Review: G7th Heritage Capo

The new G7th Heritage is a premium-priced capo that combines an age-old yoke device with the company’s innovative padded crossbar—a design that required nearly no retuning of the handful of guitars I tried it on.

First a little capo backstory: This essential accessory has been around for centuries, so leave your “cheater” digs at the door. While the concept of a capo is simple, there are literally hundreds of different capo designs. Many of us are most familiar with the kind that fits around one side of the guitar neck and uses a spring, screw, or lever to pinch the capo across the strings and neck, like an elegant lobster claw. The yoke design—which dates back to at least the 1700s—fits around the neck and uses a rear thumbwheel and a padded plate to apply even pressure to the capo.

The Heritage is made from high-polished stainless steel and is available in a shiny version—like our test unit—or with optional engravings (acanthus leaves or custom text). Inside the crossbar’s removable and replaceable rubber pad is a structure that G7th calls “adaptive radius technology.” This piece is key to the Heritage; a tiny mechanical cam helps the firm rubber foot conform to the fingerboard’s radius, pressing the strings down evenly without putting your guitar out of tune.

I tried the Heritage on steel-string guitars with an array of necks, from a classical-style with a nearly flat fingerboard to a clubby vintage profile to Martin’s speedy shapes, and found that I didn’t have to retune before diving in. This allowed me to move it to the next key, gently dial in the capo (not too tight, not too loose), and begin playing.

There is a lot of competition in the market for high-end yoke-style capos. The Heritage from G7th is a handsome and well-crafted device for players who place a priority on solid tuning and high quality.

G7th Heritage capo Hand-polished stainless steel capo, 1.2 oz., lifetime warranty, $139, g7th.com

This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.