The boring pedal tuner thread

EricTheWeary

Pedal tuners also act as a mute which can be a bonus if changing instruments/ guitars and I've appreciated them for that. The few guitarists I've seen in modern times without a tuner haven't disguised their tuning issues very well and I well remember watching someone totally lose an audience having to replace a string mid set.

[Deleted User]

I used to gig a vintage Strat which was very well set up. I restrung every couple of gigs, making sure they were properly fitted and stretched. I used to use the trem a fair bit (vintage six screw). I used to tune the guitar using a hand-held Korg tuner as soon as the guitar came out of its case and then again a few minutes before the first set.

It held its tuning almost perfectly for the whole show and (rarely needed) tweaks were made by ear.

At the risk of sounding old-fartish, every player should be able to 'hear' whether they are in tune or not.

TimmyO

Yes I did sunlight tests after a very unpleasant experience at an outdoor gig where the Pitchblack display totally washed out in the sunlight. Not hard to read: impossible to see if it was even on

I bought and borrowed some others to try all at once - the TU-3's bright mode was fantastic. Also the venerable Korg DT-10 was very clear too just because the LEDs get a bit shaded by how they are set in the mounting (an accident I suspect).

moz91

Glad this thread exists, having to buy one for the first time in years! Used a rack for the last 3 years so I've had a korg dtr2000.
Putting a couple of boards together; got a pitchblack for one (which is ace!), still need another but I don't know which!

Had a tu2 years back though, that thing was bomb proof.

Not arsed about all this accurate to 0.1 cents business though, like .9 of a cents accuracy is going to make a bit of difference on stage!

TimmyO

I'd say get a bright one just in case. Right now that means TU-3 or Polytune 2

close2u

I'm wanting something accurate and not too pricey to set intonation at home.

Ideally, it will also work in line with a Zoom G3X too and allow me to tune silently.

The G3 tuner is not silent.

I have used a red clip-on snark on stage - turn the volumme down and tune-up ... it's ok.

But not accurate enough for intonation.

Recommends?

ICBM

close2u said:

Ideally, it will also work in line with a Zoom G3X too and allow me to tune silently.

The G3 tuner is not silent.

If it's like the B3, it is if you hold down the tuner button until it goes to 'mute'.

Of do you mean a tiny bit of signal still leaks through? I haven't noticed that with my B3 but it might if you're going into an amp with more gain.

close2u said:

I'm wanting something accurate and not too pricey to set intonation at home.

You have something accurate and free attached to the sides of your head .

This is not a joke - you can set intonation very accurately using your ears.

On each pair of strings (E/B, D/G, A/E), first tune them to a perfect interval using the 5th and 7th fret harmonics, then set the intonation on the higher string by comparing the fretted 14th-fret note to the 19th-fret harmonic of the lower string, and set the intonation on the lower string by comparing the fretted 17th-fret note to the 12th-fret harmonic of the higher string.

It's very accurate because you can hear the strings 'beating' against each other as you get close to the correct pitch, and although tuning to the perfect interval is wrong for an equal-tempered instrument, the same error is present on 'both sides of the equation' and so is eliminated - essentially you're making each string a reference for the other, rather than 'tuning' them... if that makes sense.

ROOG

So did we decide if there was a winner or even two close finishers?

I'm contemplating a pedal tuner and I need to know :0)

Boss TU-3 looks solid, Polytune 2 looks a bit fancy.

 

 

dindude

Yes, we (well, I) decided that the Snark pedal tuner, at half the cost of the Boss, is the best.

It's really no problem, don't thank me.

jaygtr

Yes but, but I prefer the boss :-\"

Lew

ROOG;51544" said:

So did we decide if there was a winner or even two close finishers? 

For me it's a Boss TU-3 or Sonic Research Turbotuner depending on your needs and budget. I own a Turbotuner.

bazxkr

I have a couple of effects pedals that I use the inbuilt tuners on seem good but my standalone tuner is the huge Boss TU-1000. Picked it up brand new for same cost as a TU-2. Don't gig so haven't gotta worry about fitting it on a board. And with my old eyes that big bright display is so easy for me to see clearly. Bloody great buy for £80 for my needs anyway.

+ or - 1 cent accuracy

 

 

Cheers  Baz

ROOG

Wow I could tune up without my glasses on with that one! Great job.

NervousJohn

You could tune up from space with that...:)

bazxkr

ROOG said:

Wow I could tune up without my glasses on with that one! Great job.

NervousJohn said:

You could tune up from space with that...:)

Yep, at 414mm wide makes life easy for poor old eyes, clarity is superb daylight or dark. Had a TU2 for a while with it but kept going back to this. Has it's own power supply & a feed to daisy link other pedals. So for me, it's top dog.

Cheers   Baz

gearaddict

Hmm..interesting. I changed from a TU-2 to a TC Polytune mini a while back and recently I noticed the tuning on the Polytune is a bit flakey. The polytune mode seems to disagree with the single string mode a fair bit and quite often it tells me I'm in tune when I'm clearly not. Thinking of getting a TU-3.

MattBanshee

Now that this thread has been necro-bumped - has anyone had any experience with the cheapy pedal tuners that are now out there? Things like the Rowin mini pedal tuner, the cheap new Warwick or Fender ones, Snark etc? I am putting a seperate bass pedalboard back together and the main thing i'm missing is a pedal tuner, as my much maligned but unfortunately indestructible TU2 is still in service on my guitar board.

timmysoft

I've got the little pink Warwick one and it's not bad, decent display and seems accurate.

i also have the pitchblack custom which is bloody awesome and has the best display.

UnclePsychosis

I have the snark pedal tuner and its brilliant. 

Built like a tank - the photos look like plastic but the chassis is metal, nice clear display and most importantly works well. Easily as good as my tu-3. 

Voxman

You can get the TU3 as an android app now.  Only problem is that it caused my phone to keep rebooting, so had to delete it and put a different one on.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.roland.bosstuner&hl=en_GB