The D’Addario company, known worldwide for manufacturing and marketing top quality strings and accessories for stringed instrument musicians, has introduced a new capo model for guitarists who are concerned about the tonal effect of clamping a heavy capo down on their fingerboard.
It’s their Artist+ Carbon model capo, essentially the popular D’Addario Artist capo, but made with lightweight carbon fiber material. This is a synthetic material made of thin filaments of carbon atoms, known for its high tensile strength. Carbon fiber is said to be five times stronger than steel, but weighing in at only a fraction of its heft.
The Artist+ Carbon is a side trigger-style capo, not generally the favorite of bluegrass pickers, but it comes in at a much lower price than the high-end McKinney-type designs. D’Addario uses a micrometer tension adjustment to make it easy to dial in the proper capo pressure, with the FlexFit™️technology which they say ensures even pressure across all six strings.
D’Addario also says that their patented trigger geometry requires noticeably less pressure to open, so anyone who finds that they struggle with this sort of capo might want to give this one a try.
At this time, the company has not indicated whether there might be a banjo version in the future.
The D’Addario Artist+ Carbon capo sells for $29.99, through music stores everywhere, or directly from the D’Addario web site.
