CUT CAPO
GUITAR TECH TOOL | Mitch Bohannon
I ’ ve had the privilege of being able to hang out backstage with some touring guitar techs and watch them do their thing while I pick their brain and drink their coffee ! These guys take care of the guitars of many of our favorite artists and work completely behind the scenes . That is , until they stealthily appear center stage in all black to swap out guitars with the players on the platform .
I have been so impressed with these guys ’ attention to detail and all the cool tools and gadgets they have and use . The cutters and winders , the drivers and pliers , soldering tools , parts , and pieces … It ’ s all very exciting and interesting to me . One thing that I would say 100 % of my tech friends have in their toolbox is a capo . Not just a capo to put on the performer ’ s guitars ( they have those also ), but one for their own use as there are many more jobs these capos are good for other than just changing the voicing or raising the keys of our guitar chords .
Actually , it ’ s one of the oldest tech tricks that I have learned . Have you ever had to change or adjust your guitar ’ s saddle ? Or possibly you might have had an issue with a piezo pickup that sits below the saddle . How did you go about making adjustments and checking your progress without going through a bundle of strings ?
It becomes really simple when you place a capo on about the ninth or tenth fret , loosen the strings , and then remove the string pins in the bridge . The strings can then pull out of the bridge while you make your adjustments and then they can be easily replaced and retuned without a problem and without losing your strings .
You know , over time , the saddle can wear down and end up causing string buzz if it allows the string height ( action ) to drop too low . When this happens , instead of cutting , adjusting , and intonating a new saddle , try to cut a slither of a business card so that it fits underneath the saddle and then place it underneath the piezo pickup ( I actually learned this from a pickup company at NAMM one year ). This can also be a possible fix if you ’ re not getting a balanced output from your piezo pickup .
Once again , place that capo on the ninth or tenth fret and remove the string pins and string ends from the bridge and make your adjustments to the saddle or to the pickup . What else ? What other problems can be solved this way ? Have you ever had a wire inside your guitar break loose from its tethers and then start rattling against the inside of the guitar with every movement or strum you make ? Have you ever had a completely hard-to-reach battery that needed changing ? Have you ever had an endpin jack become loose from the inside of the guitar ? The solution for that , besides a skinny forearm , is a capo placed at the 9 th fret unless you want to throw away your strings !
Right before the pandemic began , I bought a used acoustic and found that the electronics were shot . That ’ s probably why I got a good deal on it ! I used this capo trick as I changed the pickup and was able to remove the strings two or three times while getting the adjustments just right .
As much as I absolutely love new strings , I certainly don ’ t want to put on new strings only to find out that they still buzz or the endpin is still loose or the pickup is still not balanced . I would rather make adjustments and possibly retune the guitar three or four times instead of completely changing the strings and hoping that I got it right !
Mitch Bohannon Mitch Bohannon and his wife , Noelle have been married for over 27 years with three adult kids . Mitch developed the Short-Cut capo for Kyser and is a teacher / coach in Louisiana