The Spider Capo Opinions?

[umpdv5000]

Hello All, I recently bought a Chinese copy of a "Spider Capo". These have individual levers that press down on each string (I'm pretty sure that you know the ones I'm talking about). Although I found the Chinese copy to be a little flimsy (and an awful lot cheaper), I can't help but come to the conclusion that neither this nor the original are of any use whatsoever.

Example: When the capo is attached at the second fret and the 2nd, 3rd & 4th lever is pressed down to give a tuning of a chord of A, attempting other chord shapes are not the same as actually tuning the guitar to the chord of A. If you were using one of these to tune for slide guitar, then it doesn't work, as the rest of the tuning beyond the capo is the same as if it were not in place. Has anyone else tried one of these and have an opinion as to their usefulness / uselessness?

I am only happy that I didn't pay an exorbitant price for this item, unlike those that bought an original.

[umpdv5000]

Having just watched a video of someone using 2 of the spider capo's on the official Spider Capo .com website, I realise that these things are not really meant to replace or emulate the act of physically tuning your guitar to different tunings. However, having been primarily a pro electric guitar player for some 40 years and playing acoustic more for home enjoyment (without the use of capo's), I have obviously been standardized with my tuning thoughts. It would seem that after altering tuning with one of these things, you then make up fingering to fit in the way it sounds (un-standard to any tunings done without one of these). So effectively, if you use one of these to tune to a tuning that you normally do without one, any fingerings used thereafter will be completely different. The conclusion for me is that mine will be going straight onto ebay.

I played around with one and found it to be cumbersome and finicky. Pass.

[Aaron Smith]

Seems like a lot of work compared to just turning a tuning key.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by umpdv5000

Hello All, I recently bought a Chinese copy of a "Spider Capo". These have individual levers that press down on each string (I'm pretty sure that you know the ones I'm talking about). Although I found the Chinese copy to be a little flimsy (and an awful lot cheaper), I can't help but come to the conclusion that neither this nor the original are of any use whatsoever.

Example: When the capo is attached at the second fret and the 2nd, 3rd & 4th lever is pressed down to give a tuning of a chord of A, attempting other chord shapes are not the same as actually tuning the guitar to the chord of A. If you were using one of these to tune for slide guitar, then it doesn't work, as the rest of the tuning beyond the capo is the same as if it were not in place. Has anyone else tried one of these and have an opinion as to their usefulness / uselessness?

I am only happy that I didn't pay an exorbitant price for this item, unlike those that bought an original.

Hi umpdv…

They are what I call trick capos, and they work well in the hands of someone who is using them constantly. I had a friend who mastered it, but he had to keep buying them because the mechanisms broke down with actual use.

He (like me) is a capo experimenter, and we both play a lot of cut capos (I cut my own from Planet Waves NS Pro capos). He was looking for a way to change the uncovered strings, and tried the Spyder to do it.

When I tried one, I didn't like the way it performed differently at different frets. Just didn't have the quality of build and durability I'd need.

[SimplyLuo]

I just purchased one to try it out. Haven't used it yet, but my first impression from holding it is that it just doesn't feel solidly built. Kind of flimsy.
But here's an absolutely beautiful use of the capo:

Originally Posted by Aaron Smith

Seems like a lot of work compared to just turning a tuning key.

Except it's not the same as changing the tuning. Once you hit a barre chord above the capo, you're playing in standard tuning.

[umpdv5000]

Thanks for the input guys, I can see that it's not me that's going mad.

[mot]

I have one. I haven't figured it out except that if I am doing open chords the spider capo acts as a couple of extra (and stuck) fingers so I can be more creative in the way I make a chord. Haven't found it useful enough for prime time unless I use it as a regular capo or cut capo, but I am still playing with it.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

Except it's not the same as changing the tuning. Once you hit a barre chord above the capo, you're playing in standard tuning.

Hi Willie…

I do a lot of 'partial' capo playing, and when porting DADGAD or CGCGCD songs over to standard tuning using a cut capo in Esus position, there is some work involved to replicate all the notes. Some things which are naturally open strings with one finger fretting in DADGAD require 3-4 fingers and some 3-4 fret stretches on either side of the cut capo.

An Esus placed cut capo captures most of the Irishy 'feel' of DADGAD, but as you say, everything above the capo is not altered because none of the strings were retuned. I've transferred several of my favorite songs I've written in altered tunings over to the cut capo, and I've had to make compromises with certain passages.

Actually some of them sound better with the cut capo, and some passages just get re-written.

The Spider is just an adjustable partial capo which will leave open strings where one wants them. As creative as that sounds, I don't want to turn into David Wilcox who both retunes strings, and uses multiple partial capos at the same time to open up new vistas.

If the Spider (and there was another capo with revolving rubber wheels that permitted the same thing) was sturdier, and more roadworthy, I'd own one.

Trace Bundy just stacks capos of different lengths one behind the other down the neck (some coming in from the back side) to create different open/partially open strings. Notice all 5 capos in the shot below…

[Craviola]

Yeah, I got one but haven't really been able to do much more then use it as a reg capo.
It's a bit cumbersome but fun to fool around with. Heres a video I made with it positioned on the 4th fret and set at 004440.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcFz8bP9hQk