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Make Your Own Capo
Published on 07/11/2009 by Elwood | 61,915 views.
Bill Russel Capo
The makeshift capo is a simple and cheap device used raise the tuning of the guitar by clamping the strings across the fretboard. It's design is based off of a Bill Russel style capo (seen on the left).
Step 1:Get Materials, Assemble
You will need a pencil and something to hold it against the strings. An unpainted pencil may be a better option.
- Hair Ties
- Rubber Bands / Hair Ties / Shoe String
- Wooden Pencil / Bic Pen
You will likely need multiple hair ties or rubber bands to hold the strings down efficiently. Generally classical and electric guitars will only need a few - because they have weaker tension in their strings - but you will need a lot for an acoustic (more than you see in the picture to the right). Alternatively, you could try using thicker rubber bands.
You'll need to get the pen or pencil down to size. This is done to make the device easier to put on and take off. It also prevents the capo from getting in the way. Cut your pen or pencil down to about 4 inches (or 10 centimeters) - just so long as it's a bit longer then the width of your fretboard. If your using a pencil - this is easily accomplished with a pencil sharpener, but whack the tip off to prevent getting poked.
Step 2: Try it Out
At this point you may have everything you need. Lay the pen or pencil down over the fret you want to clamp. Wrap your hair tie, shoe lace, or rubber band over one end, then stretch around back of fretboard and over the other end of the pen or pencil.
Give the guitar a strum, and if you hear any buzzing, add more rubber bands, or hair ties. Shoe laces can be tied tighter.
Step 3: Bundling (For rubber bands)
In general, you should never leave a Capo on when your not playing. Additionally, it may take you a bit of time to get the thing off and on. One option to increase the speed a bit is to bundle the rubber bands or hair ties together at the center (the part that lies behind the fretboard during use) and at the loops (the part that stretches over the pencil ends). This can be done using twist ties for the ends and a rubber band for the back (so as to protect the finish). As always, be careful!
Tips
- Don't use a painted pencil as the paint may rub off on your guitar.
- Never leave the capo on your guitar. It loses tension when stretched out for a long time.
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for mine i used a rubber, a pencil and a shoelace
it works a f_______g dream
Thanks so much, as a broke college student this will definitely help. Now I can play a whole bunch more of Coldplay’s stuff and I’m sure a lot more. Thanks again!
Thanks mate. Using it for Do you remember – Jack Johnson
Hey just use a thick hair tie, those work great and you only need a max of 2 garaunteed
Hey,great instructions–I had a capo, and was all set to record a lead solo, only to find that the capo was only good for my acoustic, and not the electric…remembered hearing years ago that you could make a capo out of a pencil and rubberbands, did a Google search for instructions and found yours. The thing works great and now I can proceed without waiting for the otherwise necessary trip to the music store & outlay of twenty bucks–which I’ll do eventually anyway, but hate to hold up work for it. Thanks for this instructional!
Hey thanx a LOT..for the instructions!!
I lost mine...and I'm on a holiday in a completely stranger town...so of course I dont know about any music shops here!!
But this is like a BLESSING!!
My capo is working awesomely!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! [ ignore the capitals. ]
=D
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Thanks for the help, now I can finally play Wonderwall by Oasis
i used a bic gell pen plastic case and shoe string put the string through the middle of it and tightened it works great!!
My capo snapped a few hours ago and I've no money to replace it so I was panicking a bit. This is a real help, thanks a lot. =]
I used 6 popsicle sticks (3 on either side of the fret board) and one long piece of string.
I just bounded the stick together on one side and stretched the string across to the other underneath the board. It works great!
After using a bunch of rubber bands which didn't work, I found the best fastener is a single livestrong band.
OK i hope guys relies that a guitars neck is slightly curved so a pencil wont completely put the strings down.
Thank Yo So Much! I got a guitar for christmas after mine was damaged on a plane and haven't been able to go get one yet! This worked like a dream!
Wow I only started like today so I'm going to give "One Time Acoustic" by Justin Bieber a try, pretty simple song, but I might go buy a capo soon anyway!! But this is going to help sooooo much THANK YOU!!
I find using a shoelace to be much easier. It takes me about 10 seconds to get my makeshift capo setup, as opposed to my attempts with an elastic, which never worked. I could never quite distribute the pressure evenly.
I am going to try this on my banjo....
Wow amazing!! ^_^ I'm going to try this..thanks men
the town that i live in...i juss cant find any capos in here....
but most songs i try to find the chords for, they require capos...
now i can play them without havin to worry about where to find em...
thnks soo much for this...
Jack Johnson? Coldplay? Justin Bieber? I must be on the wrong site
heyy...tnx a ton.....da song dat i was tryin to play had a different tuning of the guitar altogether...and i hardly know nethn bout dat....a capo helpd me play dat song using another set of chords....tnx a ton mate...cheers:)...
@Spartan I was thinking the EXACT same...
I use duct tape. It's good, but not as easy to remove.
I had a bunch of Elastic bands used for banding Lobsterclaws,- of course they were not used, and were new- they work perfect because their really wide
-one does the trick with a pencil- and yes, on some guitars the neck is slightly bent, but the pencil bends a bit as well under the elastic band.
I made mine out of a food clip and two rubberbands! And it's wunnerful!!!
It worked great for me. Used two skinny rubber bands and one hefty, thick one that had to stretch quite a bit to fit over the pencil. It also took me like 10 seconds to put on once I'd gathered the materials.
Yeah, it might not be the best, but it works when you don't have the funds/access to a capo.
hey this capo worked great! thanks a lot!
Great I can now finally play Mr Brightside without the hassle! You've made my day and saved me some ££'s in the process
thanks!!!
I dont have any rubber bands in the house so i used two of those rubber wristbands that usually say something quirky on them. One works well on an electric, but i used two just to be secure =)
Thanx, buddy! Gonna play Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson now. Woohoo!
dis is fckng awesme!! wll da pncil i put ws in y wfes pussy!! so wen i hve sex feelngs i lck it!!yUm
Great idea! This can save a few folks who don't have a capo handy.
Thanks! This will come in very, very handy...
i found that using just one pencil and a large rubber bamd works well. just wrap it around one end of the pencil, put it over the fret, and then keep wrapping it around the back of the neck until it it tight. now i can finally play taylor swift songs that dont have a no capo version :]
I needed it for Superman - Lazlo Bane