Problems with capo. Help

[Bitter Rain]

I have a 16 year old Strat. When using my capo, I have a problem with it being out of tune on the sharp side. The capo is a Kyser, have tried several of the same ones and the result is always the same. Can anyone tell me if they have experienced this, and if they have, how did they correct the problem. Tremelo is locked out, frets are 4 years old, strings are changed every 3 months. This Strat was set up by a pro a few years ago.

 

[Hard2Hear]

that's just intonation. It's going to happen with most any guitar because they are made to be in tune with the full scale length. The other piece of the capo out of tune puzzle is the frets. A perfectly tuned guitar will always be out of tune with a capo, more so the further you put the capo up the neck. But if you happen to have jumbo or high frets, the capo puching down can make it even worse.

Most players with several guitars at their disposal will have 1 or two guitars set up with a capo and tuned with the capo on (where needed)for shows, as do I when I'm doing capo'd songs.

H2H

 

[InTheFire]

Be sure to place the capo right up to the fret. I almost have my capo sitting on top of the fret when I play. I even use a partial capo and my guitars are in perfect tune but, it must be right up to the fret.

If you have a radically curved fingerboard that may contribute to the problem you're having. Is your radius different from most guitars?

You may want to try some Shubb capos. Their tension can be adjusted while Kyser's cannot.

 

[timmerman]

Hello Bitter Rain,

Does the gtr. play in tune in standart tuning, is the intonation correct? When all of this is the case than it may be simply a case of fine-tuning your gtr. when you use the capo, after having fine-tuned the gtr. should hold its tuning.

Of course there are many things you could look into: What kind of gauge of strings do you use, perhaps you need to go down a little in gauge. Also the kind of Capo you use. As mentioned before by In the Fire, the Shubb can be adjusted in tension, I do not know the Kyser myself, but it seems by the words of In the Fire that that one cannot be adjusted, so experiment with different types of capoos. I am sure in the end the problem can be solved with a little care, experimentation and time.

Good Luck,

Eddie

 

[Clive Hugh]

Bitter Rain,
The capo is different from the finger in that it is harder and unforgiving in tension, the finger will hold the string on the fret with just enough tension to fret cleanly but the capo needs to be tight to stop it falling off, it exerts more trnsion on the string deforming it and that is the cause of the strings going sharp, as the others have said, fine tune it with the capo on.

Clive

 

[InTheFire]

I still say that if your guitar's intonation is accurate, you will not need to fine tune the instrument if the capo is properly placed.

 

[Dani Pace]

How high is the action? The greater the distance a string has to be pushed down, the more it is streached, and the higher the pitch. If it has been a while since the last time the guitar was set up, you might want to have it readjusted, things do tend to get a little out of sorts after a while, especially if you plah hard and regular.

 

[sile2001]

You may want to try some Shubb capos. Their tension can be adjusted while Kyser's cannot.

I had the same problem using a Kyser capo on any electric, including my MIA Strat. When I switched to a Shubb capo, the problem went away entirely.

The Kyser capo uses a spring to clamp down, and it uses the same amount of clamping force regardless of the tension of the strings. A Shubb capo on the other hand lets you adjust the clamping force. Play with it until you get the right setting. On my Strat, I have to set it so that it bends the strings in just slightly, but not enough to actually press the strings all the way down to the fretboard.

 

[smtcharlie]

Yup, I've had this problem on a lot of guitars - I came to the conclusion above about intonation. At one point, I had a habit of putting the capo on at a slight angle (not quite parallel to the frets), which I thought helped at the time.

It may be a good idea to get your guitar set up if you haven't done that, just to make sure that the intonation is right for open, standard tuning. I had a guitar with tolerable, but not-so-great intonation that sounded particularily crappy with a capo (until I got it set up).

smtcharlie