Often, it’s the little things that make all the distinction. Couple of individuals understand this as thoroughly as Rick Shubb, whose capos may appear like optional devices up until it’s time to play familiar chord shapes in unknown secrets, a job most acoustic guitar players deal with routinely. The things Shubb capos do best– looking great and being simple to utilize while not altering an instrument’s articulation– are the outcome of dogged decision to get the information simply.
Raised in the folk-music hotbed that was 1950s Berkeley, California, Shubb fell for the banjo as a teen, especially motivated by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ 1957 timeless Foggy Mountain JamboreeAt 15, Shubb was using television and in casino; quickly, he was jamming with David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, and Doc Watson and assisting develop the Berkeley Fiddler’s Convention. As bluegrass got appeal, Shubb remained hectic in the San Francisco Bay Area and on trip, mentor, taping on commercials, appearing on soundtracks for films like 1973’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kidand gigging in the Pacific Northwest and Nashville. A concurrent profession discovered Shubb developing distinct art work for the renowned counterculture gem Humbead’s Revised Map of the Worldan unreleased Grisman record, and a Last Gasp comics, in addition to posters for the brief Golden State Country Bluegrass Festival and famous Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco.
This stew of musical and creative activity set the phase for Shubb CaposStarting in 1974, Shubb handled business from Northern California, and his one-time trainee Dave Coontz manage the production, initially in Iowa and after that in Missouri. After producing a fifth-string capo for banjo and a compensated banjo bridge, they launched the very first production-model Shubb guitar capo in 1979, and capos have actually been Shubb’s primary fascination since. The business offered its millionth capo in 1999 and 5 millionth in 2015. A year later on, with the majority of the business’s production transferred to China, Shubb and Coontz agreeably liquified their collaboration. As the business makes its method towards the 10-million mark, the line of product consists of steels, slides, and a spectacular range of capos for steel-string, nylon-string, 12-string, banjo/mandolin/bouzouki, dobro, and ukulele, along with partial capos, all readily available in distinctive designs that Shubb might barely have actually thought of 5 years earlier.
“If you remain enough time, someone will see. You simply do what you do,” states Shubb, who turned 79 in January. “You do not think of just how much time is passing, and after that a landmark like this leaps up, and you state, ‘What– 50 years? No.'”
You began as an artist, and your capos are influenced by individual experience. Would you state that your entire point of view is to make artists’ lives much better?
Definitely. Artists are my individuals!
What kick-started your love for banjo?
When I had to do with 15, the banjo playing of Earl Scruggs struck me like a thunderbolt, and I go about attempting to discover a three-finger roll. I didn’t have a banjo, however my bro Bill– a law trainee 7 years older than me– did. He would go to the library to study at nights, and I would slip into his space and play his banjo. I was ultimately found when he discovered choice marks on his banjo head. I utilized metal fingerpicks, and he did not. When faced, I could not think about any method out of it, so I simply confessed.
Was he upset?
He stated, “Scruggs design? Program me.” I played a little for him. I believed he was going to chew me out, however rather he stated, “Hey, that’s respectable.” It was the very first time that I ‘d ever done anything much better than my huge bro. It’s amusing how something that little stays with you, however it does.
Existed benefits to mentor yourself, years before educational videos or YouTube?
It took longer and it was harder, however figuring something out for myself assisted me discover it much better, I believe, and have fun with more sincerity.
Maybe there’s a connection in between doggedly finding out banjo parts by ear and beginning a business with more conviction than knowledge.
That’s most likely real. I had a couple of function designs. Earl Scruggs and Bill Keith, 2 of my musical idols, were both associated with items for the banjo, so the concept of being an artist and establishing an item was not foreign to me. I think that made it a little much easier to enter that world.
Your very first item was for banjo, right?
It was the banjo fifth-string capo. The banjo requires a fifth-string capo since the 5th string is much shorter than the other 4, and if you put a capo where you typically would, it does not alter that 5th string. The only fifth-string capos that were commercially offered at that time were wire springs that didn’t put sufficient stress on the string, however I had a concept for a lever that would.
Did you attempt to get it made?
