Music

Acoustic guitar lets you lock single string capos to the neck

Acoustic guitar lets you lock single string capos to the neck
Metal capos are locked in position on individual strings of the Gillis Capo Guitar
Metal capos are locked in position on individual strings of the Gillis Capo Guitar
View 4 Images
Two Gillis Capo Guitars are raising production funds on Kickstarter, a premium model and a basic dreadnought (shown)
1/4
Two Gillis Capo Guitars are raising production funds on Kickstarter, a premium model and a basic dreadnought (shown)
The premium Gillis Capo Guitar features capo inserts in the neck up to the 9th fret, while the basic dreadnought goes up to 12
2/4
The premium Gillis Capo Guitar features capo inserts in the neck up to the 9th fret, while the basic dreadnought goes up to 12
Metal capos are locked in position on individual strings of the Gillis Capo Guitar
3/4
Metal capos are locked in position on individual strings of the Gillis Capo Guitar
Diagram showing how each metal capo is locked into the inlays of the neck of the Gillis Capo Guitar
4/4
Diagram showing how each metal capo is locked into the inlays of the neck of the Gillis Capo Guitar
View gallery - 4 images

The gig bag of many guitarists will likely hold a good deal more than the guitar itself. Spare strings, a tuner, some tools, and possibly a capo. The lattermost is used to change the pitch of strings without having to retune. But what if you only want to capo certain strings? That's precisely what the Capo Guitar from Canada's John Archie Gillis offers.

If you're thinking that being able to capo individual strings isn't new, you'd be right. We've seen a number of innovations over the years, including the CapoSonic and Fretlocks. Though only limited numbers of Ben Ryan's funky device appear to have been made, Fretlocks were a bona fide hit with players, until inventor Johnny West closed down the company last year.

The Gillis Capo System tackles individual string locking a little differently. The neck of the guitar features capo inlays up to the ninth or twelfth fret. Each guitar currently funding on Kickstarter comes with five single string metal capos, which can be housed in a handy capo holder mounted to the host guitar using a mild adhesive.

The premium Gillis Capo Guitar features capo inserts in the neck up to the 9th fret, while the basic dreadnought goes up to 12
The premium Gillis Capo Guitar features capo inserts in the neck up to the 9th fret, while the basic dreadnought goes up to 12

The foot of the single string capo locks into an inlay on the neck at the desired position and the bolt part is then screwed down over the string to alter its pitch. The capos can be left in place for a full song or swapped around during play. And that's about it.

Two guitar models are being made available through Kickstarter. The premium Gillis Guitar features a solid spruce top and flamed rosewood back and sides, sound holes at the front and side, and a rosewood neck with ebony fingerboard and capo inlays to the ninth fret. Pledges for Model 1 start at CAD 2,699 (about US$2,010).

Gillis is also making a basic dreadnought guitar, also with a spruce top and rosewood back/sides. The ebony fingerboard on this version run up to the twelfth fret. Pledges start at CAD 1,699.

If all goes to plan, shipping is expected to start from September. The video below has more.

Source: Kickstarter

Single String Capo Guitar

View gallery - 4 images
3 comments
3 comments
MerlinGuy
There are already capos that allow you to do this to any standard guitar. And you could also use alternate tunings to achieve similar results. And then there's trying to fret cleanly around a neck full of holes.
windykites
The holes are not a problem. Some fretboards have the wood scooped out between frets. My worry would be losing the small fittings! I was surprised there was no demo in the video. The other capos were shown in the video.
toyhouse
A scalloped fret-board and holes/slots etc. aren't exactly the same or feel similar. Fingers tend to catch on or bump over things like extremely worn fret-boards with divots, missing fret markers etc.. I've not played one of these but I too wonder about the feel. As for the demo; maybe the background music was produced by someone playing it? Anyway, this looks interesting.