Capo recommendation

gazrichards

Stuckfast said:

gazrichards said:

Paige
close the thread

this

Exactly. I can only assume that all those recommending other types haven’t seen the Paige!! It’s not so readily available. 

I have a kyser etc too and they are great for just whacking a capo on quick and trying stuff. But the Paige for gigging, is the best. It’s smaller fits tighter (fnar fnar!) than the others. It’s the best!

Alterlifeson

BahHumbug said:

I prefer the Planet waves NS ones.  The tension is set with a thumbwheel.  Simple, lighter and less intrusive than any other capo that I’ve ever come across.  And they’re relatively cheap.

I concur, cheap, adjustable tension, quick to put on and works happily with my curvier radius’s.

dallcorp

richman6100 said:

My son and I both use Thalia capos. Very well made, dead easy and quick to move and they come with a range of rubber inserts for different fretboard radiuses (radii?). 

100% agreed. Thalia all the way! Absolutely fantastic capos.Problem is once you get used to one of these you hate all the other types.
They're not very common in Europe I think so most people haven't tried them.

Legionreturns

Another G7th user here. On everything from my parlour to my Lester, Strat and Pointy things. Hell I think I've even use it on my 5 string bass once. 

Faultless and I'll never buy anything else again. 

menamestom

I’ve had a Shubb for about 20 years.  There may be better but it works well and may be the only capo I ever need.

Surfmonkey77

I used to use the G7th, but always got paranoid about getting even tension after a slip up one night in a dark sweaty venue..... Since then I have used the D'Addario Cradle Capo. It is pricey, but I trust it with my life, or more that I trust myself not to balls up the application of it! Depends how much you use something, but for a full acoustic set I find it well worth the value, and just put it over the nut when not in use.

ICBM

gazrichards said:

I can only assume that all those recommending other types haven’t seen the Paige!! It’s not so readily available. 

I have a kyser etc too and they are great for just whacking a capo on quick and trying stuff. But the Paige for gigging, is the best. It’s smaller fits tighter (fnar fnar!) than the others. It’s the best!

I tried one and didn’t like it at all. Fiddly and requires two hands to fit.

I think I’ve tried almost all the main designs at one time or another. The Kyser is by far the best, for me. The only other ones that are even close are variations on the spring type design.

The only one mentioned so far that I haven’t used is the Thalia.

RaymondLin

G7th here, it’s tiny, solid, and I like how small it is.

gazrichards

ICBM said:

gazrichards said:

I can only assume that all those recommending other types haven’t seen the Paige!! It’s not so readily available. 

I have a kyser etc too and they are great for just whacking a capo on quick and trying stuff. But the Paige for gigging, is the best. It’s smaller fits tighter (fnar fnar!) than the others. It’s the best!

I tried one and didn’t like it at all. Fiddly and requires two hands to fit.

I think I’ve tried almost all the main designs at one time or another. The Kyser is by far the best, for me. The only other ones that are even close are variations on the spring type design.

The only one mentioned so far that I haven’t used is the Thalia.

One hand only. You put it on and give it just enough tension to stop moving around and place it behind the nut. When it’s needed you release tension slightly and move it into position and tighten. 

ICBM

gazrichards said:

One hand only. You put it on and give it just enough tension to stop moving around and place it behind the nut. When it’s needed you release tension slightly and move it into position and tighten. 

I never found that - much more fiddly to get it to fit right. I don’t like it behind the nut when I’m not using it either - not least because you can’t put the guitar on a hanger stand with it there - so it has to come off and back on.

Personally, I can’t understand why anyone would use anything other than the Kyser, because it’s flawless and by far the simplest and quickest to use. But I realise that some people do like other ones for whatever reason... try some of them and make up your own mind. There is no “close the thread” answer.

richman6100

ICBM said:

Personally, I can’t understand why anyone would use anything other than the Kyser, because it’s flawless and by far the simplest and quickest to use. But I realise that some people do like other ones for whatever reason... try some of them and make up your own mind. There is no “close the thread” answer.

Have you tried a Thalia? Can imagine it's not as simple or quick to use. Squeeze, attach or move.

the_jaffa

Dunlop Elastic Heavy for me. 

Less than £4 and work fine. They’re really unobtrusive in use too. I’m not a fan of the big chunks of metal or mechanism behind the neck of the other types

ICBM

richman6100 said:

Have you tried a Thalia? Can imagine it's not as simple or quick to use. Squeeze, attach or move.

No, not yet - is it sprung, or like the G7th? Can you fit and remove it purely with one hand?

richman6100

ICBM said:

richman6100 said:

Have you tried a Thalia? Can imagine it's not as simple or quick to use. Squeeze, attach or move.

No, not yet - is it sprung, or like the G7th? Can you fit and remove it purely with one hand?

Yes, it's sprung. Definitely just need one hand to attach and move it. I've had mine for a couple of years now and it's worked flawlessly so far. I bought my son one in a sale on B-stock items, but I simply couldn't find a flaw anywhere on it. I guess that says something about their QC - their standards must be higher than mine.

richman6100

>Can imagine it's not as simple or quick to use. 

Sorry, I mean't *can't* imagine it's not as simple or quick to use. Doh!

SteveRobinson

A Thalia capo is 3 times the price of a Kyser though

ICBM

richman6100 said:

Yes, it's sprung. Definitely just need one hand to attach and move it. I've had mine for a couple of years now and it's worked flawlessly so far. I bought my son one in a sale on B-stock items, but I simply couldn't find a flaw anywhere on it. I guess that says something about their QC - their standards must be higher than mine.

I’ll have to try one at some point... they’re not cheap, but they do look very nice. It’s hard to see how it could improve on the Kyser - since that’s completely perfect, for me - but you can never have too many nice things .

Stuckfast

It's never bothered me that I need to use two hands to adjust the Paige. What I like about it is (a) that you can set the position and pressure very precisely and very easily, and (b) that it is tiny. Some chord shapes are impossible to play with a bulky capo -- probably not much of an issue in standard tuning but it definitely is in other common tunings.

For example, you can get a very useful G minor chord in DADGAD by fretting both A strings at the first fret, so: 0 1 0 0 1 0. That's really easy to play at the nut. It's really hard to play with a big capo in place.

richman6100

SteveRobinson said:

A Thalia capo is 3 times the price of a Kyser though

I agree, they're not cheap. Beautifully engineered and a joy to use though. Possibly an extravagant purchase for something like a capo, but rather special at the same time. I got mine in a sale, so I've never paid full price for one.

ICBM

Stuckfast said:

It's never bothered me that I need to use two hands to adjust the Paige. What I like about it is (a) that you can set the position and pressure very precisely and very easily, and (b) that it is tiny. Some chord shapes are impossible to play with a bulky capo -- probably not much of an issue in standard tuning but it definitely is in other common tunings.

This is why there is no one answer - we all have different priorities. For me, any capo which obstructs the treble side of the neck is an annoyance because I catch my hand on it, which usually puts the tuning out. That and the fiddly two-handed fitting make the Paige a non-starter for me.

One-hand operation is an absolute requirement for me because I like to keep the strings muted with my right hand so I can change capo position without needing the sound man to mute the guitar if I’m playing at an open mic - otherwise you get loud random noises through the PA if your guitar doesn’t have onboard controls.

Some of these problems aren’t always obvious at first...