What is that thing seen holding down strings on guitars played by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam, Patti Griffin, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, and thousands of other musicians around the world?
It’s a capo, most likely a Kyser capo that’s proudly American-made in the Northeast Texas town of Canton.
Its inventor, Milton Kyser, liked to pick the banjo back in the 70s and sometimes he wondered if he could easily hold down the strings to change the tuning and improve his performance. He worked for Halliburton at the time making stainless steel ball bearings so he had access to many tools.
One day he started “fooling around” he said and that’s when he began putting together his capo idea.
He was awarded a patent for his Quick-Change® capo in 1978 and converted his garage into a design and production workshop, what he calls his first “factory.” Word spread and within five years he moved the business to a small shop in Grand Prairie. By 1998 his success made it necessary to expand so he built a facility in Canton with more offices and production capabilities. They currently have about 35 employees.
Milton Kyser was born in 1933 to Lillie Mae and Roosevelt “R.K.” Kyser. He had three older sisters and one younger brother. His sister, Mary Lou was only 18 months older and they all grew up working in the torrid cotton fields of East Texas. Their house was located in a creek bottom, just south of Wills Point in the community of Hiram.
When Kyser was 17 years old, he had his mother sign paperwork so he could enlist in the Air Force. He was stationed in Newfoundland and after he was out of the service, he was hired by Dresser, Inc. which later became Halliburton. He worked for Halliburton for more than 30 years before turning his focus to his capo business.
Over the past 35 years the popularity of the Kyser capo grew tremendously and although there are other brands, the Kyser remains the most popular in the United States by a long shot.
Milton Kyser turns 80 this year. He still comes in to the office most days and continues to ponder how to improve on a “good-looking” capo. Last year, he turned the company’s management over to his grand-niece, Meredith Hamlin.
“We have the best looking capo, if I do say so myself,” Hamlin said. “The curly cue design — it just makes sense. It’s a good grip.”
While Kyser currently has heavy distribution all over the United States, they are working on growing their overseas market.
“Milton and I just got back from Germany and signed on a new distributor,” she said. “We haven’t had a big presence overseas, but there’s a big push now to be there.”
It’s not a hard sell, Hamlin says, noting “Kyser is the Fender of capos. The stores want them.”
One of the things Hamlin did when she came on board was to change the old branding.
“It’s now classic, clean looks. There’s no more serial-killer font,” she said.
The Kyser capos are about $18 online and retail for about $24.95 in stores.
Hamlin said the easy-to-use, sturdy design and the fact that it’s made in America are what makes it so popular amongst musicians.
“We’ve got 80 percent of the market in America because it’s easy, it’s quick, and it’s durable,” she said. “We are the only capo that is manufactured in the United States. We are proud of that.”
Hamlin says when she and Milton travel together she enjoys watching celebrities like Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs and many others treat him like the celebrity.
“These celebrity people fall all over themselves in front of Milton,” she said. “They want his autograph and their picture made with him. They just think Milton is a genius, and he is.”
The celebrities also like to order personalized capo’s from the company and Hamlin said they enjoy doing that for them and for special events like the recent Kerrville Folk Festival. They plan to offer the personalized option to the general public in the near future.
Besides the ever-popular basic black, the Kyser capo comes in many different colors from pink and green, to red, white, and blue, something Milton thought important for meeting the market’s demands. He also continues to study new design ideas and how to build “a better mousetrap.”
“He likes different colors, so the capos come in a variety,” Hamlin said, “and he’s always thinking of new things, new ways. He’s very creative.”
Thousands of musicians that continue to improve and have more fun with their performances are most appreciative.