Cut capo out of tune.

[rschultz]

Hi,

I recently got a cut capo... it capo's only the 3,4,5th strings on the 2nd fret, essentially making it DADGAD tuning (only in E). The problem is that when I put it on the 2 high strings (E, B) sound flat. In reality, the 3,4,5 strings are sharp due to fretting them.
I have on custom light strings (0.011, 0.015). Would heavier strings (lights or medium lights) reduce this effect... or make it worse?

Thanks.
Ryan

[Pastor Tim]

Heavier strings will help, because they won't get pressed as far down by the capo. If the capo has adjustable pressure slack off until it just barely avoids buzzing. If it is not adjustable you can try playing with where it is positioned relative to the fret. You may find that you can get better intonation with the capo right on top of the fret.

This problem may also be symptomatic of having your string action too high in the first place.

Pastor Tim

[cmchamp]

I was just gonna say, check your action. Putting a capo on all the strings, or a portion of the strings should not change the tuning of the instrument if:
1) the string action is set correctly
2) the capo tension is adjusted correctly.

C
music teacher by day, grad student and sound contractor by night.

[dmot]

I concur with Pastor Tim.

Here's a very simple explanation of intonation that might help explain. It from CCLITV and is John Standefer's Praise Guitar Lesson #42. It isn't about the capo but explains intonation. I doubt this video will be up for long though.

http://www.ccli.com/CCLITV/Default.aspx?v=9f19c05a-0118-4eb1-bb67-205df9e4c413



oops. That won't link directly to the vid but you can select it on the right.

[rschultz]

That's what I thought. The action and nut height are not too high. I lowered all that about a year ago... it's pretty tight.

The cut capo is a Kaiser, so it does not have adjustable tension. But I don't like it anyway... I'm going to take it back and get a different brand because the Kaiser buzzes a bit on the E string, it doesn't have enough clearance when I really strum hard.

I'll try the heavier strings and try moving it closer to the fret.

Thanks.
Ryan

[rschultz]

I removed the custom light (0.011 E, 0.015 B) and put on lights (0.012 E, 0.016 B) and that seemed to do the trick strangely enough. I also adjusted the cut capo to set almost right on the fret, this also helped. I didn't think it would be that drastic of an effect but the combination of the two seems to have worked.
Thanks.
Ryan

[Pastor Tim]

Glad you got it fixed! In general you want any capo as close as possible to the fret, IAPW the capo would sit right on the high point of the fret, cutting off the vibration exactly at that point without bending the string any more than the action height.

Pastor Tim

[rschultz]

After playing with this for a few weeks now, I have some thoughts:

1) Heavier strings help a lot, go as heavy as your guitar will allow. In my case Lights or Medium Lights but not custom Lights.
2) It is impossible to properly tune the guitar so that it is in tune with and without the cut capo, this should be no surprise. Basic physics.
3) It is best to tune the guitar with the cut capo ON. This will make the E and B strings sharp with the cut capo OFF. But this is not that noticeable, whereas if the E and B strings are FLAT with the cut capo on, this is really bad since the B string and 3rd string are in unison while playing the D chord with the cut capo on. In most cases the D is the root since the cut capo works best in the key of D.
4) For a while I had tried to "split the difference", having E/B a little flat with the cut capo and a little sharp without it. But this sounded bad both ways.
5) So tune it with the cut capo on... and error on the flat side but only ever so slightly.

Ryan