for me. :?

:lol:

Am I the only one on this board who's run across the G7 capo?

[img:300:211]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v113/john_kidder/Kiddergarden%202006/capo1.gif[/img]












It's such a beautiful thing, I just can't resist giving it one more plug.

No, I've seen 'em online before John, just never used one....or seen one up close and personal for that matter. Looks like a great capo. Again, my biggest concern is maintaining the finish on the back of the neck.

That's a great looking capo. They're about 40 bucks or so, aren't they John?

West

$33-37 Canadian from the shops I know, generally about 10% below retail.

What capo do you use? When I tested the Takamine G535 I also used my G7th capo (do you know this capo?)

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Am I the only one on this board who's run across the G7 capo?

Click to expand...

Mr. Magic Takamine talked about the G7 a while back, & it caught my interest. I've never been able to find one in a local shop, so far I prefer the Shubb capos because you can adjust them to put just enough pressure to do the job without stretching the strings unduly.

I also met a young fellow a while back that showed me how placing the capo almost directly on top of the fret gives the cleanest sound with the least string stretch. It's kind of tricky & the capo is somewhat in the way but if you play with it a bit it works quite well.

If anyone's interested I'll take a few pics & post them up.

Jeff,

That would be interesting. I've never heard of positioning the capo close to the fret, but maybe I've been doing it wrong all these years? That would be nice to know.

Post away!

I've always found that placing a capo as close as possible gave me far and away the cleanest sound and the least difficulty with tuning.

That's another reason that I like the G7 - it has a low profile and is (relatively) easy to play with the hand in something approximating the right position, with the thumb along the neck behind the capo. At least that's true for my large hands.