Capo....how far up the neck ????

[Misifus]

I have one song I capo at the eighth fret. When I bought my Martin OM-16GT, I was surprised to find that my Paige capo wouldn't go that high (it had worked fine on my Kinscherff at the eighth fret). That was when I discovered the (at the time) new Planet Waves NS which worked fine.

-Raf

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by shambolic

The beatles 'Here comes the sun' was capoed on the 7th fret sounds ok to me

Yep. But if you ever saw the time that George Harrison played the song with Paul Simon playing and harmonizing with him on Saturday Night Live, Harrison capoed at the fifth fret that night and sang it in G rather than A. (Simon played first position chords in accompaniment...)


whm

[CollinW]

I use a Jim Dunlop capo and have gone all the way up to the ninth fret without having any problems. But it also depends on the gauge of your strings, and the thickness of the guitar neck.

[PHJim]

Originally Posted by shambolic

The beatles 'Here comes the sun' was capoed on the 7th fret sounds ok to me

Earl Scruggs often capoed at the seventh fret: You Are My Flower, Jimmie Brown, The Newsboy, I Am Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes. He would often play C positions while Lester played G positions uncapoed. I have rarely seen Earl with the capo below five.

Dan Crary was once asked, "Why do you capo that song at the seventh fret?"
His answer was, "Because it sounds so good up there."

[Nymuso]

I believe I once used one on the 9th fret for one song when I was part of an acoustic ensemble, but for the most part I impose a 5th fret restriction. Almost always it's because I'm playing with a drop D tuning using the D fingerings to get the key of G.

[Tico]

I don't think I've ever gone above the 7th fret.

[rmyAddison]

Capo 5 is pretty common, where D equates to normal G, great for blending two guitars.

I go to the 6th fret with one song (With a Little Help from My Friends), and capo a LOT but usually only the 2nd or 3rd frets.

[Goodallboy]

I use a 12 string Paige capo on my 6 string acoustic so I can easily go up the 7th fret.

[Tnfiddler]

I try to never go above the 4th fret when playing because I think you just choke the sound out of a guitar. Once I got to where I could play an F really good, I stopped playing the Key of C capoed on the 5th and play it open. It sounds so much better to me.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by shambolic

The beatles 'Here comes the sun' was capoed on the 7th fret sounds ok to me

Yep. 'D' form makes it 'A' key. Only reason I carry a capo (Shubb) with me. It just sounds 'right' to capo 7th..

I also capo a ukulele on the 2nd fret ('D' form again) for the same song and reason.

Don

[PHJim]

Originally Posted by Tnfiddler

I try to never go above the 4th fret when playing because I think you just choke the sound out of a guitar. Once I got to where I could play an F really good, I stopped playing the Key of C capoed on the 5th and play it open. It sounds so much better to me.

I love the sound of You Are My Flower played out of C positions at the 7th fret. It has to be up there in order to sound good. It does benefit from an uncapoed guitar playing rhythm in G. This is the one of first songs my wife and I played together on stage circa 1982. I capoed at VII and she left the capo off.

The whole purpose of a capo is to be able to get desired voicings in the key you want. Playing G shapes capoed at 5 gives you a far different sound than playing C shapes uncapoed.

Sometimes it just sounds better to capo high up the neck.

[JTFoote]

I've had several Elliott capos. Originally, I had one made for a Collings D3A with a 1-11/16" nut width, but I soon discovered that the narrowness of that particular capo was restrictive. Sometimes I like to capo at the 7th fret, and that made the side of the capo pretty tight.

Since then, I've bought several (some were gifts, as I was impressed with the quality), and still have two. Both are 1-3/4", with the most recent being an Elite, with a 16" radius. This is my favorite, due to the smaller footprint, and there's plenty of space to capo just as high as I wish, even to the 9th or 10th fret.

I don't think it gets better than an Elliott. Once you've discovered the optimal place to place the capo on your guitar (and it can be different for various guitars) the clarity of the sound is hard to beat.

... JT

[Silly Moustache]

FWIW - I play only 12 fret guitars, with wider necks (including two 12 strings) and I use only Shubb original capos.
I generally use capos on 2nd or 4th but for one number I capo 5 because I need to play a C progression using a G shape.

[phcorrigan]

I just bought a Paige capo, which will go to the seventh fret of my Martin HD-28V. My Shubb capo will go to the eleventh fret, as will my $1.49 Chinese clamp-on capo.

[TBman]

I've gone as high as 9. Tonight I was playing a few songs in CGDGAD - 6th, 5th and 3rd fret capo'd songs. Each time I moved it down I had to tweak the tunings. I'm using a Paige Clik and even though it has its limitations its a bit ahead of the Planetwave NS I was using. I'm thinking about getting a Thalia with the swap out different radius pads. I could really use that (or so I think - capo GAS = CAS), although I'm sure I'd have to tweak it each time I move it, but maybe not as much. Then again if you still have to tweak the tunings each time you move the capo, what's the point of spending $75+ when $20 does the same thing (but doesn't look as cool)?

I play one song at the 9th fret and the Paige does fine there as well.