The G7th Heritage, an upmarket capo that ingeniously combines a timeless yoke mechanism with the company's unique padded crossbar design—resulting in minimal need for retuning across a range of guitars.

Before we delve into the details, let's appreciate the history of capos: This indispensable gadget has been part of the musician's kit for hundreds of years, so dismiss any notions of it being a 'shortcut'. While the idea behind a capo is straightforward, the variety in designs is staggering. The most common type that many of us are used to is the one that clamps onto one side of the guitar neck using a spring, screw, or lever, bearing a resemblance to a refined lobster claw. The yoke design—a method that has been around since the 1700s—at least—encircles the neck and employs a rear thumbwheel and a padded plate to exert balanced pressure on the capo.

The G7th Heritage is constructed from high-gloss stainless steel and comes in a lustrous finish—like our tested model—or with optional decorative engravings (acanthus leaves or personalized text). Nestled within the crossbar's interchangeable and replaceable rubber pad is a component that G7th has dubbed "adaptive radius technology." This element is integral to the Heritage; a minute mechanical cam enables the sturdy rubber base to adapt to the fingerboard's radius, pressing the strings down uniformly without throwing your guitar's tuning off.

The Heritage was put to the test on steel-string guitars with various neck types, from a classical-style with a virtually flat fingerboard to a chunky vintage profile to Martin’s swift shapes. I discovered that I didn’t need to retune before jumping in. This allowed me to shift it to the subsequent key, delicately adjust the capo (ensuring it's neither too tight nor too loose), and commence playing.

Standard neck width to fit most guitars, such as 14 frets, modern and pre-War style dreadnoughts and other guitars with 1 11/16" (43mm) or 1 3/4" (45mm) nut width, and comes with a beautiful black leather case.