Capo use on the bass

[ElectricBass72]

I used a capo on the first fret of a Dean 5-string back in the early 00's... when NuMetal was all the rage. Our band performed some System of a Down covers that were in the key of C. It was practical to use the capo to get the Open C. I didn't care if it wasn't cool or hip. Nobody in the audience cared, even the musicians. It sounded good... that's all that mattered. I used a capo that looked like this.......

 

[BassicJazzy]

I used a capo on the first fret of a Dean 5-string back in the early 00's... when NuMetal was all the rage. Our band performed some System of a Down covers that were in the key of C. It was practical to use the capo to get the Open C. I didn't care if it wasn't cool or hip. Nobody in the audience cared, even the musicians. It sounded good... that's all that mattered. I used a capo that looked like this.......

View attachment 7380487

Holy neck dive, Batman! Is that made out of pure neutronium?

 

[ElectricBass72]

Holy neck dive, Batman! Is that made out of pure neutronium?

It's a capo made for 12-string acoustic guitars. Works well on a 5-string. No noticable neck dive.

 

[BassicJazzy]

It's a capo made for 12-string acoustic guitars. Works well on a 5-string. No noticable neck dive.

Well, that actually makes some sense. Probably takes same amount of pressure to fret a 12 string guitar and a 5 string bass.

 

[loukash]

Yes, a Shubb.
All my basses are tuned in D Standard, and sometimes I have to inevitably play songs that were written with bass lines using open strings in E Standard.
The Shubb works flawlessly on fretted and fretless EB.
For the old fretless Eko ABG I'd be using a Dunlop 14C if needed (rarely, if at all).
For the upright bass – which is also in D Standard – I had to invent a capo myself (hint: a velcro ribbon and a rubber hose). I haven't used it very often, only for a few uptempo R&B songs in E or A which I also had to sing at the same time.

 

[ijump206]

No, but I routinely berate guitar players who capo and can't tell me what key/chords they're playing. Every song is not in G or E!

Get off my lawn.

I feel this. Oh, how I feel this.

Why did I agree to play as house bassist for this jam session, again?

Ah well, good ear training, I suppose.

 

[turf3]

I used a capo on the first fret of a Dean 5-string back in the early 00's... when NuMetal was all the rage. Our band performed some System of a Down covers that were in the key of C. It was practical to use the capo to get the Open C. I didn't care if it wasn't cool or hip. Nobody in the audience cared, even the musicians. It sounded good... that's all that mattered. I used a capo that looked like this.......

View attachment 7380487

I don't care for those Kyser capos. Too hard to open, too much clamping force. Modern ones with adjustable force are far better, in my opinion.

 

[turf3]

I feel this. Oh, how I feel this.

Why did I agree to play as house bassist for this jam session, again?

Ah well, good ear training, I suppose.

Well, if you spend any time in bluegrass or folk circles, you get used to all the different incorrect ways guitarists try to tell you what key you're in and what the chords are.

But then, with almsot 50 years in big-bands, I've seen pretty much all of it there too. Amazing the weird stuff that shows up on those old charts. My favorite was the part (drums, probably, but it might have been piano or bass) )that was just a piece of staff paper with "FAKE IT" written across it.

 

[ijump206]

Well, if you spend any time in bluegrass or folk circles, you get used to all the different incorrect ways guitarists try to tell you what key you're in and what the chords are.

But then, with almsot 50 years in big-bands, I've seen pretty much all of it there too. Amazing the weird stuff that shows up on those old charts. My favorite was the part (drums, probably, but it might have been piano or bass) )that was just a piece of staff paper with "FAKE IT" written across it.

I was tripped up this weekend at a gig by a keyboardist using his version of a capo, the "transpose" function. He included specific keys on the setlist, but then proceded to play in an audibly different key to the setlist while also playing in a visually different key to either the setlist or the audible key on the keyboard. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to myself to figure out what concert key he was actually playing, as my eyes and ears were having quite the argument. Good times.

I am certain that your 50 years in big bands must serve you well in all of these cases!! Much respect!

 

[turf3]

Oh yes, the transpose function. When you play with a lot of REALLY OLD guys that'll come up, due to general out-of-it-ness and hearing loss. I've had that come up a few times - he's playing the same finger patterns he's used on this tune for 75 years; but he can't really hear that something's WAY WRONG and finally the bass player (me) leans over, sees the "+3" button lit up, and fixes it.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I've used one in the studio to emulate a short-scale bass by tuning down the strings and then capo-ing up to pitch at the shorter scale. I was using a Jack Casady (34") w/flats, so I effectively had a SS JC.

 

[turf3]

I've used one in the studio to emulate a short-scale bass by tuning down the strings and then capo-ing up to pitch at the shorter scale. I was using a Jack Casady (34") w/flats, so I effectively had a SS JC.

Yeah, I did that once - I was at a jam session and there was another upright player, so I took the electric, tuned down a half step, capoed up a half step, and played with a pick, trying to get the "tic-tac" sound of some early 60s country recordings. When the first song was done I asked "how was that?" and everyone said "Don't do that again" so I just sat and drank beer while everyone else played.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Yeah, I did that once - I was at a jam session and there was another upright player, so I took the electric, tuned down a half step, capoed up a half step, and played with a pick, trying to get the "tic-tac" sound of some early 60s country recordings. When the first song was done I asked "how was that?" and everyone said "Don't do that again" so I just sat and drank beer while everyone else played.

Well, you didn't down-tune far enough and you had the wrong gauge of strings for tic-tac bass. You gotta try harder than that.

In my case, I went down 3 half-steps and capoed on the 3rd fret, making it a ~28.6" scale. I had to adjust the truss rod to accommodate the drop in tension. It was a paid studio session and I gave the producer several different options for tones and that was the one he (and the artist) liked in the track. I played upright on the other tracks.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I don't care for those Kyser capos. Too hard to open, too much clamping force. Modern ones with adjustable force are far better, in my opinion.

I've had both, and the Kyser is by far the most practical for live shows : takes a second to change positions, and you can clip it on the headstock when you aren't using it.

However, like you said, the clamping force can cause tuning issues, and gets more extreme the higher up the neck you go - for that reason, the adjustable ones are far superior in the studio.

 

[Philonius]

Generally no. I guess I know enough chord forms to shift most songs around as needed. However... they guys I play with do Crazy Train moved up 4 half steps. Learning that bass line in whatever key that correlates to (Ab?) would suck, and the line really leans into using open strings, so I do for that one song. Otherwise, it seems somewhat lame to me.

 

[turf3]

I've had both, and the Kyser is by far the most practical for live shows : takes a second to change positions, and you can clip it on the headstock when you aren't using it.

However, like you said, the clamping force can cause tuning issues, and gets more extreme the higher up the neck you go - for that reason, the adjustable ones are far superior in the studio.

The Shubb capos I prefer, the adjustment stays adjusted, so you set it once, then it just takes the same one second - but you have adjusted it to YOUR guitar neck so it doesn't pull everything out of tune. The Shubb clamps on the head stock when not in use.

I also have one that goes round the neck and uses a thumbscrew to tighten it (Elliott?) - it takes a tiny bit more time, but not reallly much more. I leave it on the neck, slid up above the neck - really it takes very little time to slide it down and gently tighten the thumbscrew.

The Kysers have too much spring force in my opinion. I've got strong hands (I once broke a jaw off a pair of pliers) and it's hard for me to work the Kyser capo I have.

Of course I don't know how YOUR live shows are laid out - how much time between tunes you have.