Extension Leather

[King Chris]

Howdy. I've recently purchased an extension and am loving it. besides the fine tuning of the capos, I have been noticing that some of my capos aren't quite closing as tightly as I'd like. Instead of taking it to a luthier and making major adjustments, I'm going to try just getting a thicker and or harder piece of leather. Does anyone have recomondations as to what kind of leather would work better then others? I had what looked like normal brown leather though I have heard that "snake skin" leather is also a good choice. I'm trying simple before extensive(in terms of repairs). Just wondering about the more experienced bassists thoughts on the matter.

[1st Bass]

If you go to a shoe repair shop you could possibly get some sole leather-- that is about as hard and thick as it comes. Or harness leather-- thick, but not quite so hard. See if you can get a small tube of "barge cement"-- it is a contact cement for leather that is really good stuff.

Chet

[robobass]

Originally Posted by 1st Bass

If you go to a shoe repair shop you could possibly get some sole leather-- that is about as hard and thick as it comes. Or harness leather-- thick, but not quite so hard. See if you can get a small tube of "barge cement"-- it is a contact cement for leather that is really good stuff.

Chet

+1. Also, any decent cyanoacrylate glue is very good for leather. But;

Have you talked to the installer about it? If he made the capos (I assume you aren't talking about my product) you really should before you make alterations. Too soft leather could be a problem, but in most cases if they don't close properly it is usually an issue with the angle of the mounting bolt. To much forward rake and they will pop open. Too vertical and they won't close in one spot consistently.

[King Chris]

It is true that they need a different angle of attack. the capos don't close in the same place but I thought that with a little thicker leather that they would close a little more tightly and with more consistency. The luthier who made the extension, John Micheal Smith, does fine work but is a busy guy and can take a long time to get things done. It would be easier to go to him but I am trying to do it myself in place of giving up my bass for a while.

[CPike]

Some hardware stores offer a bundle of leather scraps for a few bucks, that's what I've used on my extension and a couple of others I've worked on. I have noticed that the winding on certain brands/types of strings can affect the security of the capo closure - I'm a long-time original Flexocor user and have never had a problem with the capos grabbing on to those, but I recently tried a Permanent long 4th and found the capos slipped and didn't hold well at all. I swapped that Permanent out for my usual Flex and all was well again Conversely, I installed an extension on a colleague's bass who uses Obligatos and the leather held almost too tightly, to the point where the string winding began to separate slightly. I used lizard skin when I first installed my ext and I wasn't happy with it.

I use hide glue to attach leather to the capos - that way, after a few years if/when they dry out or become too compressed I can easily replace them.

Chris