I approached some individuals in the music-products service, however I could not get any person interested. No one believed it deserved investing a great deal of time establishing items for banjo, due to the fact that there was no future to it. What set me apart in those days was that I took it seriously.
How did you make it occur?
I explained it to Dave [Coontz]who was then my banjo trainee, and he simply sort of sat there and nodded. I believed that was completion of it till the following week, when he pertained to his lesson with a model. It was quite cumbersome, however I attempted it on my banjo and it worked. Weekly, we ‘d make a brand-new one; I ‘d play it on some gigs, discuss what it required, make another one, and run another round.
What a stroke of luck that you fulfilled Dave, who was on the very same page and advanced with you.
Yes, it was. It was an excellent collaboration for several years.
Was the guitar capo next?
We didn’t even get to the guitar capo up until 4 or 5 years later on. The 2nd item we made was a banjo bridge. We had actually wished to do a guitar capo before we did the banjo bridge, however we were encountering some snags, and I seemed like the banjo required this compensated bridge urgently. I stopped making them after a while due to the fact that I could not protect the patent; it was based upon a popular concept. It’s a plume in my cap to have actually originated the compensated bridge on the five-string banjo. And now that we remained in business of making fifth-string capos and compensated banjo bridges, we believed, well, no one actually likes their capos.
What makes a great capo?
It must be adjustable. It should not put the instrument out of tune. And visually, it ought to not upset the instrument.
What sets your capos apart?
They close onto the neck like your hand. You feel increasingly more resistance, and after that at the very end, it unwinds and settles into position. The very first time I snapped it onto my guitar neck, I stated, “Man, this is it. This is what I’m going to be providing for the rest of my life.”
Inform me about the serendipitous milling-machine mishap.
The device spat the part out and it flew throughout the space. Dave selected it up, and it had bent the piece likewise to the method we had actually been flexing them, however not precisely the very same. He chose to attempt it, and bingoIt was the ideal shape.
Did client feedback contribute, too?
It constantly has, and it still does. The very first variation of the capo did not have a Delrin cap on completion of the screw or the little Delrin roller that you see on them now. It was simply a bare metal screw versus a bare metal surface area. After you utilized it for a while, it began to scratch a little groove in the center piece, and ultimately, it would break. Someone recommended putting a cap on completion of that screw, and he sent us a sample of a Delrin acorn nut he had actually purchased a hardware shop. He was. Direct input from a single user altered the item.
You and Dave appeared identified to make the very best item you could.
When you enter into organization, there are numerous things you weigh versus each other, consisting of market share, earnings, and client complete satisfaction. Both people seemed like item quality was primary: If we make a little less cash, then so be it, however we’re making the very best thing we can. No compromises. That was that was the structure of that collaboration.
What are you doing to commemorate the anniversary?
The 50th anniversary provided us some additional reward to do something unique, and we’re having a good time with it. We’ve got a line of capos we simply brought out, consisting of Violet Sky, which shines like a night sky. It’s stunning. Before the year is out, we’ll have 5 brand-new designs that’ll just be for sale this year, for the anniversary.
What thrills you about the future of capos?
Partial capoing. We make 2 various partial capos: among them covers 3 inside strings, and if you utilize it from the treble side, it avoids the first team and covers 2, 3, and 4, forming an A chord. Generally it is utilized from the bass side, avoiding string 6 and covering 5, 4, and 3 at the 2nd fret, which imitates a DADGAD tuning. It’s a wonderful innovative tool since you can take a tune you currently understand, put the partial capo on, and find brand-new things. And I’m thrilled about our Anniversary Collection. These are gorgeous capos. I’m particularly keen on the Sequoia [engraved, plain brass]and I can barely wait to launch the very first strong titanium T1 capo.
What would you inform somebody who’s thinking about following the course you took?
Do not be so in love with what you anticipated to take place that you miss what can occur. I pictured that I would be some mix of banjo gamer and graphic artist, which I would make my living as a personnel artist on a comics or something like that. I might really quickly have actually missed this item since it was various, however I understood an advantage when I saw it, so I provided it the time and attention it required. I’m pleased with the musical life that I’ve lived and the music that I’ve played. It exercised effectively.
This post initially appeared in the July/August 2024 concern of Acoustic Guitar publication.