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How many people don't own or use a tuner?

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  • The only pedal you NEED on a pedal board.
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  • IvisonGuitarsIvisonGuitars Frets: 6838
    tFB Trader
    I often sound like I don't own or use a tuner......
    http://www.ivisonguitars.com
    (formerly miserneil)
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  • mike257mike257 Frets: 374
    MattFGBI said:
    I do a fair bit of engineering and it makes me sad the number of bands that don't have tuners.
    This. It utterly blows my mind how many guitarists will turn up to play a gig and not have one. No gigging musician should be without the means to tune their instrument on stage.  I've seen bands where there's one tuner up there between three players and they're popping and banging unplugging from amps to use each others, or tuning to each others open strings mid gig. Cringeworthy. Sometimes they've clearly spent a fortune on the rest of their rig too.

    It's times like that I love being the man with his fingers on the 'mute' buttons.
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  • brownovichbrownovich Frets: 417
    It's staggering isn't it. Not only should you have a tuner, but someone in the band should have a spare!

    I've got one on my pedal board and a clip on Korg thing in my bag for emergencies. Failing that? iPhone!
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  • fretfinderfretfinder Frets: 4978
    edited August 2015
    The third most important electric guitar accessory ever, after a lead and a strap. :)
    250+ positive trading feedbacks: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57830/
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  • NeilNeil Frets: 3594
    Philly_Q said:
    I've had one of these since 1982 and I've only had to change the battery 3 or 4 times.  I've got a Pitchblack pedal too.

    image
    £60?
    :-O

    Kids today don't know how lucky they are with the cheap accurate stuff available nowadays.

    I have a similar model to yours, a JHS GT1000 that cost £20 in the '80's.

    A wonderful revelation after relying on tuning forks and pitch pipes previously.

    This is it (not my pic though)


    image

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  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22515
    edited August 2015
    @Neil  The Justina in the picture isn't mine, but it's identical, although mine has gone from grey to a sort of nicotine yellow colour over the years, I think from sunlight.  I still have the plastic box for mine but I don't think I ever had the outer cardboard box.  

    I remember the advert in Guitar Player featuring Tom Crain from the Charlie Daniels Band.  

    I don't know whether that $59.95 was the original price, or someone selling it later as an "antique".  Can't remember what mine cost me, maybe about £20-£25?  I do remember I bought a TS-9 around the same time, I think that was £39.

    Ah, they built things to last in those days.....

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  • TeetonetalTeetonetal Frets: 7801
    Tuner is essential - if giging under lights, you need to tune a lot and even for those who can tune by ear, tuning with so much ambient noise is hard. Not to mention that a good tuner pedal cuts the output. I tune in every break between songs.

    Nothing worse than seeing one band member tuning another band members guitar by ear, mid way through set with sound on...
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    It's not the tuner (or lack of) that's the issue, it's being out of tune. If you can tune by ear then you don't need a tuner. Classical musicians have managed fine for centuries.

    But tuning by ear on a noisy stage is not always easy. So I use a tuner for anything where I won't be able to hear myself or the other musicians to tune to them.

    Unlike a lot of people I don't object to hearing a musician tuning on stage either, as long as it's quick and sounds good. It often isn't and doesn't...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26743
    The other guitarist in my old band didn't use a pedal tuner, but had a welll-setup PRS that very rarely drifted out of tune, and it sounded fine. 

    Conversely, I've seen plenty of guys with tuners who still manage to play out of tune.

    Key thing is being in tune, and often a tuner allows you to do that in a noisy bar in the space of a few seconds. For that, they're priceless.
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • I've been to gigs recently where the band has spent a minute or so between songs tuning guitars, with no chat and it really breaks the flow of the show.

    Demonstrates the inexperience of the musicians too unfortunately.
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  • Rowby1Rowby1 Frets: 1258

    There's just no excuse for not being in tune.

    If you can't do it by ear either because your ear for pitch isn't up to it or because of background noise, buy a tuner!

    I have a reasonable ear so in a reasonably quiet environment I can tune by ear, no problem. But at a gig, with lots of background noise and not wanting to inflict my tuning noise on the audience, a tuners vital.

    I don't understand why so many players just don't bother.

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  • tbmtbm Frets: 578
    Was in a band with a guy once. Great lad. Didn't have a tuner. Used to take an A off me and tune from that. Was NEVER properly in tune. Used to drive me bananas. Me the drummer and bass player ended up buying him a tuner. If you're going to be playing with other people a tuner is essential. Even if you've perfect pitch you'll be doing well to pick out your E string during a noisey song.

    Noise, randomness, ballistic uncertainty.
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  • IamnobodyIamnobody Frets: 6887
    I'll just leave this here...

    image

    :D
    Previously known as stevebrum
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  • Rowby1Rowby1 Frets: 1258
    The other guitarist in my old band didn't use a pedal tuner, but had a welll-setup PRS that very rarely drifted out of tune, and it sounded fine. 

    Conversely, I've seen plenty of guys with tuners who still manage to play out of tune.

    Key thing is being in tune, and often a tuner allows you to do that in a noisy bar in the space of a few seconds. For that, they're priceless.
    I think buy a tuner (and learn how to use it) is probably the thing.
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  • I always used a tuning fork until I found myself in situations where I couldn't hear to tune up, or where you were expected to tune up off-stage before walking on, instead of walking on and then plugging in to tune up.

    tbh, I don't see the problem with tuning up on stage, orchestras do it. But someone else said to me the punters turn up to hear you play the music they don't pay to hear you tune up.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    Most people don't even own a guitar.

    poor bastards.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700

    I carry a Korg plug-in tuner to Jam nights, I know my guitars stay in tune pretty well anyway. So for a 3-song set no problems.

    On the board (when I can be arsed to put it back together) or if I ever gig (not likely anytime soon) I have a Boss TU-3 which would be on the board, No Question about it.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Our bassist doesn't have a tuner, just seems content that if he tunes it at home it will stay in tune. Which it does seem to; worries me though!
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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