Cejillas or capos?

[NGiorgio]

Since there is now an official flamenco presence here, I will throw this question out there.

Those who are flamenco players must at some time use the ever popular Dunlop toggle capo or a real, made of wood cejilla.

Cejilla or capo? Which do most of you prefer and why?

[Michelob]

Since there is now an official flamenco presence here, I will throw this question out there.

Those who are flamenco players must at some time use the ever popular Dunlop toggle capo or a real, made of wood cejilla.

Cejilla or capo? Which do most of you prefer and why?

As Richard Marlow wrote on a couple of occasions “Cejillas are like jewelry”, a pretty ornament for the guitar. I have a few made by keith that work handsomely, tighten the strings nicely and have no problems with stiff pegs. I –influenced by celebrities as I stupidly as inescapably am- use a Capo on my Conde, the classic cheap Dunlop, because Vicente Amigo and Tomatito do.
However, one advantage of the wooden Cejilla is that there is no risk of scratching the guitar or neck, specifically, with any of the Capo’s metal hardware .

[Jubilee Valence]

...ahem-mm-mnn...

I'm seriously hoping that the above quote out of context was "tongue-in-cheek"! ;)

me?

21st Century Cejilla that Keith made in 56mm for the Pepe...

I'll need to replace it when I am able...(it got "lost" awhile back.....so far anyway!?)

I got at least one hard year out of it and another year of not-so-much use, but the design, function, and appearance were all superior---even with hourly on & offs, and high tensions on a 2X6 neck!!!! :lol: :lol: :twisted:

I'll add that if not for being "misplaced", I'd only have to replace the actual cord itself; the cejilla as built is indestructable, doesn't mar/scratch the French polish, nor comes undone...

[tanolonco]

well here is my two cents. cejilla or capo? cejilla. which brand? 21st century of course! why that brand? because i make them! thanks michelob and jubi for the kind words. and thank you customers out there for your support.

as to function, the dunlop capos work very well and i have no argument with that fact. i think those who use a cejilla do it for the reason that they like a traditional look and the use of wood on their guitar rather than a piece of metal. i think sly and the family stone said it best: different strokes for different folks.

i have to thank a lot of folks who have nudged or inspired me to do interesting things with my cejillas.

a customer of mine who lives in n.y.c., you know who you are, urged me outside of my box and i have branched out into making ebony and brazillian rosewood cejillas--just sent a batch to stringsbymail. one order of cejillas he really pushed me on (thanks) was the casper cejilla (ebony body and the peg has a clear see-through acrylic head).

other creations include the cyclops (a cejilla for a 10 string guitar), the "black mambo" (ebony body with a layer of bone sandwiched in the middle--think oreo cookie ) and the "night flyer" (ebony and purpleheart).

sitting on top of my refrigerator is my latest creation-- a pink ivory (wood) body and an ebony peg. pink ivory is a really cool wood and has an interesting story--the native folks of south africa where the wood grows at one time valued it more than gold--or so goes the tale. another wood i have used, at least making a pen, is black poison wood. this wood, known as chechen, is safe but the sap in a newly felled tree is the equivalent of poison ivy oil. the wood has a rosewood look to it.


by the way jubi, when i made your custom wide in june 2006 i was using kevlar cord which was ok but for the past 2+ years i have used kevlar monofilament string which is almost bomb proof. i still have the original string on my cejillas from Dec. 2006.

ok, i am rambling--in large part because last night i slipped on some snow/ice and my back is killing me and i know once i stop typing and get up from the position i am in i am going to be doing the back spasm herky-jerky.

here goes..........

[NFalla]

i love my 21st Century cejillas...............and use them all the time
when at home!!;)8)

but for live i do use a Dunlop or Shubb..........for it's quickness............:oops::lol:

[Jubilee Valence]

...yeah...but are they:

"pretty..."

:lol: :lol: :lol::lol:
(jewelry/ornament...blah blah blah...)

Sounds GREAT Keith!

I'll let you know when I'm off my "road trip...." and can get the replacement!

[Michelob]

You are correct, Jubi, Ricardo Marlow's quote was out-of-context and therefore easly liable of misinterpretation.

