The Steel Guitar Forum

Quick question for ya'lls... how does a capo work with lap steel? If I go down from a D tuning to lets say an E... since the length of the strings is going to be significantly different, how do the fret markers line up? or do they not at all?


Pondering...pondering... hmmm...

If the capo is placed in the right position, everything should line up perfectly. It's like moving the nut; in D tuning, placing the capo at the 2nd fret would make it E tuning.

What Ryan said. Of course, your fretboard dots will be in a different place than you’re used to, so you’ll need to adjust to that. But it’s not that hard to get used to.

I've never seen one on lap steel but once in awhile on squareneck dobros, and you can do all kinds of fun hammer/pull off things with it

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=367564

this is the Charlie's which i think does not touch fretboard https://charliescapo.com/

Gene, some of the blues and folk artists would place a bottle opener under the strings to form a nut and play like it was a capo. Worked out well.

In this video from 2015 Al Perkins explains and then demonstrates the use of a capo on lap steel. He's using a capo from Beard Guitars. Then he gives a short demo on a Magnatone. OMG can he play!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blV36yj9G5c&t=3082s

Oops! Meant to say say that the capo segment comes at 48:15 of the video

Related: I've seen videos of the Duesenberg guitars with the integrated capodaster. Does anybody know, does that system have machined-in guides that allow you to find the precise fret location when it's tightened up?

Hey Ryan,

Check out this great video by forum members Jesse Nestor and Bruce Bouton. Both are using capos made specifically for steel guitars. Open up Jesse's reply to Max for a short description of the tunings and capos they are using.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4y4zNeeR00