"Kyser" Capos vs "Shubb" Capos...pressure = fret wear?

[edman]

I owned Shubb, Kyser, Planet Waves NS, G7th and the Dunlop Trigger capos over the years.

I prefer Kyser.

[remshooter]

I wouldn't dump anything.

I've used Shubbs and Keysers for years, and can attribute exactly zero fret ware to either.

You're worrying too much.

Go play your guitar and have some fun...

Ditto 

[dangrunloh]

Kyser for convenience and quick change ... Schubb for stability and less pressure on strings (and possibly frets?)

And neck.  Taylor guitars may not be affected (I'm not sure) but certainly some guitars owners have found light dents on the back of the neck with prolonged use of the non-adjustable Kyser types

I have both and it's just as you say spring loaded for fast use. I once saw Tommy E. pull off a capo in blur of one beat between 4 and 1 in the count. He deliberately stood next to a stand where his left hand could drop the capo and then immediately be playing in the new key.  His hand only moved about  12 inches. I was impressed.

For adjustable I like the little Planet Waves NS capo.  Works on everything.  One hand with practice (maybe).  Does not pull strings out of tune when adjusted properly. I bought one in black so it wouldn't stand out and look very pro, but I can't find the darn thing half the time so the next one will be silver.

[Judson H]

I wouldn't dump anything either, but would add that Kyser, being spring-loaded puts a consistent amount of pressure on the strings whether that amount of pressure is necessary or not.  Shubb on the other hand can be adjusted to apply only the amount of pressure necessary to get the job done.  I think less pressure helps to not pull the strings "sharp" which I can tell happens when a capo is put on and then the Snark tuner is used to check the tuning again.  This is not to say that either capo causes any more or less harm to the strings or the frets.  I like Kyser because it's quick and easy, but I honestly think that Shubb provides more accuracy and consistency.  It's just more of a hassle to move around quickly on stage.

I wouldn't dump anything.

I've used Shubbs and Keysers for years, and can attribute exactly zero fret ware to either.

You're worrying too much.

Go play your guitar and have some fun...

[the52blues]

I'm not really a fan of capos per se. If you are just using it to play in Ab or Eb, that's just lazy. Playing in those other keys may take a little extra effort but well worth it. I do own several capos, mostly Keyser type (I say Keyser type because I buy off shore replicas of Keyser which have weaker springs but work great) but use them rarely. There are certain things you can do in certain keys on the guitar that you can't do in other keys ie the move on a D chord adding the pinkie to make a sus4 then removing it and lifting the second finger to make a sus2. If that needs to be used in the Key of E then I will capo 2. Drop D in the key of E without de-tuning the low E? Invert the capo and capo the first five strings at 2 leaving the low E open.

[414Ltd]

For me, I definitely don't mind giving up the convenience of a kyser for the increased accuracy of a shubb.  I haven't tried other adjustable tension capos, but l love my shubbs and most likely wouldn't buy any capo that didn't have adjustable tension.

Just my 2 cents.

Neil

[Scriptor]

Kyser for convenience and quick change ... Schubb for stability and less pressure on strings (and possibly frets?)

+1 on this ... I used Keyser's exclusively for years but then switched to Shubb's.  I use Shubb's now 95% of the time (love their partial capos too) ... however, when I need a quick change capo for multiple modulations in a song, I grab the Keyser.

[mgap]

I only have Kyser, and never really thought about it but I have checked the tuning and found out that it sharpens all my strings, so much for my ears.  I think I will give Shubb a try.  Does anybody have a favorite model that you like? 

As far as fret wear. I don't see any wear on my frets from using a capo.

[S MS Picker]

Shubb capos are pretty much the same. If you capo above the 5th fret you'll probably want to get the 12 string model which is a little longer.
Steve