Kyser K-Lever Dbl Drop D Capo

It works as advertised. It takes practice to get used to using it but it'll come quickly. I wish it was a little longer because I can't use it in higher positions up the neck.

I bought a Kyser K-Lever Short Cut Capo on a whim and really like it. The neat thing about is that you can play in DADGAD (really EBEABE) in the first position and using the third, fourth and fifth sting fingerings, and still play regular chords and scales up the neck. That means folks like me who have little or no exposure to DADGAD can play find familiar fingerings when needed. For instance, using a regular D form I can play an E chord at the fourth fret. The K-Lever is a neat feature that lets you play F#, which is helpful when playing scales.Another interesting feature is that you can flip the capo over and play an open -A chord (EAEAC#E). Note, however, since you aren't retuning the guitar into you will end up playing regular bar chords up the neck.

I wish I had never bought it. Don't get fooled in to it like I did. I never have been a Kyser man; should've stayed away from this purchase. It was late at night and it felt like a good idea at the time.

I was first introduced to a real cut capo about 10 years ago. I used to hack my own and still do from time to time. The original short cut by Kyser has become a staple in my arsenal of quick tuning tricks. When I first saw the K-Lever I thought it would be a welcomed addition. No longer would I have to reach around the capo to grab that once in while bass note. After I received the capo I couldn't wait to give it a go. In a few moments, I was hammering away on my 6th string. And then a sound, a sound like a rattler or a bunch of angry hornets. The lever was loose. No worries. A few tweaks in the right place with a pair of needle nose fixed it right up. Rubber grommets in the lever mechanism should have been part of a great concept and design. Come to think of it, this should have been the first clue. Rarely do I play in standard position and playing everything in the key of E gets boring. So out came the full capo on the third fret and my new short cut on the 5th. Playing in G! Have you ever heard that saying, "Guitarist break more G-Strings?" I wish that were the case but the darn short cut was cut too short and couldn't reach the G. I tried on all my guitars and it was the same result. My new toy, my blue shorty, was just too short. Obviously I must of gotten a dud. So off went an email to Kyser letting them know what I discovered. After a couple of attempts to reach someone, I finally got a response from one of the higher ups in the sales department that must have been copied me in by mistake. He was effectively telling the other audience members that this was a concern from the very beginning. That was the last response. No sorry. No offer of a refund or replacement. No word as to when this might be fixed. This is a sad state of affairs when things like this happen. Read the other reviews. You'll find out that the K-Lever Short Cut Capo was cut too short.

First off, If you like that low, beefy, bottom sound of a guitar in open G tuning, then this won't get you there. BUT, assuming that you don't have an extra guitar to keep in open tuning, this Kyser really helps open up some fretboard maneuvering by doing a good job of "faking it".What it does is clamp an A chord onto your openfretboard. From there you can treat things like an "open" tuning ... sort of. Still, if you only have one guitar, it saves you the time and cost of having to replace strings that go dead from de-tuning and re-tuning. If you are used to having a dedicated open G tuned guitar around, and are used to using flat-barring across the 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. frets to "keep going", then you won't have that option with this capo. (i.e. using for slide)However, I totally give it a Solid Thumbs Up, just with some restrictions.

This is an excellent product. I like the new vocings it creates and options it gives me as a lead guitar.

Drop D version performs as advertised. The lever was a little stiff at first but loosened up after a few operations. Pressing the lever takes a little getting used to, but it doesn't require excessive pressure. Pressing the lever while fingering other strings is extremely difficult. Expect to use the lever only for bass runs.

This is a great concept and makes some really cool voicings and chords possible. It's inspiring to play with. Unfortunately it has one major flaw - the lever is loose enough that it rattles loudly and annoyingly whenever I strum a chord - making for a very annoying and distracting experience. I've had some success using pliers to tighten it up a bit but it invariably loosens again after a few hours or days. Great concept but I may keep looking for a better design.