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A partial/adjustable Capo.
In the begining, I thought of the smashing success of the partial capo (basically a standard spring-clip capo, but with enough space for 2-3 srings not to be capo'd (3/4 the length of a standard))
From this came the idea I propose now:
make a capo that straps
on, however the trick is that it has 6 thumbscrews as opposed to a flat arm - each screw has a rubber (or other) flat section on the bottom. When the screw is screwed in, the string is capo'd. when not; not.
I'm not sure yet how it would trap on.. I'm thinking something along the lines of a nylon strp like some capos have, but with risers on the outside edge.. Feel free to suggest something different :)
This could work very well with a switch-type button; depress once, it is capo'd, depress twice, the capo is lifted again.
As an illustration:
Screws/pushbuttons
..|
..v....v--- depressed
_T_T_-_T_T_T_
|----------------|
..|_________|
Sorry for the quality, it is ASCII ;)
I'll try and a mock-up picture up by the end of the day.
KrazyKat Music
http://www.krazykatmusic.com/guitar.htm
Guitars, not bricks [roby, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
nobla's link
http://www.thirdhandcapo.com
[sufc, Oct 04 2004]
Restrictive capo
http://www.usatoday...ovies/godfather.jpg
[thumbwax, Oct 04 2004]
abacus capo
http://www.abacuscapo.com
fully adjustable capo [abacus, Oct 04 2004]
[link]
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As I said elsewhere, this would only work while the capo-ed strings are played open. As soon as you fret them, the capo effectively disappears. You cannot use this system as a substitute for de-tuning. Buy a Hipshot Trilogy. With modification, I suspect it could be used on an acoustic.
I keep my main acoustic (Tanglewood Odyssey) in standard tuning and my second (Encore ENC2) in modal D (DADGAD, low to high). When (rarely) I need another tuning, I adjust whichever one of these is closer to the required tuning, so for drop-D, I detune the Tanglewood, and for open-G, the Encore. If I'm just experimenting, I use my old Antoria. |
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That's a freaking great idea!!! If you make it, I'll buy two. |
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[ angel ] I'm not proposing this as a replacement for drop-tuning, but as a replacement for a standard capo. |
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The benefit, as an example, would be to partially capo the bottom 4 stings on, say, the second fret.. ou can play as regular, but when played open, or any of the bottom strings are played open, they are higher. |
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If up-tuned, playing the bottom strings would require funky hand positions for standard chords. |
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[unabubba] denn ihn hast du
geschlechtlos entmannt! Man sagt
er ißt den Täter, wenn er ihn faßt. |
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Its all Greek to me.
Why not just use barre chords and learn how to use different tunings. DADGAD is my favourite.I think it is one of the easist to use and get good results from if your not sure what you're doing. |
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Ich ducke mich gleich, Ignatz, aber
deine Krazy Kat bin ich nicht. Die
mußt du anderswo suchen.
Na, endlich ging das Ding im
Kreis und geht's noch mal um
Guitarren! (sehe Link) |
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//I'm not proposing this as a replacement for drop-tuning, but as a replacement for a standard capo//
I'm sorry to keep harping on this, but let's assume that you capo the bottom two strings on the third fret so your tuning is, effectively, G C D G B E, low to high. You can play now C major on the fifth fret (A-shape chord) without stopping the bottom two strings by fretting x x 5 5 5 3; what else can you do? If a chord inversion requires that the new low G or C strings be stopped, you'll still need to stop them on the same fret as you would without the capo. I'm not trying to be obstructive or dismissive, but I really cannot see how this would help. Perhaps you can describe in detail an example of how you would use it. |
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[angel] I understand that it doesn't seem like there is a point, and by the same logic as you have demonstrated, there is no point to a capo.
However.. Necessity breeds invention. There is a reason the capo was invented in the first place (Which is hard to explain in terms of the logic, as it falls outside the scope), and along that vien; I believe that the partial/adjustable capo is a great change.
It doesn't, by any means, make things more efficient, nor does it make standard chords any different, nor does it replace non-standard tuning when that is the effect you are going for, but it is nice to play on, and it can give a very pleasing sound.
Most likely if you have no use for a capo, you would have no use for a partial capo.
