So, our band's been getting a lot of notice lately (Top 40 covers, etc) but one thing we keep hearing in our critiques is the dead space in between songs can be too high.
I've spent the last few jams & gigs watching the band, to see what's causing it, and the most prominent thing I can see is our lead guitarist's need to retune every time he changes his capo position (or removes it).
We've all mentioned this to him, but his excuse is that it's the nature of the guitar and that every one he's had does this. Our rhythm guitar stays in tune through this, but our lead just seems to drop out ALL the time.
My guess is that his capo is pushing too hard & bending the strings, throwing the tuning off.
What can he do, or what can we have him do, that will fix this? Would changing to a heavier gauge of strings help?
He plays a Gibson Les Paul Studio with Ernie Ball Super Slinky strings.
I'm a guitar player in my current band. I know guitar players who do this tuning thing every time they use the capo.
It's totally unneccesary if done properly.
For starters, if a guitar is not set up optimally, if the intonation is off, or if the action is high, a capo will exaggerate the poor set up.
If you think about it, when a guitarist barres with a finger, his chords should still ring true. If they don't, his guitar is out of whack. A capo is nothing more than a surrogate finger barre.
Second, some guitarists use the capo inappropriately in terms of placement proximity to the fret and tension. If you put a death grip on your capo, it will pull strings sharp. It should only provide enough tension to get the strings down on the fret without buzzing, no more, no less. If it's too close or too far from the fret being capo'd it will cause tuning problems. Again, these things shouldn't happen when you barre with a finger, and they shouldn't happen if the capo is used appropriately.
I have NEVER had to re-tune my guitars after placing a capo, they stay in tune and the intonation is spot-on, on both my acoustics and electrics. Tuning instability with a capo applied would indicate a problem with the guitar set up and/or the use of the capo, and, what's worse, it would evidence itself even when using fingers to fret notes without the capo even being on the guitar.
Tuning stability with a capo should also be independant of how high up the fretboard you go. Think of it this way: If your bass is set up well, you can fret the 12th fret and still get a true note. If you fret 12 and get a note that is flat or sharp of the open string, you have an intonation problem (or you're squeezing the piss out of your note). It works the same on a guitar. So capo'ing appropriately on a guitar, on any fret, should not throw the tuning or intonation off so much you need to re-tune. I can capo the 10th fret on my guitars and chords ring true. I routinely play "Here Come The Sun" capo'd at the 7th fret like George Harrison and have no such issues.
Finally, one thing is for sure: Dead space is a momentum killer, is glaringly obvious to everyone in the room, and needs to be eliminated if you want to keep the ball rolling.
EDIT: The Planet Waves dual-action trigger capo pictured above is my favorite, and I've been through a dozen designs looking for the right capo. Quick and easy to use, foolproof, adapts to any neck profile if you adjust the thumb screw properly. Highly recommended.
