Capo

[spinynorman]

Last night we were trying out some new covers. One song the singer couldn't do in the original key and the bassline rather depends on open strings, so rather than mess about with it, I stuck on a capo I keep in the bag in case the guitard forgets his.

It worked fine, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone play bass with a capo. Does anyone here? Any reason not to, other than it looks a bit naff? Would the pressure from the strings damage the frets?

[cheddatom]

I used to use a capo all the time, on a 6 string bass. It was one for a classical guitar (wider neck) and it didn't cover the C string properly.

[escholl]

i use one from time to time, never really need to in the band though. it won't damage anything as long as you use it properly.

can't think of a reason not to use one if it makes life easier.

[risingson]

I used one live once, in a drop key for a very heavy outro which relied heavily on open strings which the guitarists had and I didn't. Not the most practical thing to do in the world though.

I heard someone saying a while ago about McCartney using one with the Beatles, but I don't know how true this is.

[skankdelvar]

Macca during the Rubber Soul sessions...

No reason not to do it. I've tried it on bass a couple of times but get enormously muddled...Use 'em on guitar lots, partic with drop tunings. Edited June 16, 2009 by skankdelvar

[dudewheresmybass89]

Richard Bona Uses One And It Sounds Goooood:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iimMKWF7SK0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iimMKWF7SK0[/url]

[ahpook]

i've used one quite a few times in the past - if it makes things easier, then why not ?

a guitarist i was playing told me it wasn't fair...if he used one he looked liked he was cheating, but a capo on a bass looked 'experimental'

[Jobiebass]

Never even thought about a capo on a bass before. just sat for the last 20 mins figuring out the pro's cons. Took me 15 mins to decide dropping the tuning down 1/2 a step for GnR covers and slapping on a capo on the first fret for all other songs would get confusing.

thinking about it tho, slapping it on the 7th fret would make it BEAD. Stupid question but an open B on a 5 string will sound dif to an open B on the capo'd E. what would you call that? half an octave? (this is where you rip me apart for not understanding music) I know the 12fret onwards is a full octave.

edit: Bad spelling

Edited June 16, 2009 by Jobiebass

[Oscar South]

There is rarely a situation where a capo on a bass does anything more than save you the tiny amount of effort it takes to transpose a bassline in your head. The point of using on on a guitar is that you can use open chord voicings in different keys but apart from an extremely rare case of a bassline needing a specific pedal tone and a singer absolutely needing to change the key you can always recreate the bassline flawlessly enough without the capo.

All it effectively does is cut off a chunk of the neck that you could be using easily enough in the new key, theres no harm in playing about with them and I've done it in the past, just with a harmonically linear instrument like a bass in almost any practical situation there is simply very little point; it does nothing but limit possibilities.

[Johnny Wishbone]

Pretty sure I saw Mark Hoppus using one when playing "Miss You" live.

[Cat Burrito]

A very strange one. Whilst there is a certain snobbery about capos on electric guitars in some circles (nobody told Keith Richards) they are totally acceptable on acoustics. I can't see the point personally on a bass but people, we all make our own music so I reckon we can all do what we want.

Edited June 17, 2009 by BurritoBass

[spinynorman]

The negatives on here reflect my own views, or should that be prejudices.

The song is Be Yourself by Audioslave. Our singer's female and needs it to go up a bit. It's a repetitive chugging bassline where a couple of quick changes are a lot easier if you have open strings available. Though, as they're just passing notes on the way to another chord, an option would just be to leave them out. I'll have to do more work on it, but the capo was the easiest solution on the night.

>> a guitarist i was playing told me it wasn't fair...if he used one he looked liked he was cheating, but a capo on a bass looked 'experimental'

That's a great observation. I may steal that.