Thalia Capo Review – The Last Capo You’ll Ever Need?

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Hey everybody,

Over a year ago I stumbled upon “Thalia Capos” on my Pinterest. What really caught me first was the unique and beautiful look of it.

Later, when I crossed paths online with those capos again, I was curious and decided to check out their website. I was exactly in the market for a capo, still looking for the perfect 12 string capo for my Taylor 150e, and reading about the Thalia capos online left me very curious to try them. Among the features they promised were:

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A look from behind.

– This review was originally posted in May ’17.

Thalia Capo Features: 

  • “A rethinking” of the whole capo idea, which results in a capo that does not throw the guitar out of tune and is even easier to use and move around while playing.
  • Fits not just acoustic and electric guitars, but also 12 string guitars, classical guitars, ukuleles, mandolins etc.
  • Many different designs, colors and inlay options are available.
  • For an extra price, you can add your name on it as a custom inlay.
  • Can fit the guitar either from above the fretboard or from below the fretboard – whatever that is comfortable for you.
  • A very gutsy refund offer: “Guaranteed: If for any reason you aren’t completely, absolutely, positively in love with your Thalia Capo®, simply send it back for a full refund within 30 days.”
  • Produced in small batches with excellent quality control in a small factory in California.

 

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The Thalia on my 12 string.

 

Click the picture to watch the different available colors.
Click the picture to check out the different finishes that are available.

So after reading all that, I was ready to give Thalia capos a try and got my own Thalia in the “24K Gold and Blue Abalone” finish, with my name on it. After two months of heavy usage on 4 different guitars, (acoustic: Washburn WD10SCE, 12 string – Taylor 150e, electric: Hagstrom Viking and a custom made classical guitar) I am writing this review for you, to see what they are about. The Thalia capo review – let’s begin:

Thalia Capo Review – Pros:

-I’ll begin with the most obvious one: these capos are strikingly beautiful. I got comments from a few very experienced guitarists who said things like “this is the most beautiful capo I have seen” and the like. What can I say? I love the bling, and these capos definitely have what it takes here.

-Beautifully engineered and finished – the capo feels like a premium product, and a very durable one – not something that I can say on my regular 10$ capos.

-Very light & compact and barely take any extra room in your guitar bag.

 Fits any guitar while keeping it in tune much better than regular caposThat’s a big one. Do you also get annoyed whenever you place a capo on fret 4 for example, and realize very fast that the guitar tune is now OFF? This is not a problem any more with the Thalia thanks to the different pads (see below). You place it gently where you need it, the guitar stays in tune. You take it off and it’s still in tune. That’s all I ever asked from a capo, and now I am finally getting it.

-The Thalia capo is very forgiving for the placement location on the fret. (which means you can place it within the fret closer to the nut than with a regular capo, and not necessarily very close to the next open fret – which always bugs me for bumping into my hands) This allows for more comfortable positioning, and it is especially comfortable in the higher frets (frets 5-6 and above) where it’s getting tight to play anyway, and a little extra room is great.

-They come with a very wide variety of pads (and from two different materials – teflon and rubber) for different neck radiuses which will allow you to find the one that’s the perfect fit for your guitar – and these pads also snap right into place very easily, and are easy to take out as well.

-It is the best capo for 12 string owners: After trying different and expensive 12 string-specific capos, finally it seems like I found the best capo for 12 strings. It is a great combination of ease of use and a snug fit on all the twelve strings. It does still make some of the strings go a tad sharp,but the other capos do it even more, so I have a keeper for my Taylor twelver.

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“Idle mode” – where it sits on the nut. See cons below.
Thalia Capo Review – Cons:

-Obviously, they are VERY expensive for a capo. So only you can decide if it’s worth it for you to pay 60-80$ on a capo. However, I know for sure that it can be the last capo I will ever need – as it fits all of my needs and guitars, and since I love how it looks and performs.

-Changing pads can be a hassle: For all of us – the concept of sometimes having to change the pad between the different guitars that you are using may seem like a hassle. I’m not different here, but however, remember that this is what allows the exceptionally perfect fit and intonation, and I found that I only have to switch when I move to the 12 string. My acoustic and electric take the same pads.

-The Teflon pads: Like I said, the Thalia capos come boxed with two different sets of pads – one of them is the rubber pads (which is probably the traditional capo material that you know) and the other is teflon pads – which feels like sort of a plastic. Why would you wanna use the teflon ones? The user guide promised that they have a “brighter” sound. However, I found them irritating to use since they move around the fret with every little bump they get from the fretting hand, and I did not feel a different in the sound anyway – so I just left them aside and I use the rubber pads exclusively – which are perfectly good for me.

-You cannot attach them to the headstock when you are not using them, but only to the nut. It may look cool and some of you may like it even more than the headstock placement, but I prefer placing it on the headstock where it does not interfere my fretting hand at all when it is not in use.


So that’s it – these are my 50 cents on the Thalia capo. While not perfect, it is the most gorgeous, most versatile and most trustworthy capo, and it is gonna be my main one for the feature. If you play your guitar / guitars a lot, and especially if you are a professional, I think it is definitely worth considering paying for this kind of quality.

For amateurs who love the bling and are willing to spend some extra $$$ – it is a cool accessory as well. However, if you are a beginner and you are on a budget – stay with the regular capos for now and save your money for more important things – like the guitar itself, lessons, amps and other things that can contribute more to your progress.

Anyway – have a great time!

-Cooper

 

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The supplied extra pads and user guide.

 

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The Thalia with a common 10$ capo. Only you can tell if the 10$ vs. 70$ price difference is worth it for you.

 

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12 strings capo shootout – coming soon.

 

best guitar accessories
Check out this article about My Favorite 14 Guitar Accessories to find other cool things that can improve y’er guitar time
Alon Cooper

Alon Cooper

Hey! I'm Cooper, and I hope I can be a helpful friend on your musical journeys. I'm a music artist based in Austin & Amsterdam, playing venues with a band / solo, and trying to learn with the most inspiring musicians wherever I go. In the last 8 years I've lived in Australia, northern Europe, the US and more.

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