Capos

The biggest and best range of guitar capos in Australia

Musos has the Capo to suit your needs. Capos come in a range of applications for a variety of instruments perfect for singers to change key without changing chord shapes or experimenting with alternative tunings.

Even the most experienced guitarists can struggle to reach the correct key without a capo. Don Felder, the former guitarist of the Eagles, played Hotel California with a capo — singer Don Henley couldn’t sing the original song in E minor, so they changed it to B minor on the seventh fret.

Now, Hotel California is a Grammy-award winning track and was voted the best guitar solo of all time in 1998. To this date, the Eagles have played Hotel California 1,038 times in live shows, third to Desperado and Take it Easy. 

Here are some other bangers that rely on the humble capo: 

• Wonderwall — Oasis

• The Chain and Landslide — Fleetwood Mac

• Here Comes the Sun — the Beatles

• Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright — Bob Dylan

• Cat’s in the Cradle — Harry Chapin

• Free Fallin’ — Tom Petty

• The Real Me — the Who

• Aqualung — Jethro Tull

As you can see, capos have played a huge part in some of the world’s all-time favourite hits! Here at Musos Corner, we have one of the largest ranges of guitar capos in Australia— browse through the collection online! We offer fast and affordable shipping throughout Australia as well as free shipping on orders over $199.

Capos for beginners

If you’re just starting to learn guitar, a capo might be a strange and mysterious beast to you (trust us, we’ve all put a capo on the fretboard the wrong way once or twice when we first started out). 

Basically, a capo is a handy device that you clamp onto your guitar’s fretboard to change the key of the song. You can play more complicated chords but in simpler chord shapes, taking the strain off your fingers and making it easier to get the sound you want out of your guitar. 

Truly, the humble capo is a magical tool for musicians looking to hit the exact right notes.

There are loads of different capos available on the market but they all pretty much do the same job. The main thing you need to look out for is finding a capo that puts the right amount of pressure on the strings. 

Too much pressure can stretch your strings and render them out of tune, whereas too little pressure eliminates the purpose of the capo. Achieving the right key is all about pressure… but not too much! 

It’s important to remember that capos aren’t just for beginners, either. That’s just a common misconception — Neil Young, for example, uses a capo all the time and he’s a wicked guitarist. Other professionals include John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, Noel Gallagher and Jimmy Page.

Not all musos have time to change the tuning of their guitar in the middle of a performance, which is why capos are for guitarists of all skill levels!

When and why you’d need a capo

Barre chords can be a real challenge for beginners. There’s only so far your fingers can stretch and it’s going to take some time to get used to the more complicated stuff. With this in mind, capos are a valuable tool — you can achieve the same barre chord notes but in simpler chord shapes. 

But that’s not all a capo is for. If you like to sing while you play, a capo can change the key of the song to suit the tone of voice. Just move the capo and adjust the placement on the fretboard until the key sounds right with your voice — it’s an exercise of trial and error but the results are worth it. 

For example, if a female singer wants to sing something by a male singer, she might move the key up allowing her to hit the lowest notes of the song and vice versa for male singers.

Different types of capos

As we mentioned earlier, there are loads of different capos available on the market. For the most part, all capos do the same thing. The main difference is that there are different kinds of capos for different instruments and applications. Here’s a quick guide to the different types of capos available. 

• Trigger capos — easily the most popular and common capo design. Trigger capos have a spring-loaded clamp to maintain pressure against the strings. Thanks to the peg-like design, you can quickly and easily reposition the capo using one hand — perfect for live performances!
  

• Screw capos — these capos have an adjustable mechanism that allows you to fine-tune the pressure against the strings regardless of the neck size, fret position and string action. The only downside to this kind of capo is that it takes far more time to move the capo and can cause awkward breaks in live performances.

• Roller capos — this is the fastest type of capo to move along the fretboard as you can just slide it up and down the neck of your guitar. The downside is that roller capos have the potential to scratch your guitar and they are non-adjustable. Realistically, roller capos are better for more experienced musicians.

• Toggle capos — these capos maintain pressure against the strings with an adjustable strap that is tightened along several notches on the back of the bar. They’re small and light but can be challenging to adjust.

• Shubb capos — developed in 1980, Shubbcapos combine the speed of a trigger capo and the precision of a stew capo. They’re a little more expensive than your average cap but the benefits outweigh the cost.

• G7th capos — these capos combine all the benefits of their predecessors. They’re unobtrusive while playing, the inner lining is entirely made of rubber to reduce the risk of scratches, they’re easy to adjust and they’re easy to move. Plus, loads of musos say G7th capos are better at preserving tone while playing, meaning the pressure is just right.

We stock all kinds of capos online and in-store at Musos Corner. Find the ideal capo for your skill level and needs!

FAQs about our range of capos

• What kind of capo should I get?
  It all depends on your skill level, the type of instrument you have, the width of the fretboard and how much time you have to adjust the capo properly. See our guide above for the pros and cons of each capo option — alternatively, get in touch with our team of die-hard musos! We can help find the ideal capo for your needs.
  

• Do you have capos for string instruments other than guitars?
  Absolutely! We offer capos for ukuleles and banjos. In terms of specialty guitars, we also stock capos for 12-string guitars, classical guitars, nylon-string guitars and steel-string guitars. Hell, we’ve even got capos with bottle-openers for those jam session beers!

• What branded capos do you stock? 
  We stock capos from Dunlop, Shubb, Ashton, Ibanez, Stagg and Maton. Among our collection, we stock the Maton G7th Performance Capo — one of the best capos on the market.

• What should I do if I’m not happy with my capo?
  If you’re not totally satisfied with your new capo, please get in touch with our customer support team. We can help troubleshoot the issue and get the most out of your device. If we can’t help, we can help organise a return. Contact us on 1300 687 672 or [email protected] to organise a return, or come and visit us in-store at 1 National Park Street, Newcastle West NSW.
  

• Can I pick up my capo in-store?
  Yes! We offer a free click and collect service so you can purchase online and pick up in-store. We’ll send you an email/text when your order is ready to pick up at our store in Newcastle. Our team will have your order ready to rock when you arrive.

• How much does shipping cost?
  Shipping costs vary based on the weight of your order and your location. We offer free shipping on orders over $199 — otherwise, we can calculate shipping costs for you at the check-out. Just enter your address into our shipping calculator and we’ll give you a quote on the spot.

• What kind of payment options do you have available?
  We accept VISA, Mastercard and American Express. If you have a larger order and want to stagger the payments, we also offer Zippay. Alternatively, you can choose to put your order on lay-buy — in-store, we require a 20% deposit and online, we require a 50% deposit. You can pay off your order fortnightly for over eight weeks.

• What should I do if the capo I want isn’t in stock?
  We’re always restocking our shop but sometimes things sell out faster than we can restock them online. If you notice that the capo you want is out of stock, we will call or email you when it’s back in stock or if your order can’t be fulfilled. Just sign up for restocks and we’ll be in touch ASAP. The item might be in-stock in-store but not online. Feel free to give us a call and ask whether it’s in-stock in-store — we can organise to have it shipped to you from our store in Newcastle.

Shop the range of guitar capos Australian musos rely on

Found the perfect capo for your instrument? Purchase it online now! We offer fast and affordable shipping throughout Australia as well as free shipping on orders over $199. Alternatively, come and collect your item from our store in Newcastle NSW. Our team of die-hard musos will have your items ready to roll when you arrive.

Take advantage of our Zippay services — you can pay off your order in staggered instalments. You can choose whether to pay back weekly, fortnightly or monthly.