1) Why do you sell replacement pads? Do they wear out quickly?
The rubber pads should last a very long time. They are made from a rubber similar to
the kind used in automobile tires, only much softer. Like the tires on your car, their life
will depend on “mileage and road conditions”. In theory, they’ll wear out eventually,
but honestly, it might take years.
The main reason that we sell the pads separately isn’t because they have a short life
span. It’s because they’re small and easy to lose if they become detached from their
frame. So, whether you wear them out or need to replace lost pads, you can always
get new ones.
2) Do you ship outside the United States? If so, what does it cost?
Yes, we ship almost anywhere. Shipping outside the United States costs $6.00 (USD)
for one capo. (If you purchase more than one, add $2.00 for each additional capo.)
Delivery usually takes 2-3 weeks, but mail service varies throughout the globe.
3) Do you offer quantity discounts or wholesale rates?
If you are a music retailer or wholesale distributor and would like to sell Harmonic
Capos, please contact us at sales@weaseltrap.com for information about discount
rates and packaging options.
4) Your brochure says it’s normal for notes played at the 1st or 2nd frets to be muted
by the pads. Why is that?
To answer this question, you really need to take a close look at how the Harmonic
Capo works.
Open strings can be made to play harmonics when the capo’s pads are adjusted to
barely touch them at the 12th fret. When you press a string down at the 11th fret, it
moves all the way down to the fretboard, far away from the pad. In that position, you
can play the string normally and the pad does not interfere with it at all. Pressing the
same string down at lower frets moves the string less (at the 12th fret). As you press
the string down at lower and lower frets, the string moves less and less away from its
pad.
The problem with muting happens when you run out of room. Pressing the string
down at the 1st or 2nd fret may move the string so little that it still occasionally touches
the pad and that will tend to mute the note.
Not all guitars are the same. Some may allow use of the entire neck, especially on the
higher pitched strings. But some muting is normal at the 1st or 2nd frets. You can
reduce the problem by being very careful to adjust the pads for the minimum contact
pressure necessary to achieve the open string harmonic.
5) Why are guitars with low action a problem?
The reason is very closely related to Questions #4 above. A guitar with low action
means the strings are already quite close to the fretboard. That means you start with
less room to work with and consequently, you run out of room sooner.
Guitars with extremely low action may experience significant muting on the lower
frets. So much so, that we don’t recommend using the Harmonic Capo on these
guitars. Guitars with factory standard action, typically work very well.
6) Can the Harmonic Capo be used at the 5th or 7th frets?
Yes! The Harmonic Capo works fine in those locations. Those harmonics are higher
in pitch, but otherwise, it works exactly the same.
7) The Harmonic Capo doesn’t fit on my guitar! Am I doing something wrong?
Maybe not. The Harmonic Capo does not fit on all guitars.
If your guitar has a short (12-fret) neck and the neck joint interferes severely with the
Harmonic Capo’s elastic strap at the 12th fret, then there’s not much that can be done
about it. In that case, your only option is to use the capo at the 5th or 7th frets instead.
Typically, affected guitars include classical guitars, nylon string guitars, Spanish guitars
and most dobros.
On the other hand, if the guitar has a longer (14-fret) neck and the neck joint is not
excessively large or bulky, the Harmonic Capo should fit. If your guitar has a 14-fret
neck, but the neck joint is still interfering, it may be possible to correct the problem by
replacing the Harmonic Capo's elastic strap with a slightly longer one. Longer straps
are available if this is the case.
What else could be wrong? Check two things: First, be sure the capo is positioned
directly over the 12th fret and not the 14th fret. Second, don’t try to stretch the elastic
strap beyond the low plastic hook provided for it. The strap should not hook over the
metal frame that supports the rubber pads.
8) The harmonics I get sound dead. Am I doing something wrong?
Make sure the Harmonic Capo is positioned directly over the 12th fret, not next to it.
The plastic support feet on the capo are designed to rest directly on the fretboard, while
straddling the end of the fret. If the capo is not positioned in the right place, the
harmonics will be dead or non-existent.
If that doesn’t help, try adjusting the pads for lower contact pressure. Too much
pressure will mute the harmonic.
Lastly, you should not expect the harmonics generated by the capo to be any better
than what you can achieve with your hands. If the guitar is harmonically dead to start
with, the capo will not fix that.
9) Can you use more than one Harmonic Capo at a time?
Yes and no. There are useful harmonic points at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets, so in
theory you could put a capo in each position. But it doesn’t necessarily help to have
more than one capo applied to the same string. Why? Because applying a capo at the
5th fret and the 12th fret on the same string would have exactly the same effect as the
capo on the 5th fret by itself. The open strings would give you two-octave harmonics.
Applying a capo at the 7th fret and the 12th fret on the same string produces harmonics
that are two octaves plus a fifth above the normal open strings. That might be more
useful. Selectively engaging or disengaging the pads on multiple capos is also a
possibility.
10) Can you use the Harmonic Capo with a conventional capo?
Yes and no, again. Using a conventional capo shifts the harmonic points up the neck.
So, if you’re using an acoustic guitar, the octave harmonics may now be inaccessible
due to the neck joint. Depending on where the conventional capo is placed, you may
have access to other usable harmonic points.
Another concern is that using a conventional capo will have the side effect of lowering
the action. As explained above, that could cause some notes to be muted by the pads
if the Harmonic Capo was used also.
11) Why doesn’t the Harmonic Capo work on 12-string guitars?
The rubber pads used by the Harmonic Capo are designed to make contact with single
strings. On a 12-string guitar, the strings are paired, sometimes grouping strings with
significantly different gauges. String pairs with the same gauge would probably work
with the Harmonic Capo’s pads, but it would be very difficult to adjust the pad pressure
for a good effect on string pairs that are not the same height off the fretboard. For this
reason, we don’t recommend using the Harmonic Capo on 12-string guitars.
12) Why doesn’t the Harmonic Capo work on dobros or classical guitars?
Most dobros and classical guitars have short necks. Their 12th frets are positioned
right where the neck attaches to the guitar body. In this position, the neck joint
interferes with the Harmonic Capo’s elastic strap and prevents it from being attached
securely.
You could still use the Harmonic Capo on the 5th or 7th frets on these guitars, but not
having access to the octave harmonics is a major limitation.
13) All the demo videos seem to use non-standard tunings and pretty advanced playing
techniques. Do you have be a guitar wizard to use a Harmonic Capo? It looks hard.
Not all of the demos use non-standard tuning. "Frames of Reference Part 3" and the
Electric Guitar Demo both use standard tuning.
Players that use “open tunings” like DADGAD and see the open strings as their friends
will probably get up to speed with the Harmonic Capo fast. The rest of you, who work
for years in the woodshed trying to AVOID playing the open strings, may have to make
some adjustments to your technique.
Is it hard? No, not necessarily. But it isn’t always intuitive either. You don’t expect the
pitch of a string to go UP when you pull off. It’s something you’ll have to get used to.
But once you do, it’s really very cool.
14) Didn't the German guitarist Hans Reichel invent a Harmonic Capo back in the
1980's?
Yes! Hans Reichel and Bob Kilgore both came up with the idea at about the same time,
although neither one knew about the other until recently. Mr. Reichel chose not to
market his design in favor of his many other creative projects.
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