May 16th, 2009 | 
Author: TenthMan asked:
I'm pretty new to acoustic guitar and I'm looking for a capo for some songs that I want to try playing. I've never had one and don't know much about them. Are there different types of capos? Can you recommend any for me? As I said, this is for a used acoustic guitar that I recently bought off of eBay and I won't use it with an electric guitar (if that makes a difference).
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Capos are just about all the same and they do the same thing; they shorten the scale on the guitar. They sometimes have a different clamping feature…so get whatever one you like or just get the cheapest you can find. I don’t used capos since I primarily use barre chords. They are often used and necessary when you play the accompanying music to a singer that’s singing in a different octave or key.
All capos work the same, even the cheap ones. You can do the same thing by strapping a pencil across the strings and holding it in place with a strong rubber band. Some of the do function a little bit differently, but most people choose them based on how much they cost and what they look like.
A trigger capo has a handle that you squeeze to clamp it onto the neck. It works well, but they can be a little bulky and cost more than some of the cheaply made capos.
My favorite is the Shubb capo and it cost $15-$20. It’s easy to use and is more compact than the trigger capo. It has a screw down mechanism that is adjustable for just about any size acoustic guitar.
I highly like this capo. It is light weight as well as fairly compact. It also won’t scratch the neck of your guitar like some other capos. I’ve been using mine for ten years and I’ve bought several used acoustic guitars, but I’ve still got the same capo!
I think that capos are pretty much all the same. Somebody once told me that they made special ones for acoustic guitars and electric guitars, but I’ve never seen that to be true. I do know that there are a lot of different brands with some variation in the design. Go to the music store and look at a couple of them and it should not be hard for you to find one that you like.