On the Gig with Planet Waves Capos

Richard Bennett (Mark Knopfler, Nashville Session Ace)

"I use a Planet Waves NS capo all the time, in the studio and live. It's simple, works great and above all it's reasonably discreet. I've never understood all these folks using those big, hunky, clamp things with the french curve sticking out at the top. It's like they take great pride in parading their ability to use a capo".


Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter, Aimee Mann, Studio)

"I love the NS capos, I use them on my electric and acoustic guitars. They have a low, almost invisible profile that I really appreciate. I use the NS Trio for my mandola, it's just the right size!"


Jason Roller (Nashville Session)

"These capos are great, the best I've used. They are sturdy, reliable and don't take drastic re-tuning after putting them on or moving them around the neck. Job well done!"



Brad Rice (Courtyard Hounds, Keith Urban, Ryan Adams)

"I'm in tune and don't fret out with Planet Waves capos"


Kenny Vaughan (Marty Stuart's Fabulous Superlatives)

"I love the NS capo. It's the finest available".


Elizabeth Cook

"D'Addario strings and Planet Waves Dual-Action capos: Taking question marks off Elizabeth Cook gigs since 2007!"


Brian Nutter (Keith Urban)

"I have completely converted to all things D'Addario/Planet Waves. They simply make the best stuff and have the best people!"

Strap Panache

The job seems simple - hold up your guitar in playing position and don't break. But there's more to straps than that. Straps now add a bit of flash and flair to your onstage style.

Back in the day, a thin, braided cord was used. It tied on to the headstock and end pin an dug into your shoulder all night. I bought a 1946 L-7 years ago that had the original strap with it and I tried it out. Not a pleasant experience.

In the '50's it was thin leather with a wider shoulder pad and in the '60s, fabric straps ruled. I remember the popular brand was called "Ace". After that, all manner of leather and poly straps came into the market.

Planet Waves has a wide selection of straps, from the basic black polypro to a wide, padded suede model for the plush set. We offer many variations on leather straps, from metal studs, vents, stoned leather and several artist straps from The Beatles, Joe Satriani, Kiss, Motley Crue, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Who and Ozzy Osbourne.


The Beatles Strap Collection

Planet waves has also introduced innovations that make using a strap even handier.


Planet Lock Strap

The Planet Lock system is a built-in strap lock that works on most every strap button, and the Acoustic Quick Release allows you to use the time-rested headstock method and the ability to take your guitar on or off in a hurry. Very nice for those of you acoustic pickers with cowboy hats!

Acoustic Quick Release

Black Eyes, Black Skies, Black Ice

(Apologies to Mr. A. Partridge).

What's under the cushion, wedged in the dryer, beneath the bed, stuck to your forearm, stuffed in your gig bag? A pick, of course. Unless you are a digitus au natural player, you use a pick. You might even have a favorite size, gauge, color, etc. New picks are a dime a dozen (or used to be, back in the day). New shapes, new materials, new whatever. Hard to be excited by a pick, especially if you have a favorite and are under the impression that your tone and style are due in some part to your choice of pick...and, indeed, they are.

So, switching picks was never my thing. I always favor a medium for strummy things and a Jazz 3 for solo-y things. Any medium pick would work, but it was difficult to find an equal to the feel of a jazz pick. Even though I tried them out at Planet Waves headquarters before they were released to the public, I did not think the Black Ice picks were going to win me over. They felt great, they sounded great, they didn't slip through my fingers...but I already had a favorite pick. Why change?



I put my stash of Black Ice picks in a drawer and went on, blissfully unaware. One day, a few months ago, while looking for something else, I found my Black Ice stash. Tried out a medium .080 gauged pick. Loved it. Loved it for strumming AND picking. It sounded great on acoustics, great on electrics, great on ukulele, great on mandolin.

Now it's the only pick I use. There's a blog post in that tale...

New at NAMM 2011

Planet Waves introduced several new products at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim, California this past week.

First up is the Guitar Rest: The ultimate solution to having your guitar slipping and falling over when you lean it against an amp or table.



Made from a soft plastic, the Guitar Rest turns any flat surface into a guitar stand. The top is hollowed out for storing slides, picks, etc.


