The Steel Guitar Forum

Here's my Demo/Review of a Fantastic New Capo I got in the mail today. "Charlie's Slide Pro Capo". I gotta say I LOVE THIS CAPO! Great Tone, Easy To Put On/Take Off with one hand, Low Profile, works on all my different instruments. Great Job Charlie!!! For more info check out his website: www.CharliesCapo.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlZhRJhGeeQ


Thanks guys!
~Troy~

pretty cool. i figured i'd get a beard 'wave' pretty soon, but i like this one. can't find a price. i'd buy one right now for 20 or 30 bucks.

chris ivey wrote:pretty cool. i figured i'd get a beard 'wave' pretty soon, but i like this one. can't find a price. i'd buy one right now for 20 or 30 bucks.

http://www.charliescapo.com/

Troy,
Are you familiar with the Walworth, Bradley, or Beard Wave capos? Just wondering how it compares. I like my Walworth for the ease of use, but it does give me a bit of unwanted sizzle. Some claim that any floating capo will do that. I'd be willing to pay the $85 if I know it will give me a significant improvement.
Playing oddball instruments makes it hard to try things out. Guess I should have been one of those heavy metal guitarslingers.
--Chase Brady

ok...too bad. he looks like a nice man.
priced too high for me.

Chase Brady wrote:Troy,
Are you familiar with the Walworth, Bradley, or Beard Wave capos? Just wondering how it compares. I like my Walworth for the ease of use, but it does give me a bit of unwanted sizzle.
--Chase Brady

A few years ago I gave a workshop at ResoSummit in Nashville called the "Showdown at the O-Capo Corral" where we tried them all including those. The Walworth being pretty light and of low mass performed the worst for tone and volume, the Bradley and Beard were both very good, but I think Charlie's new design is easiest, fastest and has the best tone. I still like the Shubb C6B because it clamps and slides over the fret with no room for error, but the fit is critical and it doesn't fit every dobro.

I've tried the Beard, the Shubb, and my trusty Martin Gross Capo.

I could never get the Shubb to fit just right. The Beard had a thin sound to me, and I didn't like the knob on top. (It got in the way) I love my Martin Gross capo, but I think I'm going to put it on the back burner for awhile and use this Charlie Capo. Great Fat Tone, Easy to Use, Reliable, and it fits all my lap style instruments.

Also, I really think $85 is a great price.

This is not made in China. It's made in the USA by the man himself. It's super solid, brushed Stainless Steel.

Solid Build. Worth every dollar.

I'm now on Charlie's wait list, which hopefully isn't too long. I used to be a machinist (long ago), so I have an idea of what's involved. $85 is dirt cheap for this kind of work.
--Chase Brady

$85 bucks is a bargain for a piece like this. I love mine!

I used it a couple weeks back on stage. Kept it in my left pocked while performing standing up and could put it on and adjust for intonation with my left hand while holding the bar in my right. Super fast and sounds good. Really a beautiful and well designed piece IMO.

Stainless steel is way more difficult to machine than other common metals. The price reflects this. A totally fair price.

I have a new one coming to replace the first capo Charlie sent to me two weeks ago.

I ordered one after Mike Witcher gave me a demo at a Bay Area show about five weeks ago. I was very impressed.

However, the one I received was just a hair "off." Can't get it quite tight enough on the strings and as a result it doesn't minimize "tone death" any better than the other "floating" dobro capos out there.

It worked out that I was going through Oakland on business a week ago last Friday and Mike was playing a duo show with long-time Bay Area banjo and guitar player Avram Siegel at Diesel Bookstore. So I brought my Charlie's capo with me so we could compare. There are some subtle details as to why mine won't get as tight across the strings as Mike's, but we figured out the issue and both e-mailed Charlie.

Charlie gave me a call on Saturday and he is going to send out a replacement, he will make it right. Charlie strikes me as being a great guy, we would have talked for a long time but I had to get my dog to a vet appointment.

I'll post again after the replacement capo arrives.

this addresses a concern i had. if each capo is machined one at a time, what is the quality control that assures they are all identical in function.

i've dabbled in capo design ever since getting a dobro over 35 years ago. i've made several. under string type. they work well enough to get by. i tried to get people interested in the design years ago but no one cared. of course my initial inspiration was, 'i'll make my own and save money'.
........so here comes another good idea and everyone jumps on it for twice the price. ...but they're not consistent?

So far of the ones of which I'm aware, I'm the first person to have an issue. Not that it's a huge sampling, but between here, the resonator forums, and speaking in person to a few players, of the dozen or so owners I've come across, I'm the only one who has had an issue. But it wasn't the first time and it surely won't be the last time that a quality product might get out in the world and there could be a flaw of some sort with the one that showed up your door.

I don't buy stuff on impulse when it comes to items and accessories related to the dobro guitar. I'm usually way back in the pack as far as getting around to dropping money on a new design for something like a capo or tone bar. I tend to think long and hard about it before I pull the trigger.

