K-Lever Capo

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Permalink Reply by Greg O'Haver on January 27, 2009 at 3:30pm

Joe,
Glad you stopped by the Kyser booth. If you order your K-Levers from Kyser online, be sure to sellect the "shipping options" for lower shipping rates. I may have told you that before but I can't remember who I told what.
Thanks, Greg

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Permalink Reply by Chef Joe Caricungan on January 27, 2009 at 10:24pm

Greg,
Thanx! Joe

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Permalink Reply by Greg O'Haver on February 10, 2009 at 11:11am

This is a well written piece by Gary Lee Joyner who writes for this fine magazine.

Reply by Gary Lee Joyner on January 26, 2009 at 3:07pm
I understand reservations about partial capos. I owned several Third Hand capos for many years, pulling them out occasionally to fool with them. I thought they were cute and novel. It was clever to be able to make an E chord with two of them, etc. But they never fired my imagination, so I would set them aside time after time.
I had an epiphany at some point. I’m not sure what triggered it. One contributing fact—I switched to a headless guitar with the tuners in the body of the instrument. The tuners are under the strings making it cumbersome to change tunings, especially on stage. Necessity brought my attention back to partial capos. A light bulb switched on and I took off. Since then I have thought, hacked, and chopped my way to where I now have a couple dozen different customized partial capos. I sometimes use several at once. (Others are blazing trails in this area as well, notably Trace Bundy who is doing some wonderfully creative work.)
One way to think about the capo/tuning world is to visualize three models. Each offers a unique set of values and usefulness. Generally speaking:

1. Standard tuning. Decidedly well-conceived and flexible. Familiar shapes, scale patterns, CAGED system, etc. We know how to navigate to a degree determined by our individual level of development.
2. Altered tuning. A new world. New shapes. Easy to get lost. The opportunity to explore a fresh system with new road maps for finding one’s way home. New sounds. Intervals not readily available in standard tuning. Many find ideas and inspiration in this context that maybe wouldn’t have come in standard tuning. A common perception persists that altered tuning simply means easy chord shapes for beginners to execute quickly. This is true to a point, of course, but altered tunings can also offer advanced players as much difficulty and challenge as they may crave.
3. Partial capos. Often compared to altered tuning, causing more confusion than clarity. This is a distinct approach that has selected benefits of each of the others while bringing some of it’s own to the game. Familiar chord shapes are there (they are most noticeable in bar forms) because we are still in standard tuning. Any shape that only uses notes fretted above the capo(s) will function “normally.” The inclusion of unfingered strings in chord shapes, intervals, and linear runs reveals the magic of partial capoing. Notice that I avoid the terms “unfretted” or “open”, because not all of the strings are actually open. Some interesting mind-bending occurs regularly as you work this turf. You may be playing along, getting the sounds you expect, when suddenly a surprise sound leaps out at you. On the other hand, in the process of discovering new sounds you may forget that you are in standard tuning when equally suddenly you remember that all your familiar shapes are still there. The turf is the same, but the opportunities have changed. Partial capoing can be explored with a minimum of technique and knowledge, but greater knowledge of the fingerboard and music theory will increase your potential. Partial capoing already has us thinking outside the box, but may I encourage you to think outside of this new box, as well? For example, the partial capo that creates an Esus chord when applied to strings 3-5 at the second fret can be placed in other positions. It doesn’t take long to figure out that coming from the other side of the neck creates an A chord. (These two approaches are often termed DADGAD and G Tuning, respectively, because they mimic the open strings of those tunings. I prefer the more accurate designations of Esus and A.) But it doesn’t end there. It can be placed on other frets. One of my students has gotten a great deal of mileage out of placing his Esus capo on fret four. Multiple capos increase the potential logarithmically. I have many pages of capoing diagrams that resulted from exploring capo position potential. Sometimes I try to figure out a way to capo an interesting scale environment, or search out unusual intervals and unisons between capoed and uncapoed strings, and so on. Sometimes I randomly place capos to see what turns up. Sounds that seem unuseful at first can reveal treasures after some experimentation. There is an endless world of creative potential. Mixing partial capos with altered tunings expands the palette even further. I teach a two hour workshop on partial capoing that leaves people’s eyes spinning and yet barely scratches the surface. Exciting stuff.


By the way, I picked up a set of the new Kyser K-lever capos at Winter NAMM. They successfully address a problem in partial capoing that has been apparent to anyone who has explored this world in any depth. It’s the issue of fretting open bass strings on frets that fall under the capo. I eagerly anticipated their arrival and I’m having lots of fun with them. I stopped by the Kyser booth several times during NAMM, often not saying anything and just watching the response as Greg O’Haver demonstrated the capos to individuals. It was fun to see the light go on in their eyes. Everyone was excited by the design.
I enjoyed connecting with Greg again. He’s a fine man and fully deserves the success that is sure to follow this project. We sat together at the Acoustic Café concert on Friday night, appreciatively consuming delights from the excellent food and beverage buffet. We also were able to hang backstage and see old and new friends. Greg didn’t miss a trick, eagerly showing everyone his capos…the hardest working man in show biz.
I must mention that I am also using Peter Einhorn’s new Spider capo. Peter and Greg have each significantly raised the bar in the capo world. The Spider brings the possibilities offered by the venerable Third Hand capo into the new millennium. Very cool. Three Spiders will greatly reduce the number of customized capos I have to haul around. (Capos get heavy, especially problematic when checking baggage on an airplane.)
The capo world is imperfect. It is an art, not a science. I love to see the creativity and design potential that it unleashes in others and myself. But most importantly, I love to hear the sounds.
Gary Lee Joyner
garyleejoyner.com

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Permalink Reply by Chef Joe Caricungan on February 10, 2009 at 11:25am

Greg,
Do you have a direct link I could go to?

Thanx,
Joe

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Permalink Reply by Greg O'Haver on February 21, 2009 at 11:36am

Joe,
I have all four K-Lever capos available for $35 each including shipping in US. Email directly to me at
gregohaver@earthlink.net
Thanks, Greg

Chef Joe Caricungan said:

Greg,
Do you have a direct link I could go to?

Thanx,
Joe

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Permalink Reply by Hank Stone on March 30, 2009 at 7:57am

I wholeheartedly agree with Gary Lee Joyner's wonderful description of the magic of partial capos. Since being introduced to the Kyser versions by Randall Williams at NERFA 2008, I am now known as the Long Island capo crusader. I've written dozens of new songs, dozens of instrumental pieces which I hope to use in a new duo or trio with other instruments, and I've rearranged older songs of my own, and some covers. I have a few thoughts of my own about the Kysers and other versions, at http://hankstone.wordpress.com/capos/

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Permalink Reply by Hank Stone on April 4, 2009 at 9:18am

I meant to say that I met Randall at NERFA 2007, not 2008...

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