Cajun *Capo*

James Burns · Post by **James Burns** » 7 May 2011 9:12 am

My friend tells me the Cajun Players (who use the open G tuning) have a metal bar (capo?) that slides under the strings so that you can play in open C tuning. I want to make one .. anybody have one they can post a photo of? Or can anyone give a description on one ... I have my own ideas on what they need to be but would like to see one that works .

thank you
Jim

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 7 May 2011 12:12 pm

Here's a few that are used on a dobro. Click Here

James Burns · Post by **James Burns** » 7 May 2011 3:02 pm

I'm hoping some cajun players on the forum who maybe have made their own will chime in too .. I'd love to see the homemade ones .. thanks for your help.

Jim

Michael Maddex · Post by **Michael Maddex** » 7 May 2011 3:29 pm

James, I'd like to see the homemade ones, too. In the meantime, you might like to check out The Sterner Capo Museum:

http://www.sternercapo.se/Capomuseum/

Enjoy.

Tommy Auldridge · Post by **Tommy Auldridge** » 8 May 2011 4:49 am

Jeff Newman used a steel dowel pin. I have one I got from Jeff about 30 years ago. I've never really used it much, but it will work just fine. I think it's about 3/8 diameter and you just slide it under the strings by slightly lifting them one at a time. Then you just move it till it sounds in tune. Tommy.......

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 8 May 2011 5:34 pm

I used to carry around an assortment of different diameter pieces of aluminum rod to fit under the strings of various steels. I would use a piece of adhesive (medical) tape on the bottom to to keep from marring the fretboard. My inspiration was the steel solo on Paycheck's "The Old Man and the River".

James Burns · Post by **James Burns** » 11 May 2011 5:06 pm

I'm going to go ahead and find a pice of metal at right dimension and give it a whirl ... thanks to all who chimed in!

Jim

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 14 May 2011 9:08 am

Back in the day,I used a regular dobro bar turned upside down under the strings of my 60s Sho-Bud Professional and it fit just right with just the right amount of tension. Tip - glue some felt on it so it won't scratch the fretboard. Another tip - try using it on some of the strings and let others ring open.

James Burns · Post by **James Burns** » 15 May 2011 5:27 am

Thanks Michael!

Michael Johnstone wrote:Back in the day,I used a regular dobro bar turned upside down under the strings of my 60s Sho-Bud Professional and it fit just right with just the right amount of tension. Tip - glue some felt on it so it won't scratch the fretboard. Another tip - try using it on some of the strings and let others ring open.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 15 May 2011 8:42 am

I just slip a tone bar of the right diameter under the strings. The string tension holds it in place.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 18 May 2011 10:52 pm

Gene Wooten told me once that Josh Graves used to use a "church key."

Michael Milton · Post by **Michael Milton** » 24 May 2011 5:29 am

http://m2smusic.blogspot.com/2011/05/ta ... capos.html

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 24 May 2011 5:10 pm

I like to be able to slide the bar over the nut. You can't do that with a capo that has anything in the way above the strings.

Randy Cordle · Post by **Randy Cordle** » 25 May 2011 1:26 pm

James,
No pics handy at the moment, but you can make a bar easily out of 3/8" by 3/4" brass bar stock. I round the top edge, cut the height down to where it needs to be, and groove the bottom of the bar. My laps have frets, so it's super easy to slide the grooved bar over a fret at the correct position. I keep my laps in open E and slide the bar under the strings for open G for the most part. Your options are obviously much broader than that.
I do the same thing for my Dobro, too.

Jim Konrad · Post by **Jim Konrad** » 25 May 2011 5:10 pm

I gotta start making these one day...

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 25 May 2011 5:22 pm

Michael Milton wrote:http://m2smusic.blogspot.com/2011/05/ta ... capos.html

Michael: are you my long-lost brother ?
Your avatar looks more like me than I do.

Michael Milton · Post by **Michael Milton** » 26 May 2011 4:12 am

Alan Brookes wrote:
Michael Milton wrote:http://m2smusic.blogspot.com/2011/05/ta ... capos.html

Michael: are you my long-lost brother ?
Your avatar looks more like me than I do.

Ok, that IS spooky.... given my heritage, one never knows!

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 26 May 2011 1:06 pm

Hi James,

I don't live in Louisiana and haven't visited in a few years, but have I seen and heard quite a few Cajun steel players. In fact, for the past two or three weeks I have been brushing up my technique and repertoire after a 10 year hiatus, to play with a Cajun dance band at a festival this weekend.

Playing tunes in C is no problem in G tuning (I'm using the Cajun standard high G on top), so a "capo" on the fifth fret (!) does not make any sense to me. You could use one at the second fret to play with a D accordion in the Keys of D and A. Some non pedal players will use a double neck steel with one neck tuned to G and the other to F (for playing with a B-flat accordion). Most males find it difficult to sing with a D accordion, so C is the most popular accordion key. Our accordion player uses a C instrument, and about 75% of the tunes we play are in G, most of of the rest in C, and a few in F and E minor. (The accordion only has the diatonic C scale notes.) The high G tuning works just fine for me.

Hope this helps.

By the way, I'm having a ball revisiting this music!

All the best,

Bob

James Burns · Post by **James Burns** » 1 Jun 2011 4:56 pm

Jim .. did you **make** this one?

Its a thing of beauty.

JIm B.

Jim Konrad wrote:I gotta start making these one day...

Jim Newberry · Post by **Jim Newberry** » 1 Jun 2011 5:45 pm

Yup, what Bob Stone says is my experience also.

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 2 Jun 2011 7:03 am

Hi Jim,

Nice to meet you here on the Forum. Your band is great. Belated kudos for your award from the CFMA; that's about as good as it gets for us non-Cajuns. I'm pretty sure I met Valorie at the Augusta Heritage Center in the early 1990s--a talented player and singer.

By the way, our gig at the Florida Folk Festival went very well. There were difficulties with sound on Saturday night, but at the Sunday dance we had it dialed in. I played my '59 Supro Comet through a little Peavey Envoy 110 (40W) and used a Boss GE-7 to cut the highs at 6.4 KHZ. That high G string sounded nice and fat. And my two-step chops were there--something I didn't have 10 years ago. I'm tickled. Hoping to do more with the band.

Keep up the great music.

Best,

Bob

Jim Konrad · Post by **Jim Konrad** » 2 Jun 2011 4:44 pm

James Burns wrote:Jim .. did you **make** this one?

Its a thing of beauty.

JIm B.

Jim Konrad wrote:I gotta start making these one day...

Yes Sir, Thanks! It is my design, life has just been so full, I have not got around to making any more..

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