I know some pickers whom as soon as a new accessory comes out and maybe a full-time pro player is singing its praises, they're on the computer that afternoon placing their order. Undoubtedly they have more disposable income for accessories than I. And with some of these same pickers I have seen more than once where the item they purchased as soon as it's available goes up for sale in the classifieds on a website several weeks later.

But this Charlie's Capo is different - after checking it out at Mike's show several weeks ago I went for it, instead waiting my usual year or more before taking the plunge. Stay tuned.

I'm not usually impressed with capos for resonator guitars; especially since that with the style that I play in I don't use open strings; but this one seems to be exceptionally well designed and made. I think I'll get one. It may be made for square-backed Dobros, but since it doesn't touch any other part of the instrument you could use it on any 6-string instrument with a high nut. I wonder if he makes 8-string versions.

Is there a need for a capo if you play in GBDGBD tuning? I have a Sheerhorn capo but I've never used it.

Dennis Saydak wrote:Is there a need for a capo if you play in GBDGBD tuning? I have a Sheerhorn capo but I've never used it.

It all depends what you are trying to play, regardless of the guitar's tuning.

To cite an example, l would guess among the most common usage for a dobro capo would be, particularly if one is playing bluegrass, a fast "fiddle tune." Many fiddle tunes are in the key of A Major, and if the song is chugging along at say 170 beats per minute most players are going to have a difficult time keeping up if they are playing in open position in G tuning. By placing your Scheerhorn capo at 2, now you have effectively re-tuned your dobro to Open A, and you will have the open strings and hammer-ons and pull-offs available as if you were playing the song in the Key of G Major without a capo.

I'm definitely interested in this capo, but frankly the price is making me hesitate a long time -- I realize there's a lot of hand work and material costs, but it's still a lot of dough. I use a Leno or the bigger Scheerhorn -- both do the job reasonably well, but the Scheerhorn is a pain to put on and take off.

The Beard Wave looked like a good design, but it totally killed my reso's tone -- I couldn't get it tight enough to sound good without crushing the windings. I guess it varies a lot from guitar to guitar; I've heard a lot of good things about both the Beard and the Walworth (which I haven't tried yet), but opinions seem to vary quite a lot. I may need to bite the bullet for the Charlie...

Dennis Saydak wrote:Is there a need for a capo if you play in GBDGBD tuning? I have a Sheerhorn capo but I've never used it.

It depends on your playing style. Some people want the open strings to be in the key of the song and then play the Dobro similar to the way you would a banjo. That's why banjo players use a capo so much. I can play like that, but usually, like you, I don't use the open strings at all. The main exception is when I'm playing in the key of Bb, which is on the third fret in G tuning. Without a capo on the third fret I can slide back to G. In fact there are several runs which require it.
So, is as capo necessary? Not if you don't want to use one. I've been playing Dobro for just over 50 years, during which time I think I've used a capo half a dozen times. I should stress though, that I'm not the greatest resonator player in the world.

I'm currently doing online dobro lessons with Andy Hall at ArtistWorks. Andy says he uses a capo a fair amount if he's playing Bluegrass, Folk or Singer/Songwriter, but not so much on Blues, Rock or Jazz. That makes sense to me. The difference, not just on dobro, but on any instrument where capos work, is whether or not you want to use open strings. That's really what the capo does -- it allows use of open strings in keys where you wouldn't want to use them otherwise. Open string licks sound different from closed position licks. The kind of music you're playing makes a big difference. I tend to agree with Andy. If I'm playing dobro with my singer/songwriter buddy who uses a capo a lot, often ending up in odd keys, I want a capo. If I'm playing my 8-string lap at a Blues jam, I see no need.

--Chase Brady

Alan Brookes wrote:I'm not usually impressed with capos for resonator guitars; especially since that with the style that I play in I don't use open strings; but this one seems to be exceptionally well designed and made. I think I'll get one. It may be made for square-backed Dobros, but since it doesn't touch any other part of the instrument you could use it on any 6-string instrument with a high nut. I wonder if he makes 8-string versions.

I am wondering if he makes a 10-string version. I have a GM capo for my D10 but this one looks so well made that I would be tempted to buy one to try even at the $85 price point.

Now that I've had my capo and been using it a while, I thought I would report that I am delighted with it. Better sound than I thought you could get from a floating capo. Close enough to the non-capoed sound that I have no aversion to using it. Money well spent.

--Chase

Thanks to Troy for pointing this capo out!
Just received mine & am very happy with it.
Charlie does nice work & it works a treat.
Even with the extra shipping to Oz, I can tell you that this hand make would have cost me a lot more to get made here.
Thanks Charlie.

Speed is essential. By the time you get done screwing with so many of the capos on the market you're on another number that doesn't require it. I use a homade gadget that works on the the old church key method and I'm up and running
before the guitar players get their Kysers in place. If Charlie's capo lives up to it's claim it's worth the money.

Would any of you that now have one of these capo's care to comment on your longer-term impressions of this capo?