The black rubber sleeve is our preferred sleeve, and comes stock on the capo. It has a warmer tone, more accurate intonation, and better overall performance. If you are seeking a brighter tone, try our clear vinyl sleeve.
Replacement Sleeve for FineTune Capo (Pack of 3)
$8.00
A Shubb Capo is made to last a lifetime, but with heavy use over years, the rubber sleeve can show signs of wear, and lose some of its famous ultra-resilience. But you don’t throw away a Mercedes when the tires get worn. We want that older capo of yours to be performing at its best, so we offer replacement sleeves for just $8.00 (pack of 3).
One of the Shubb Capos main secret weapons is its sleeve material. It is not just neoprene, or some other off-the-shelf rubber. Early in the capo’s development we collaborated with a research lab to formulate our own special blend of silicone rubber, designed to behave just like your fingertip in pressing the strings. The sleeve’s thick pad allows the string to sink into it, so it doesn’t bend the string across the fret, and at the same time its ultra-resilient material pushes back — like your fingertip — ensuring a clear tone.
And one of the best properties of silicone rubber is that it is absolutely inert. In other words, it cannot leave a mark on a guitar neck.
rubber or vinyl?
With our FineTune capos we offer two choices of sleeve material: the custom-engineered silicone “capo rubber” we use on our full line of capos, or a harder vinyl tubing, which has traditionally been used on most screw-on style capos. Which is better?
Tonally, the rubber tends to sound slightly warmer, and the vinyl a bit brighter. Not dramatically different, but perhaps enough to determine your preference.
Besides tone, there is the question of intonation, and here our capo rubber sleeve has the advantage. Its resilience keeps it from bending the string over the fret, so the string is more relaxed, and its pitch is not distorted.
And then there is the feel of the capo’s closing action. When tightening the screw, the resilience of the rubber sleeve produces a more gradual application of pressure, allowing for a finer adjustment. It’s easier to dial in that “just right” pressure, making it truly a fine tune capo. When you tighten the screw with a vinyl sleeve, it reaches its full pressure almost immediately with very little room for adjustment. This could be an advantage in speed, but a disadvantage in nuanced pressure.
Longevity. The harder vinyl may seem like it would last longer. But in fact, the capo rubber’s property of superior recovery means that it doesn’t retain the string impressions that can cause a vinyl sleeve to wear prematurely.
Overall, for all its plusses above, we prefer and recommend our black capo rubber sleeve, and it comes standard on all of our capos. But if you are seeking a brighter tone, vinyl may be for you. If your budget has room for two FineTune capos, one of each would be sweet.