On that note; if you did want to try a derivative, pick up a spring-mounted capo and cut it to size (3+ springs or it won't stay on); you just might like it :) |
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How about a guitar with configurable pop-up frets that are activated by foot pedals? |
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//by the same logic as you have demonstrated, there is no point to a capo//
Not so. The purpose of a capo is to enable the use of chord inversions which would otherwise not be available in the key in which one is playing. In standard tuning, playing x7x7xx gives a rather nice E7. If you want a similar sound but in a different key, say G7, you would find it difficult to play 3 3 10 3 10 3 (unless your fingers are *much* longer than mine), but a capo on 3 enables the same fingering as the first while rendering the same notes as the second. Your partial capo requires amended fingering for chords which have open strings, and has no effect on those that don't. Sorry again, but I don't see the point. |
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angel: The partial capo would make possible chords which could not reasonably be played any other way. It would, however, require reworking the fingerings for many chords that involve open strings. I can certainly imagine that some guitar players would be willing to work out such details if it meant they could get a sound they otherwise could not, but for many I don't think it wuold be worth the effort. |
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That sounds like a great idea, i will buy a few of them, you should look at the floyd rose double locking tremolo, on the nut there is a screw for the little plates that unlock the strings, you could do something on those lines |
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This is a great idea. I use my capo on 2nd fret, but only 5 strings so low E stays E. I put capo as close to headstock end of space between frets so my finger still has enough room to barre on same fret as capo.This allows a E chord, actually played like a D chord without capo, but with low E. If you play a C chord with a pinky on E string (actually D now with capo) you can play G,C,D on all strings. An E,E min, A Amin chord need to be barred unless you omit low E string.This can be standard tuning by tuninga all strings to D relative tuning. This system is better than drop D because you can play all strings more often. Confused? |
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I have to agree with angel on this. As with the other, single string capo idea... I cannot envision a circumstance when it would be desirable to capo only certain strings and not all of them simultaneously. One could even argue that were there ever such circumstances, selectable string capos would already exist. |
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What if capo covered 1st 5 frets. You would have 30 screws or better, push click buttons.Or if that were too many frets covered up, a modular capo where you could add banks of buttons. All of this discourse could be eclipsed by Brian Moore iGuitar that electronically lets you have any tuning you want. |
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[As with the other, single string capo idea... I cannot envision a circumstance when it would be desirable to capo only certain strings and not all of them simultaneously. One could even argue that were there ever such circumstances, selectable string capos would already exist.]
They do exist. Check out the Third Hand Capo (http://www.thirdhandcapo.com), which has inspired many awesome guitar compositions. |
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you cuold always learn to play the guitar properly. |
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Hello,
We have been working on this problem for a while now and we have a fully adjustable, unrestrictive single string movable capo. We call it the Abacus Capo and photos and details can be seen on our site at www.abacuscapo.com
Drop us a line and let us know what you think.
Jonathan and Chris |
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Entirely relevant troll spam - it's the way of the future... |
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Sold. And I'd definitely experiment with it. |
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This gets you the full croissant. |
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Btw, CGCGCC (low to high) makes my guitar sound a bit like a sitar. |
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Some nice discussion in my long period of inactivity :) |
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[ricchris] "This is a great idea. I use my capo on 2nd... ...often. Confused?" |
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Yes, as a matter of fact I've been confused about most of the comments along these lines.. I don't know standard chords by the names and I play the guitar to create something that sounds good.. All these 'modified this' and 'oh don't mangle the Gx chord!' comments are simply speaking the wrong language :) |
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[abacus] "We call it the Abacus Capo..." |
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Hrm.. you seem to have travelled into the future from the past and used most of my design ideas for your product.. It's ok, I'm not bitter, you used large.. (wood?) things instead of pushbuttons.. I'll let you go with 'derivative work' ;) |
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[autosurgeon] "for those of us whose fingers are less than a foot long and do not have Thingummy Malmstein (is that how you spell it) precociousness" |
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LoL. I was also noticing a bit of this. |
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[saker] "Sold. And I'd definitely experiment with it. This gets you the full croissant." |
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Thank you on both counts :) If I ever make one, I'll let you know :) |
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I just recieved my third hand capo from www.thirdhandcapo.com and it works great. nice design too. |
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