Spider Capo?

[Andyrondack]

Does anyone have experience of a Spider Capo, are they useful or a gimmick?
If you have one how do you use it? Do you play melodies or stick to chord progressions.?
Would be interesting to read your experiences.
Thanks.

[Doug Young]

I have one, and reviewed it for Acoustic Guitar many years ago. Neat idea, a bit tricky to use. If I recall, I came up with something useful to demo on it. It can be tricky to install and get all setup correctly, tho. I've not used it live. A gimick? I'd say yes, but that doesn't mean it's not musically useful.

[rmp]

I have one, my son gave it to me for christmas,

like Doug said, "tricky" is a good way to describe using it

but IME "Doesn't work all that well" is better

I found partial capos a lot more practical.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Does anyone have experience of a Spider Capo, are they useful or a gimmick?
If you have one how do you use it? Do you play melodies or stick to chord progressions.?
Would be interesting to read your experiences.
Thanks.

Hi Andy-etc
I have a friend who plays a single guitar for gigs and uses multiple tunings every gig. He thought the Spyder would be THE ANSWER.

He said it lasted about 2 months and then tension started slipping on the individual adjusters…during gigs and they'd move (usually buzzing out strings). That was it.

He lamented there was no 'high end' more durable version.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Andy-etc
I have a friend who plays a single guitar for gigs and uses multiple tunings every gig. He thought the Spyder would be THE ANSWER.

He said it lasted about 2 months and then tension started slipping on the individual adjustersÂ…during gigs and they'd move (usually buzzing out strings). That was it.

He lamented there was no 'high end' more durable version.

I think that's been true of a number of these things, made by entrepreneurial people or small companies. Another cool gizmo is the harmonic capo. It just of sits right on your strings at a harmonics point. When fretted, the string pulls down and sounds normally. When unfretted, it plays a harmonic. Pretty neat, and the inventor has some cool demos. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to adjust and keep it working for even the length of a song. There's a big gap between a cool idea and something that is robustly manufactured and bullet-proof. I think these things could be made at a higher level of quality, but my guess is that the number they'd sell doesn't warrant the investment it would require. So they're kind of "prototype" level.

[Andyrondack]

Thanks for the comments on this device, shame it seems a bit of a hassle to use reliably long term. Might be handy for experimenting with different partial capo configurations I suppose but so far no one seems inspired by one to make it a major feature of their playing.
I think what I am really wondering is can this device facilitate melodic playing of melodies?
So with conventional alternate tunings many fingerstyle players like them over standard because it's a lot easier to play tunes across the strings , but if this capo isn't that robust there doesn"t seem much point in getting one to find out.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

…There's a big gap between a cool idea and something that is robustly manufactured and bullet-proof.

Hi Doug…
This is why I ended up cutting my own DADGAD-ish (three string) capos.

I'm glad for entrepreneurs who explore ideas. I've been far less prone to being an early-adopter the past couple decades.

After I heard Pete Huttlinger had to hacksaw off an early G7th capo from his Colling's neck, I reached out to the inventor and he'd already made corrections and replaced my already purchased early models for free and expediently.

That was the last time I became an early adopter. When I saw the Spyder, I started questioning people who had purchased and used them.

I was hoping for a fortified version, which unfortunately never arrived.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Doug…
This is why I ended up cutting my own DADGAD-ish (three string) capos.

I just use Shub partial capo's - they did the hacksawing for me :-)

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Thanks for the comments on this device, shame it seems a bit of a hassle to use reliably long term. Might be handy for experimenting with different partial capo configurations I suppose but so far no one seems inspired by one to make it a major feature of their playing.
I think what I am really wondering is can this device facilitate melodic playing of melodies?
So with conventional alternate tunings many fingerstyle players like them over standard because it's a lot easier to play tunes across the strings , but if this capo isn't that robust there doesn"t seem much point in getting one to find out.

I'm not sure I'd say "robustness" is the issue, tho Larry seems to indicate some fell apart. I just looked at mine, and it's quite well made, and doesn't seem like it would break. The challenge for a device like this is the nature of the fretboard and strings. Unlike a capo that just has to be wider than the neck, this has to clamp on the fretboard, and has a lip that has to catch on the top of the fretboard. It would probably be best with fretboard whose edges aren't too rounded. To install, you have to adjust the width and get it to sit right. If you change the position, you'll need to readjust as your fretboard gets wider up the neck. Then there's the individual "fingers", which need to be centered on each string. Easy enough -the fingers just slide back and forth, but again, if you change position, it will need to be readjusted. And of course, you might knock them out of place if you aren't careful. Like anything, it requires some practice.

Once positioned, I found the gizmo to work well, and it certainly has melodic applications, somewhat of a gimmick - a bit like Keith Tuners - but both potentially useful and a "crowd-pleaser" kind of effect. It just does take a bit of work to fine-tune, probably more than I'd feel comfortable doing in front of an audience - but that depends. I think of people like Trace Bundy doing his bit with 5 partial capos, popping them on and off during the song - that also takes a bit of setup, but he makes a big show out of it. He's basically doing a similar thing to what the Spider is meant for.

[Andyrondack]

Thanks for the extra details about the Spider capo.
I just had an idea about how to make something that does the same thing, I've got a very old Schub capo with a worn rubber so while waiting for a replacement I could cut the old rubber into sections and slide them around to cover individual strings leaving gaps over un-capoed strings, might work and simple to try.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

Thanks for the extra details about the Spider capo.
I just had an idea about how to make something that does the same thing, I've got a very old Schub capo with a worn rubber so while waiting for a replacement I could cut the old rubber into sections and slide them around to cover individual strings leaving gaps over un-capoed strings, might work and simple to try.

If all you want is a configurable partial capo that can skip strings, check out the Third Hand Capo. Or some people just cut the rubber on a regular capo. Thalia also makes their inserts with various patterns. The benefit of the Spider is the ability to flip them dynamically.

Let us know how you do, in any case. I certainly couldn't home-build anything that approaches the quality of the Spider, but then I'm just not a mechanical type.

[Marshall]

I bought one a long time ago. Seemed too tricky to get right. String spacing changes up the neck. Constantly fiddling with the thing.

I have gone to using a partial capo. One of the DADGAD ones. I cut a Planetwaves NS capo to fit. (I don’t care for Kysers because of the spring pressure.). Works great. Sometimes I use a full capo and a partial to get different voicing. Quite fun.

[Martijn]

About 10 years ago I bought a Third Hand Capo, as I wanted to learn Antoine Dufour's song Memories of the Future.
That worked perfectly, but indeed a lot of fiddling is needed when you want to put the capo on another position (or another guitar), due to the different string spacings.
The Third Hand Capo is discontinued, and although the SpiderCapo seems somewhat more robust/professional, it will have those issues too. But if you would like to use it in order to play one particular song you always keep it on the same position, and it will do the job.