Rosemarie Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 ...I hate capos! I bought a Jim Dunlop capo (Thanks, Dad!) so that I can learn to play "Woman" by John Lennon as a Christmas gift to my husband (I am currently unemployed and cannot afford to buy him anything. In the 22 years we have been together he has never seen me play). I found an awesome part by part tutorial on YouTube and have been working with it. Before I play each day and before I put my capo on I make sure I am in tune (always am, too!), but when I play, it sounds off to me (flat). Checked my finger positioning and I am right on so I have been fooling with the positioning of the capo. No matter where I position it on the first fret (where the song indicates it to be), it still sounds flat to me. Checked to see if capo is sitting on neck properly (it is). Should I be placing it closer to the nut? Is it just a matter of finding a sweet spot? It's driving me loopy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 It's probably not putting quite enough tension on the strings, you can retune with the capo on get the correct pitch. I'm more of a fan of the Shub, it makes getting the tension correct a snap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 The problem with most "trigger-style" capos is that they need to squeeze pretty hard to make sure the strings aren't buzzing no matter what neck they're put on. Unfortunately because thicknesses of necks and gauges of strings vary, different amounts of pressure are needed for each guitar. If the strings are too light or the neck too thick, the strings will be pressed too hard and pulled sharp, and retuning may result in them going flat. There are adjustable capos for this reason (like Shubb capos, which are very popular), but those of us who use the trigger-style capos have to deal with slight tuning anomolies. It's the nature of the beast. -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosemarie Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 I think I found my problem! I keep forgetting that when the capo is on the first fret, it makes the second fret the first fret (capo being the "new" nut!). I was horsing around and tried moving my fingers down a fret and voila! it sounded right! Give me a break, it's been 22 years since I last played - I'm lucky I even *REMEMBER* half the chords I'm playing! I do, however, have to refresh my memory by referring to jguitar.com! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I'm more of a fan of the Shub, it makes getting the tension correct a snap. Me too,, they are well engineered and mindless to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I haven't owned a capo since 1978, thereabouts. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I haven't owned a capo since 1978, thereabouts. rct I have never owned one - nothing wrong with my first finger. Maybe one day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 this is probably one of the better capos I've used.. http://www.daddario.com/pwProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=4115&productid=501&productname=NS_Capo_Lite I have a few of the spring clamp ones (Kyser I think), but they are a bit bulky. I like this one better. I do a lot of acoustic/vocal stuff in an acoustic duo IMHO, ya really can't be without one for this kind of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I have a capo that I found on the gig. Never used it...never had a reason to. Not sure I want to try in on my J200 for fear of messing up the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 The capo is marvelous for vocal accompaniment. But... a lot depends on how one is playing. With root chords it does quite well. I think it's like a lotta things "guitar" in that some find it a marvelous tool in the toolkit of playing and others don't get it. I've done barre chords for ages, and in theory I could play in F# if I wanted to on anything but... in performance I find it doesn't really work that way. So... it's how does one choose to play what? I could strum away or do single string in F# or G# or Bb, but... for fingerpicking with bass runs it's certainly a lot less effort to use the capo. Ages ago I got a call from a friend who was an area college theater prof. Their guitar player for Man of la Manch was sick. So I did an emergency gig. As I recall it was all Ab, Bb and Eb. So I hadda learn a number of the pieces and then figure how I was going to play them - in like two days. Yeah, I can transpose and do barre chords - and the guitar requirements were doggone basics for me at the time. But believe me, the capo made things a lot easier. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I have a bad memory for...well most everything, so I mostly play from lead sheets. If I have the song in a key other than the one being sung or played by others, and I am playing chords, I'll capo. If I'm playing lead I'll figure out the key and few chords in the key and forgo the capo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Also though, a capo can change the 'nature' of the guitars tone. Placed very high it can make the guitar sound like a mandolin, or uke, adding a voice to say a trio of acoustics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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