Those words were part of his uncompromisingly pure views on how the looks of a guitar do not affect his judgment at all, which instead need be based on technical characteristics, such as playability, comfort, performance and absolutely sound. Within such context, however, he admitted indulging on Cejillas merely based on their looks, and went on to describe them as “jewelry”.

I am a major supporter and fan of Keith's work and his 21 century cejilla, in a variety of configurations and woods. However, I have a small collection of them including some of the more colorful ones. When it comes to performance, Keith's are hands-own the best Cejilla i have in my collection !!

[Great Googly Moogly]

well here is my two cents. cejilla or capo? cejilla. which brand? 21st century of course! why that brand? because i make them!Keith, (It is Keith, right?)

I've actually been meaning to ask you this for a while now . . .

I don't even remember if I've seen a picture of your cejillas so you may have already done what I'm about to ask . . . Could you make a 21st century cejilla and disguise it as a traditional one? So that it would function with the quickness of many of the modern capos but have the appearance of a traditional cejilla? It might sound like a really dorky idea but the way I see it, you would have both the traditional look and the benefit of the modern capo at the same time. I know I would buy one of those in a heart beat, myself.

[Michelob]

Keith, (It is Keith, right?)

I've actually been meaning to ask you this for a while now . . .

I don't even remember if I've seen a picture of your cejillas so you may have already done what I'm about to ask . . . Could you make a 21st century cejilla and disguise it as a traditional one? So that it would function with the quickness of many of the modern capos but have the appearance of a traditional cejilla? It might sound like a really dorky idea the way I see it, you would have both the traditional look and the benefit of the modern capo at the same time. I know I would buy one of those in a heart beat, myself.

A variety of Keith's famous 21 century Cejillas

[Great Googly Moogly]

A variety of Keith's famous 21 century CejillasOK, so even though we're referring to them as "21st century," they're all bassically the traditional style cejillas that he makes, then?

My question still stands, if Keith happens to pop his head in here.

[tanolonco]

Locust 777--yep i be keith. i probably could do a hybrid of sorts which probably would involve removing some items or adding a wood block to a capo but that would involve me buying the capo, ripping or adding things and then re-selling it. it most likely could be done. i also could pirate the "toggle" off a dunlop but then i would most likely need michelob's legal expertise.

i have found it takes me about the same time to use a cejilla as it does a dunlop capo--both require moving a piece of fabric behind the neck and then locking the unit in place--the dunlop by placing the little plastic "legs" into notches and then flipping the lever; the cejilla by placing the peg into the hole and then turning.

why do i call them 21st century cejillas? instead of a leather base i use rubber and instead of gut or nylon string i use synthetic string (18 guage tennis string to be exact) which gives them a "21 st century" feel--even though all the material was around in the 20th century. they are tried and true cejillas.

for those who are interested, the cejilla in the background of michelob's collection is the "casper"--the peg has a clear (although this one was made to be opaque) head. i found these at a local violin shop and had to file it down as the peg is a 4/4 size whereas i use a 2/4 size.

[NGiorgio]

Personally, I use either a capo or a cejilla depending on my mood. Some days I will prefer the traditionall look of the cejilla and other times prefer the convenience of the Dunlop capo.

Since we are getting into self promotion here, a sample of my work ;-)

[tanolonco]

hey nick, how goes it? nice work there! it is a mess here in chicago--we got about a foot of snow and it is going to get really cold the next few days--cold enough to freeze the snow ruts in the parking spots. i saw on the news you folks down in florida could see the 14% larger full moon last night and i bet you walked out in shorts to see it.

for you folks, nick and i have been swapping items such as strings, cejillas, etc. for some time and i am glad he picked up this craft and we have been cyber buds for a long time. making cejillas and such is not my primary means of support--i actually supervised a very large residential and clinical program for people with severe and chronic mental illness and have done this for many years. making cejillas and such gives me vacation money, or to purchase warm clothes and fix my wheels after hitting the millions of pot holes.

[NGiorgio]

Thanks Keith. Great time of the year here in Florida's central west coast. I still do not miss the northern winters, such as what you are dealing with. It's a little chilly here, in the high 60's. ;-)

Yeah, that moon was unbelieveable last night and I was in shorts looking at it.

I'm going to shoot some pix of my small cejilla collection from Spain so that everyone can see them. BTW, none of them work as well as the ones you and I make.