Capo & Intonation

SimonC

I’ve been getting into playing some Johnny Marr stuff lately and found his liberal capo use quite interesting.

Unfortunately I’m finding that the capo is sending my intonation way off. 

Conventional tuning is fine and intonation is spot on. Then put a capo on 2nd fret and intonation is way out  especially further up the neck.

Any ideas how this might be remedied?
Ive tried adjusting the capo tension up and down with no better result.

Capo is a Shubb C1, and Guitar is a Squier CV tele.

dazzajl

I be looking at the nut. If it’s not cut low enough, it can cause all sorts of tuning issues when you use a capo. 

Funkfingers

Does the Tele have a three-saddle bridge?

SimonC

Funkfingers said:

Does the Tele have a three-saddle bridge?

Yes it’s three saddle brass type.

digitalkettle

Make sure the capo is nice and close to the fret.

Funkfingers

SimonC said:

Yes, it’s three saddle brass type.

The intonation with those is always a compromise UNLESS the saddles are the compensated type. 

SimonC

dazzajl said:

I be looking at the nut. If it’s not cut low enough, it can cause all sorts of tuning issues when you use a capo. 

The nut seems ok to me. Looks to be cut plenty low enough.

lincolnblue

digitalkettle said:

Make sure the capo is nice and close to the fret.

That's what always puts me of a Tele. I had a 3-brass saddle Tele and loved it except for the intonation issue. Changed it to 6 brass saddles which solved the issue. I think unless you want to tune each time you put a capo on, the only solution is to change the saddles

shuikit

digitalkettle said:

Make sure the capo is nice and close to the fret.

This! 

Pabcrane

As others have said, try and position the capo close to the fret. I use a couple of Kysers for my guitars and haven't had these problems - and as I understand it the Shubb has adjustable tension so would be better than the Kyser at this. Have you got any friends with a different brand or style capo you could try just to see if the problem exists using theirs?

It could be that your ears are just much better than mine at hearing intonation problems!

ICBM

Pabcrane said:

As others have said, try and position the capo close to the fret. I use a couple of Kysers for my guitars and haven't had these problems - and as I understand it the Shubb has adjustable tension so would be better than the Kyser at this. Have you got any friends with a different brand or style capo you could try just to see if the problem exists using theirs?

My experience is that the Kyser - if fitted properly, right along the back edge of the fret - doesn't mess around with the tuning and intonation anywhere near as much as the Shubb. (Or at all, usually.)

The Shubb is not sprung, so in order for it to grip the strings tightly it *has* to pull them down, using the strings themselves as the spring. I am not a fan...

SimonC

Thanks all, I’ll try to get hold of a Kyser to give it a try. The Shubb does seem to give problems on my acoustic as well so it’s not just the Tele.