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Levi Phillips
From Hope City Church, Hereford
19 mei 2010 - 1:49pm
I thought it would be better to put this in a new thread, since it may help people from a practical perspective:
From experience:
- What style of capo do you prefer using?
- Do you think it matters whether you have to use both hands to change capo position?
I really like the G7th Performance capo - I mute the strings with my arm and use both hands to move/attach it. I don't think this matters as you don't strum when you're changing capo...
Downside is I have an active pickup, which records body sounds, so if I release the capo too carelessly it can make a small 'click' which echoes nicely around the room...apart from that, it takes a while to get used to the release mechanism.
Advantages to this capo are a very snug fit and a great clamp with a bit of slip, which means it doesn't make a difference whether I tune with the capo on or off and it stays in tune. It's very easy to move and you don't have to keep applying pressure to hold the clamp open, which means no risk of it turning sideways in your hand and springing off somewhere, or destroying the strength left in your chord hand! It's got a low profile and doesn't say 'I'm a fancy guitarist'! :P
Jim Dunlop Trigger or Kyser every time.
Dunlop Trigger. I keep it in my pocket so I don't leave it in the wrong guitar case, and it's always handy in a brawl!
(This may be the geekiest guitar thread I've ever seen! We'll be talking pick thickness next)
On that subject... Fender Medium Picks = superb! :)
I've heard good things about the Dunlop and I even have one; I prefer the G7th but then again I'll do some tests now.
Kyser all the way! :)
Schubb.
Nothing to go wrong with them, so it nothing does. I've had mine for about 10 years. I'm not a fan of the G7 or trigger capos, as they don't allow you to adjust the amount of pressure you want to apply on the strings consistently or easily. The Shubb has a grub screw, and then locks into place. Job done. The trigger capos can suffer from applying uneven tension across them too...
Have to use both hands, but i've never had a problem doing this. As I said in the other thread... if I was moving it one handed, what am I going to use my other hand for whilst i'm moving it?
Dunlop nylon 0.6mm for acoustic, and Gibson mediums for electric. I've got a big bag of each.
We've had this discussion before, and it's clearly a case of each to their own. But the Dunlop trigger certainly does give an even pressure over the whole width of the neck - it's design can't really offer anything else. And I've found string pressure to be just right (again, a factor of design) with no sharpening of tuning at all.
My problem, particularly with the G7th, is that the moment it's unlocked, it doesn't naturally want to stay on the neck and can easily fall off. Now that would be a distraction. Trigger style capos obviously don't have this problem. And for those saying they're happy to use two hands because what would the other one be doing anyway; I often use a final sustained barre chord up the neck which rings out whilst changing capo positions with the right hand. I can't be the only one to do that. Even if I'm not doing that, I'm muting the strings with the right hand whilst removing the capo with the left. Easy.
I use the G7th one because it's small - I often find capos to be big and cumbersome, hindering certain chord voicings. I've never understood all the arguments against its design...
"But the Dunlop trigger certainly does give an even pressure over the whole width of the neck - it's design can't really offer anything else. And I've found string pressure to be just right (again, a factor of design) with no sharpening of tuning at all"
Well the point is that the design doesn't offer that. Guitar necks are not the same shape all the way up, so if a spring-loaded capo is capo-ing on a narrower part of the neck, the tension it exerts will not be the same as on a thicker part of the neck. Simple physics. An overly tight or loose capo has its own problems. With a Shubb (and G7 I think), you can adjust the tension you want to exert. A Shubb is more precise as it's a screw, and you decide how much you want to turn it, and it's very visible. With a G7, you have to press it on, so whilst you can approximate, you can't be as precise time after time.
My experience re: tuning with trigger capos has not been good with them. For the record, I actually own a trigger capo as well, I just never use it! It's reserved for use at our small group when someone else is playing my guitar...
"My problem, particularly with the G7th, is that the moment it's unlocked, it doesn't naturally want to stay on the neck and can easily fall off. Now that would be a distraction. Trigger style capos obviously don't have this problem."
It depends which way round you put the capo on. The point about a Trigger capo is that you have to move and reclamp it as soon as you ungrip it from the strings. If accidentally let go of it whilst moving, you'll get a dong of strings suddenly being assualted by a spring loaded mechanism. At any rate, I generally hold onto my capo rather than dropping it on the floor.
"I often use a final sustained barre chord up the neck which rings out whilst changing capo positions with the right hand. I can't be the only one to do that."
You might well be, buddy. Everyone else just gets the keyboardist to do some pads, or stops playing. BTW... what happens if you want to move the capo above where your left hand is?
"Even if I'm not doing that, I'm muting the strings with the right hand whilst removing the capo with the left."
So is everyone with the locking capo, except we use one and a half hands to remove the capo. Strings are muted by the palm at the same time.
I'm talking fractions here... but i'm a perfectionist, so there you go...
Joe, what can I say? Except that I hope you'll forgive me if I suggest that perhaps you might be taking capos just a bit too seriously! We're all free to choose our preference and I might be right or wrong about my reasons for doing so. You are at liberty to do the same. Believe it or not, it is entirely possible that we might reach different conclusions about that. We're talking about silly guitar capos, not how to solve the fiscal deficit!
PS: I'm not sure perfectionism is healthy for anyone - and I speak as someone trying to wrestle free from that particular trait. Perhaps I'm succeeding, albeit only when it comes to capos... ;)
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I also use a G7th Capo; love it! I think as long as you aren't getting huge problems with sound when changing I'd stick to it.
Visit my music website: http://dspickett.co.uk