Partial Capo

[Power_13]

I heard about these years ago, but it only just occurred to me to check them out on Youtube. Now I want one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa6-3F8vpJI

I've had a look on Google and found them, but they're fairly expensive and I've realised there are a few different types for covering different strings.

Inspired by the video above where he uses a full capo to capo only 5 strings...I had an idea. It should be possible to buy a Shubb capo:
http://www.shubb.com/deluxe/index.html

and buy some extra rubber capo sleeves:
http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/detail...apo-sleeve.htm

...then cut the sleeves to various widths and slide them onto the steel "skeleton" of the capo as required.


I'm just wondering...has anyone used partial capos, has anyone tried this before and has anyone found it to be a bad idea and that they were better off with a proper partial capo?

[Rickenjangle]

I own a cut capo, and while I haven't gotten into using it in live performance (yet) I have attended a couple of seminars on its use and have enjoyed goofing with it. Instant DADGAD-style tuning at the 2nd fret (EBEABE), and if you use it from the opposite direction at the second fret, you get EAEAC#E which is kinda like open-G capo'ed at 2...

Plus you can use it at the 4th fret but I haven't "grok'ed" that yet - and there are some neat voicings where you can fret the F behind the capo...

[Rickenjangle]

Oh, and the reason the cut capo was developed, according to Mitch Bohannon, who goes around giving training and selling the short-cut capo - was that people kept coming to the Kyser company and showing them their hand-cut capo's.

It's definitely worth the $17.95...hell, a 12-pack of Magic Hat microbrew costs as much and doesn't last as long! ;-)

[chuckocaster]

i cut my own cause i wrote a song which needed 4 of the strings capoed and the bottom 2 left open.

but buying a real one would probably be better.

[Power_13]

I tried making my own by using a normal capo and rolling a bit of paper in electrical tape, then wedging it between the strings and capo so it separated the open strings and pressed the other strings down.

It didn't sound good. My guess is that the trick to the capo is the way it balances the pressure on the back of the neck with the strings being pressed down.

I ended up buying a SpiderCapo. It's a bit more expensive, but solves the "balance" problem and allows multiple configurations of the partial capo. It's gonna take a few more days to get here, but in the meantime I have an ebow to figure out too.

:)