Capos

Dave Coontz is a regular sight at NAMM Shows each year behind the counter within the Shubb booth and as it turns out, he played a big part in that company’s success.  Rick Shubb was passionate about playing music since he was a child and as he progressed as a musician there were certain ideas he had to help fellow musicians and to improve his own playing.  One such idea was to create a capo for the banjo.  He created a partnership with his friend Dave, the engineer and ideas man, and in 1974 they set out to create “unique products to the highest standard of quality.”  And since th

Meredith Hamlin is the general manager of the Kyser Music Product Company in Canton, Texas.  She is proud of the company her uncle formed in 1975, and the fact that all of their products are made in the United States.  Her uncle, Milton Kyser, designed the company’s quick change capo, its first popular product as well as several dozen product designs including the Kyser Guitar Humidifier and the Pro-Am Capo.  Meredith grew up around her uncle and is delighted to work with him at the company and share in his passion for providing products to help people make music!

Milton Kyser was raised in a small, poor farming family in East, Texas.  He grew up during the Great Depression and in fact as a boy told himself if he ever had a business of his own he would have all the work done by local employees so they could provide for their own families.  After years as a metal machinist, Milton created his own company to make guitar capos and other products.  And just as he promised himself so many years before, all of the work is done in the United States.

Andy McKee’s innovative approach to the acoustic guitar established him as one of the most influential fingerstyle guitarists of his generation. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Andy began playing guitar at age 13 and soon developed an ardent passion for the instrument. Inspired by artists such as Preston Reed, Michael Hedges, Eric Johnson, Don Ross, and Billy McLaughlin, he taught himself many of the techniques that would later define his unmistakable musical voice.

Rick Shubb has always been fascinated with bluegrass music and its instruments. He has recorded and performed often playing his five-string banjo. He grew up in the Berkeley area and met many performers including the members of the Warlocks that would later become the Grateful Dead. Rick designed many of the band’s concert posters, as well as work for other performers in the area. Later he designed a banjo capo and then a guitar capo, which launched the Shubb Capo business in the early 1980s.