Thalia Capo- first blush review

[vindibona1]

I took advantage of the "B Stock" sale that Thalia had going on this week. It arrived today and I was anxious to see what the buzz was about. Here's my first impression of the capo.

It came in some deluxe packaging. The packaging itself shouted "quality product". And indeed it is. I opened it, inspected in an cannot for the life of me understand why this is "B-Stock". I can find any imperfections. In fact, I think this one was 40% or more off of list. They must just have had a lot of them and needed an excuse to put this model on sale. It's beautiful. It came with somewhere like 12 different inserts for all the different radii and tensions. Why would I ever need the "heavy tension" inserts?

The first thing I noticed was the weight. I had to weigh it. 93 grams. My Shubb only weighs 50 grams. I figured I'd use it on my Taylors first so I put the 15" insert on and went to install it on one of my Taylors.

The clamping system is pretty ingenious. You squeeze it to open the clamp and then release it to clamp down. Good news and bad news. It's got a heavy spring so requires some hand strength to get it on. Based on the spring tension, the weight of the capo and the odd angle I had to reach over to install it with my right hand while holding the neck with my left. A bit awkward. The good news is that once on it is easy to adjust with only the left because it won't fall off and all you have to do is squeeze it and move it. I should note that the opening when "relaxed" is not small enough to clamp on the headstock.

Sound comparison:
It produces a MUCH different sound than my Schubb. I wish someone hadn't boosted my G7th because that would be great in the comparison too . The Thalia had a brighter, more articulate sound than the Shubb. But I'm not so sure that's a good thing. I found the Shubb to have a warmer sound which I like a lot. I wish I knew of a way to warm up the sound a bit. The one thing that is noticeable with the radius-matching insert is that there isn't any sign of buzzing and I didn't notice and of the strings pulling out of tune. With my other capos I had to be very careful of positioning and sometimes had to make adjustments.

I was pleased to be able to successfully also use it on my '81 MIJ Epiphone, which I haven't yet measured for radius. But all was good. The Epi has a soft V neck so being a bit deeper was a bit more of a challenge to install, but fit ok. I felt like I had to be extra careful not to scratch the neck.

It's a very good capo. Will I keep it? I'm not sure yet. It's heavy and the sound is different. I'll have to play it for a couple days to see how I feel about it once I get used to it.

I'm not sure if Thalia has the B-Stock sale going on, but I think it's a very good deal if you've been interested in one and just didn't want to shell out $70 for a capo (I think I paid $45 for mine, or something like that).

So that's it for now. I'm sure some of you who have used Thalia capos for some time have something to add of advice for me to better utilize it. Again, I would love to warm up the sound a bit.

[Zandit75]

The Thalia Capo is not designed to fit on the headstock, but sit above the nut when not being used.
The different "tensions" are designed for 12 string guitars which may require more downforce to get all 12 strings.
In regards to being classed as B Stock, they mention on the website that mechanically they are 100% perfect, there may just be a very slight scratch or blemish to the finish.

[Shadowfox]

The sound may be coming from the pad you use. I believe they have Teflon and rubber pads. The rubber would make it probably warm up a bit.

[pieterh]

I bought a Celtic engraved one with rosewood when they were having a sale on the Celtic series.

I find the spring tension to be high too though it isn’t a deal breaker. I think they look fabulous and on my guitars mine does a great job. Yes, it is heavy compared to the others I have (3 Shubb and 1 first gen G7th) but when on the guitar I don’t think about it so that clearly isn’t an issue.

I never leave a capo on the guitar when I’m not using it so headstock or behind the nut placement is not relevant!

The most important thing for me is that the capo manages to do the job across all strings at every fret without pulling any out of tune (though I have started to do Tommy Emmanuel’s trick of pushing the strings over the sound hole before playing just to compensate for any potentially sharp strings).

I guess the spring tension is what it should be for it to work most effectively: too much and it would be impossible to clamp on and would place too much pressure on the neck and strings; too light and though it would be easier to get on and off it might not do the best job of actually stopping the strings clearly.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

The Thalia Capo is not designed to fit on the headstock, but sit above the nut when not being used.
The different "tensions" are designed for 12 string guitars which may require more downforce to get all 12 strings.
In regards to being classed as B Stock, they mention on the website that mechanically they are 100% perfect, there may just be a very slight scratch or blemish to the finish.

FWIW, I don't leave the capo on the headstock either. But doing so can change the tonal nodes, much like Fender's "Fat Finger" is designed to do. I just thought I'd mention the headstock thing for folks that do (and a lot do).

I figured the higher tension was for 12 string. But I am using the rubber pad and the sound lacks some warmth. Last night I had a blind capo showdown with my captive audience and they all liked the Shubb's sound better (as I think I do as well). Obviously sound varies by guitar and listener and could be an excellent capo for some players. It's a beautiful piece of machinery for sure.

[piper_L]

Thanks for posting such a thorough review; I’ve been considering getting one of these.

It’s curious that you find a tonal difference when the Thalia is on. I wonder if it has to do with the mass/weight of the capo. It doesn’t seem that tension would change the tone, and the capo mass seems like the only other thing. Anything I’m not thinking of?

Again, thanks!

[TBman]

I'm on the fence still, but I do want something that doesn't yank the strings out of tune so much. How is it up at 6 or 7?

[Rosewood99]

I have five Thalia's (one for each guitar) and never noticed a difference in tone compared to my shubb. I use the teflon pads.

[vindibona1]

I got a moment to throw down a quick comparison (shootout, if you will) of Shubb vs Thalia. Upon listening to the recording I hear some slight buzzing with the Shubb that I didn't hear in person and probably would have benefitted from adjusting. I heard a tad of it too with the Thalia. I hadn't checked, but the neck relief could have shifted as we're having seasonal weather changes in Chicago. Current humidity levels in this room are 42% without humidifier.

My ears this morning, as least with this tune (Scarborough) I don't hear as much a difference as with strumming. Typically I don't use capos for strumming unless the tune is in an odd key which throws the fingering unnecessarily into all bar chords which fatigue my hands.

Without further adieu...


As I searched for the image I learned that this capo originally sold for $89. I think I paid $45 and might have been able to take advantage of additional 10% which I did not know about until after the purchase.

[Rosewood99]

what a beautiful design.

[Taylorplayer]

Elegant and highly functional...

[Ed66]

I picked up the exact same one. If it doesn't work well I'll just sit and look at it and smile (while I play with another capo).

[JimmerO]

And I also ordered the same one. The Celtic knot pattern caught my eye. Should arrive here soon.

[tippy5]

Just received a Maple on black, and a Sapelle on black. They are really nice.
Yet I wonder if they were a little narrower they would be a few grams lighter. Super happy with these capo's. High quality.
Thanks for the blem sale - head's up.

[Beachrunner]

A day late and a dollar short, as usual..

I buy my Thalia at full price, then they have a B-stock sale.. Oh well - still like mine a lot!