Decent Dobro Capo that doesn't cost $85.00

Dan Mahoney · Post by **Dan Mahoney** » 20 May 2017 1:12 pm

I was going for tone over cost considerations, and after 45 years of trying everything else along the way, I'm pretty happy sticking with my solution. The reso in the pictures is my Scheerhorn, which sounds pretty decent. What I like about my capo is there is no change in tone and absolutely no loss of sustain. And, unlike my earlier itterations, this one was not cheap. I had my machinist make six of them since it was the same price as one. But I could have bought several of the other styles with the money.

Greg Booth · Post by **Greg Booth** » 20 May 2017 3:16 pm

I bet Dan's capo sounds great. The problem I hear with ALL the floating capos is background noise caused by the vibration being transferred to all the other strings. The clamping designs sound cleaner and louder. Of the floating capos I like Charlies best also.

Dave Thier · Post by **Dave Thier** » 20 May 2017 6:06 pm

Dan is rarity among players with the ability to design and build or have built a capo that meets his requirements. Charlie is also one of these guys who arrived at a different solution. I admire folks like this!

Brooks Montgomery · Post by **Brooks Montgomery** » 21 May 2017 6:39 am

Greg, regarding background noise: you've probably done more capo tone testing than anyone. Now that many of us are using the Fishman Nashville pickup/ JD Aura, does, in your opinion, the background noise show up out the speaker/audience end, or is it just an annoyance for the player because it is heard coming up from the instrument?

I'm always amazed at how good JD's old recordings sound when he played capo'd up, even with his old Flux capo. In his face it probably didn't sound as good to him.

I own (shamefully) most of the capos out there. Charlie's is my favorite in an acoustic setting---but the Walworth is my favorite for throwing on my old lapsteel (and on an electric lapsteel, I don't hear any tone problem at all).
Just wondering.......

Greg Booth · Post by **Greg Booth** » 21 May 2017 9:03 am

I don't separate what I hear directly from what is amplified, the pickup amplifies everything. If anything I believe the background noise would muddy it up and contribute to causing feedback in a loud feedback prone environment. However, the noise I'm talking about is subtle and you have to listen for it. Once you hear it you'll know what I mean.

In my comparison testing the Walworth was one of the worst for tone and volume loss, probably because of its low mass and light weight. I would think Charlies capo would be a much better choice on the lap steel.

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 24 May 2017 9:25 am

Brooks Montgomery wrote:
I'm always amazed at how good JD's old recordings sound when he played capo'd up, even with his old Flux capo. In his face it probably didn't sound as good to him.

This is something I've really noticed over the years - that I don't really notice that much when Jerry is using a capo on some of the older recordings. As Brooks pointed out, he was probably using his "Flux" capo. If I listen hard I become aware of a bit of "tone death" but it's almost like a magician using sleight of hand when performing a feat of magic. There seems to be a certain awareness among the great players how to adjust one's tone while using a "floating" capo so that it's not obvious to the listener when playing capo'd open strings.

Of course studio engineering helps tremendously on recordings, but I have also been aware of this when seeing JD play live which has been on a few dozen occasions.

It's a skill set unto itself among dobro players that isn't required when one uses a good capo while playing a standard (Spanish) acoustic guitar.