Best guitar capos: top choice capos for acoustic and electric guitar

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best capos

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3. How we choose products

Simple yet, relatively inexpensive the best guitar capos are incredibly versatile tools and something that should be in every self-respecting guitar player's arsenal. When used properly, you can massively open up the creative possibilities within your songwriting, rejuvenating and recycling chord progressions as well as opening up some seriously cool-sounding chord shapes when utilizing open strings.

A capo is fastened or clamped across the strings of your guitar, essentially changing the tuning of your instrument in one fell swoop. Instead of changing the pitch down it changes it up – albeit only for the open strings, as your fretted notes remain the same. Your capo will also change the feel of your guitar strings, as it shortens the scale length when applied.

The use of a capo can just be as simple as transposing an open chord progression to a different key, or as complicated as revoicing a chord progression for two guitars during recording. It also offers up some interesting possibilities when using open strings, as you can use the same open chord shapes with drastically different results, giving you chords that wouldn’t be possible to fret without the capo applied.

There are a lot of different guitars out there, and thus, a lot of different capos, so you’ll need to make sure you’re fully armed with the knowledge to get the best capo for your guitar. At the end of this article, we have an in-depth buying advice section where you can learn more, or just keep scrolling to see our top picks.

Chris Bird author image
Chris Bird

Chris has been the Editor of Total Guitar magazine since 2020. Prior to that, he was at the helm of Total Guitar's world-class tab and tuition section for 12 years. He's a former guitar teacher with 35 years playing experience and he holds a degree in Philosophy & Popular Music. Chris has interviewed Brian May three times, Jimmy Page once, and Mark Knopfler zero times – something he desperately hopes to rectify as soon as possible.

Best guitar capos: Product guide

Best guitar capos: Buying advice

Capo next to sheet music, picks and tuner

(Image credit: Future)

There are loads of different capos, all of which will work on different instruments. At first, it can seem a little confusing, but with our expert knowledge, you'll soon have the right one for your instrument. 

What is fretboard radius?

You might be confused by all this talk of fretboard radiuses, but you needn't be. Radius refers to the curvature of this vital part of your guitar. Some guitars (like certain vintage Fenders) feature rounded boards, whereas others are near flat. While each has its own benefits, suffice it to say that different fretboard designs represent a compromise in capo design.

Fix a rounded capo on a flat fretboard (or vice versa) and you’ll end up with unwanted string buzz (the noise made where strings aren’t fully clamped) and poor tuning (where strings are pushed sharp from over-tightening the capo). In a perfect world, every capo would apply even force across all six strings (and at every fret position), in order to prevent these problems.

Generally, capos can be divided into radiused capos for rounder fretboards; flatter designs, typically for shreddy SuperStrats and classical guitars; and all-in-ones – capos that either accommodate different radiuses (such as the G7th) or incorporate both a flat surface and a rounded one into their design.

Do capos fit all guitars?

Ultimately your first consideration when choosing one of the best capos should be to choose one that fits your guitar. Most brands offer a range of options, so if you see a capo you like, there’ll probably be one designed to fit your guitar. 

Generally, capos are designed to fit as universally as possible, so you shouldn't need to buy a specific capo unless your neck or fretboard is exceptionally different from the norm. A capo that fits on a regular acoustic guitar will most likely do the same job on an electric. There are, however, specific capos for Ukuleles, 12-string guitars, and classical guitars.

The reason for this is obvious with ukuleles as they're much smaller, less so with the other two. Because of the extra set of strings on a 12-string acoustic or electric, you'll need a higher tension to effectively clamp down the strings. On a classical guitar, it comes down to the flat fretboard radius as we mentioned before, which requires a specific capo design to work properly. 

What is a guitar capo used for?

Primarily a guitar capo is used for changing the key of your instrument. For example, if you place a capo on the second fret of your guitar and play the chord shape that would ordinarily be an open E major, you’ll now be playing an F# major instead. This can be really useful when working with different singers, as they may need the pitch of the song changed to match their respective vocal range.

Capos also offer up interesting uses when revoicing chords. You can take a regular chord progression, add the capo and change the chord shapes. This gives you the same chords but with a different voice, and thus a more interesting sound. Pair it up with a guitar playing the original voicings and you can add a much richer tone to your recordings.

Lastly, a capo can be used as a purely creative tool, allowing you to use ringing open strings to create chords that would be impossible to fret without the use of a capo. Many bands over the years have utilized this, so next time you’re feeling uninspired, whack your capo on and try those same chord progressions again - you might well find something truly inspiring at your fingertips!

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How we choose products

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best pedalboard power supplies available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best pedalboard power supplies on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Chris Bird

Chris has been the Editor of Total Guitar magazine since 2020. Prior to that, he was at the helm of Total Guitar's world-class tab and tuition section for 12 years. He's a former guitar teacher with 35 years playing experience and he holds a degree in Philosophy & Popular Music. Chris has interviewed Brian May three times, Jimmy Page once, and Mark Knopfler zero times – something he desperately hopes to rectify as soon as possible.

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