Capo Issue figured out

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n85ae

Posts: 877
Joined: Sep. 7 2006

Capo Issue figured out

I now know exactly what the capo issue is with my Yamaha, and most
likely other nylon string guitars.

Pick up your guitar tonight, and press down a string with your
finger. Say for example 1st string 5th fret. Take a close look
from the side. You will see that the string lowers until it hits
the fret, however the string does NOT contact the fretboard, Your
fingertip basically dents in and absorbs the string. Now play a
note and press extra hard, you can alter the pitch by pressing
extra hard. This is due to that little bit of space under the string
that allows the string to be stretched. That is the space between
fret contact, and fretboard contact.

When the guitar is capo'd the string is pressed down beyond mere fret
contact and thus the string is stretched and the pitch changes (i.e.
out of tune).

Anders what's your opinion of this?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 7 2007 18:17:26

n85ae

Posts: 877
Joined: Sep. 7 2006

RE: Capo Issue figured out (in reply to n85ae)

also since the face of the capo is essentially flat, then the strings being
different thicknesses they stretch different amounts (i.e. the G stretches a lot because it is really fat, and the thin high E stretches very little) so this would make the problem even worse.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 7 2007 19:12:15

steve

Posts: 103
Joined: May 6 2004

RE: Capo Issue figured out (in reply to n85ae)

N85ae,
Just a thought. The capo your using may not be correct for your guitar. The capo should clamped down just enough to make contact the fret plus a little. This way you won't be stretching the string by pushing it down to the fret board. Also, depending on the capo, you might be able to add some padding to the bottom so the padding impacts the fret board and allows the string to ride up into the pad and not be stretched to the fret board. Maybe some thick felt, 1/8" would probably work. What kind of capo are you using.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 7 2007 21:28:59

Ricardo

Posts: 14833
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Capo Issue figured out (in reply to steve)

quote:

The capo should clamped down just enough to make contact the fret plus a little.

Well, regardless of the type of capo I might use, if it is not clamped very hard, I can actually play so hard as to "vibrate" or buzz the open string against the fret the capo is on. Especially Open A or Open D string. So when I clamp any type of capo hard enough so that won't happen, the tuning problem results, as described/observed. The only other type of "wrong" capo, would be the curved kind for acoustic steel strings, in which case the problem I describe is worse.

n85ae, your obervations go directly with what I was saying in response to the orginal question. Remember "scalloped" fingerboard or "high frets"???

Ricardo

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 7 2007 21:52:00

n85ae

Posts: 877
Joined: Sep. 7 2006

RE: Capo Issue figured out (in reply to n85ae)

Ricardo, indeed you are correct. I guess I didn't really get you point on the first post. I think I'll just live with the neccesity of retuning, as it's not such a big deal.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 8 2007 14:32:11