Next is the D-Slyde, a D-shaped glass bottleneck slide that has Velcro on the flattened surface. Now you can store our slide on the back of your headstock, your amp, the mic stand, wherever the Velcro will stick.



Speaking of slides, traditional slide players can check out the new chrome-plated brass slides form Planet Waves. Ultra smooth finishing makes this slide both beautiful and toneful.




New additions to the wildly successful Beatles guitar strap line are woven straps featuring various iconic logos from The Beatles history.



The Acoustic Quick Release combines great Planet Waves straps in 13 different choices with the popular Quick Release acoustic guitar strap device. There are also 38 new models of the Planet Lock system which gives strap-lock security to any guitar using your existing strap buttons.

My Workbox Tour

UPDATE: Of course, you'll need a soldering iron, too. Mine died in the Nashville Flood, and I never replaced it before getting off the road.

Oh, The Humidity

It's Winter time again and that means it's time to make sure your precious guitars are dressed for the weather. As temperatures drop outside, most of us turn up the thermostat and heat our homes with some kind of forced-air heating system. Unless you have the AprilAire or a similar re-hydration device that puts moisture back into the heated air, the lack of humidity in your home can adversely effect your acoustic and electric guitars.

Most experts agree that an approximate 50% humidity level is ideal for acoustic instruments. Planet Waves offers a handy device for measuring the humidity in your home with the Humidity and Temperature Sensor (HTS). The HTS measures relative humidity levels from Low (under 20%) to High (up to 99%) and displays the current temperature in either Fahrenheit or Celsius. It can be programmed to give a visual warning (a water drop icon) when humidity levels dip below a pre-set minimum. It also has a High and Low memory that tracks the conditions of the surrounding area from the point of the last reset, including the date and time of the peaks and valleys of the humidity level.

Keeping track of the humidity is the first step. The next is to control it via adding or removing moisture from the air around your instruments. Planet waves has a low-cost and convenient way to add moisture to the air around your guitar.



The Acoustic Guitar Humidifier is a compact humidity solution specifically made for acoustic guitars. The high-impact plastic body sits suspended between the "D" and "G" strings of your guitar. A high absorption sponge gradually releases moisture to the inside of your guitar without ever touching the actual wood. Refills are quick and easy. By keeping your acoustic guitars in their hardshell cases, you get a "humidor" effect, effectively shrinking the size of the "room" to be humidified to the dimensions of your case.

The most comprehensive offering from Planet Waves is the Humidipak Moisture Management System. As you can tell by the name, it is not only a humidifier, but a de-humidifier as well. Using a formulation of salts, water and gum sealed in a vapor-permeable pack, the patented Humidipak system creates a specific relative humidity by either retaining or releasing water vapor into the air. Depending on you location, the packets last from 2-6 months, with replacements available separately.


Here's a video of Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars on the Humidipak and a .pdf on humidity in general.

And here's a detailed video on how to use the Humidipak.

Your acoustic instrument needs some love and care in extreme weather, make sure you have it protected with one of the Planet Waves humidity solutions.

Bridge (Pins) of Size

Nobody thinks much about them...until they break...or you lose one. Then the lowly bridge pin gets the respect it deserves - no bridge pin, no music. I've been caught without spares before and had to use broken pencils, glued-together wooden matches, or whatever I could scrounge to replace a snapped-off pin at a gig.

These days, when having spares for spares is part of my job description, I carry a nice assortment of Planet Waves bridge pins and end pins. We offer boxwood, ebony and plastic.

Plastic is the most economical, and many guitars at all price points ship with plastic pins. They have the least amount of mass and a bright tone. If your guitar came with them and you like the tone as is, you can stick with them.



Boxwood is a hard wood that is denser than the plastic and lasts longer. Planet Waves offer Black Pearl or Turquoise inlays in our boxwood pins, to add beauty to your bridge.


Ebony is a very dense wood that will last for a long time. Most players find that they mellow out the tone of your guitar, so if you have a bright sounding guitar, try a set to see what effect the ebony has on the trebles. Planet Waves offer ebony pins with brass studs and abalone, turquoise and pearl inlays.

For less than $20, you can try out these different pins from Planet Waves. And in true "real world solution" fashion, we even include an extra bridge pin in every set!