I’m interested in using a capo on my upright just to see what kind of effects it can add. But it looks like the only ones available are for guitar, which are of course too small to wrap around the neck. Is there a capo large enough for an upright?
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Double Bass Is there a capo for double bass?
- Thread starter Dave Roberts
- Start date
I remember the kind with the elastic strap and rubber rod from the '70s; maybe you could adapt or build something like that.
Did Grosse fuge with Welser Möst a few months back and sure could have used it in those nightmare octaves
Old threads come to life!
I was just looking around for some sort of double bass capo. Has anyone even heard of one lately? I would buy it in a heartbeat if it exists.
I was just looking around for some sort of double bass capo. Has anyone even heard of one lately? I would buy it in a heartbeat if it exists.
- Aug 1, 2005
- 3,546
- 1,421
- Disclosures
- Private Inventor - Bass Capos
I once made a single note capo for electric out of a clothes pin and rubber band. It was to stop my E at the first fret so I could do some high stuff in F. Something like that for DB sounds like it might be interesting. Capoing across all four? Not so much.
Have you personally tried this? It doesn't seem like it would actually work.
Get a fingerboard clamp. Bet it would work, but haven't tried it.... Can see mine at work here gluing a cello fb back on.
Edit: it occurred to me as well that a big fat zipper tie with a release on it would probably work if you can get it tight enough....
It seems you'd have to put something between the strings and the fb to simulate a nut, no? Just a guess....
Edit: it occurred to me as well that a big fat zipper tie with a release on it would probably work if you can get it tight enough....
It seems you'd have to put something between the strings and the fb to simulate a nut, no? Just a guess....
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Yes. It works in the low positions if you wrap carefully and have low tension fat strings. A stiff feinforcement between the bungee and the strings helps stop the strings better.
The problems with any capo system that works on any stringed/necked instrument are (1) it takes time to install, (2) it usually requires re-tuning before and after use and (3) it subverts the process of learning your neck and fingering...
My wife and I play often for live Sat TV programming, where there is no time for capos or tuning between songs, we just have to know our necks.
Instead of a capo, maybe wedging a small block of wood or similar under the string would work.
Essentially, the idea would be to create a pseudo nut in between the real nut and the bridge.
Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington did something similar for Freebird. He’s insert a screwdriver or similar under the strings to temporarily raise the action, allowing him to get a better slide guitar tone.
Essentially, the idea would be to create a pseudo nut in between the real nut and the bridge.
Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington did something similar for Freebird. He’s insert a screwdriver or similar under the strings to temporarily raise the action, allowing him to get a better slide guitar tone.
Being a fresh DB owner now, the non-existence of DB capos has frankly surprised me. As a D-Standard Club member I'm occasionally using a capo with the bass guitar if there's some weird cover song with a nasty E or A based lick that requires open strings.
Even more so with my D-Standard tuned DB. (No, retuning to E-Standard is not an option.)
So I just made me my own "quick'n'dirty" capo.
Ingredients used:
The capo:
Applied on 2nd fret:
For such a quick'n'dirty hack it works surprisingly well. Will be good enough for those few R&B/R&R cover songs that need to be played in E or in A (or so my guitarist says, haha).
To do:
Get a longer velcro band. Those here are just two regular cable binders which I had at home. A one-piece band should be easier to tighten.
Caveat:
Don't know about other basses, but on this bass around the 2nd fret the neck is the thinnest, hence the "open" strings sound is a bit damped because it's hard to get enough pressure in place. However, applying the capo on the 2nd fret and moving it up to the 3rd fret where the neck is already a bit thicker gives an excellent "open" sound.
Even more so with my D-Standard tuned DB. (No, retuning to E-Standard is not an option.)
So I just made me my own "quick'n'dirty" capo.
Ingredients used:
The capo:
Applied on 2nd fret:
For such a quick'n'dirty hack it works surprisingly well. Will be good enough for those few R&B/R&R cover songs that need to be played in E or in A (or so my guitarist says, haha).
To do:
Get a longer velcro band. Those here are just two regular cable binders which I had at home. A one-piece band should be easier to tighten.
Caveat:
Don't know about other basses, but on this bass around the 2nd fret the neck is the thinnest, hence the "open" strings sound is a bit damped because it's hard to get enough pressure in place. However, applying the capo on the 2nd fret and moving it up to the 3rd fret where the neck is already a bit thicker gives an excellent "open" sound.
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