Tuner I can stick on a Boss Katana Gen3

AndylikesNOFX

Went to look at guitars and ended up buying a new home amp after playing through one in PMT. I do believe I’ve followed the crowd and a Boss Katana 3 is being delivered Tuesday. 

The only thing I’ll miss about the Crate GLX60 which is being donated to the school is the Crate has a built in tuner which I do use quite a lot. So I need a tuner solution. I’ve seen hacks where after much faffing about it’s possible to get a tuner working through the boss software but changing all the settings and pressing buttons 18times isn’t the utility I’m after. 

The kids have taken and lost/broken 3 good clip on tuners I have for my acoustic and will likely ramp up that effort without a tuner on the amp despite my shouting about their lack of care and respect. 

I tend to sit cross legged on the floor near the amp and mess about with alternative tunings so I do use a tuner a lot but don’t need a pedal. 

Ideally I’d have a tuner that I can stick on the side of the  amp - with Velcro pads if needs be with a line out of and back into the amp or something similar. Is anyone aware of such a device?

skunkwerx

A boss tu3 is a great pedal, excellent/transparent buffer too and accurate and also fairly cheap. But its a pedal.
boss also do an inline box thats always on but buffer wise, its not as good I've heard. 

If you have a smartphone the fender tuning app is free and pretty good. 

I've never really liked clip ons, they dont seem as fast/accurate and always need their batteries changing. 

But I've heard good things about the TC unitune. 

skunkwerx

Also depending, but if you havent already get a usb cable and definately hook the katana up to your pc to explore tone studio. 

Now, if you do that and use a DAW, you dont even need to be recording or what not but you can get tuner plug ins.

JayGee

Of all the things which are good and bad (let’s not start that argument again…) about my (Gen 1) Katana the one thing I’ll never, ever, ever understand is why Boss didn’t build a tuner function into it somewhere, and why it is that after two major revisions they still haven’t given it one…

I’ve seen the big Korg Pitchblack and other full width 19” rack tuners pop up secondhand at very reasonable prices from time to time - if I was looking for something to sit on top of (or at the side of) an amp, which I could read clearly from a distance, and which wasn’t going to go missing easily I think I’d be on the lookout for something like that…

AndylikesNOFX

skunkwerx said:

A boss tu3 is a great pedal, excellent/transparent buffer too and accurate and also fairly cheap. But its a pedal.
boss also do an inline box thats always on but buffer wise, its not as good I've heard. 

If you have a smartphone the fender tuning app is free and pretty good. 

I've never really liked clip ons, they dont seem as fast/accurate and always need their batteries changing. 

But I've heard good things about the TC unitune. 

I’ve loaded up the fender app and now not clear why I’ve not been using that - well I am clear - I’m 56 and analogue. I had a grumble about alt tunings until I noted the menu of alt tunings had all the ones I use!!

AndylikesNOFX

skunkwerx said:

Also depending, but if you havent already get a usb cable and definately hook the katana up to your pc to explore tone studio. 

Now, if you do that and use a DAW, you dont even need to be recording or what not but you can get tuner plug ins.

I don’t use a daw or a lap top with my guitar. My 16 year old multi instrumental / grade 8 piano daughter on the other hand has a scarlet etc and writes and records a lot so this is good to know.

AndylikesNOFX

I should say thanks for these responses - this has been of massive help. 

BillDL

The most reliable and accurate electronic tuner I've ever had is the Boss TU-12 chromatic tuner that I bought around 1983 or 1984.  The larger of the moulded ABS Boss pedal cases that were sold made provision for the tuner with a space at the top right.  It has a built-in microphone that makes it ideal for tuning acoustic instruments.  The analogue needle on the clear lit window responds quickly and accurately.  Until I acquired a pedal case I used to sit it on top of my amp and just loop the guitar cable through the handle first so that it didn't tug the tuner off the amp.  It's still the tuner I use for everything in my house including intonation during setups and repairs.

It was discontinued and superseded by the TU-12H with a slightly greater frequency range (I think) and the last iteration was the TU-12EX that further extends the pitch range and takes higher powered AAA size batteries but is otherwise just a cosmetically changed original.

If you can pick up a very good condition and fully functional TU-12 or TU-12H on eBay or other classified sales place in the UK for about £35 to £40 you should have a good reliable tuner that runs on an internal 9v battery (different batteries for the TU-12EX) or from a 9V DC power adapter, and it could be stuck anywhere with velcro if you wanted.  The only drawbacks, if you can call them drawbacks, are that the on/off switch is a slider and would be inconvenient for live playing and that it doesn't have an automatic power shut-off.

PAL

I clipped a TC-Electronic Unitune to the handle of my Katana and it worked fine.

ScreamingDave

How about this?

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/BOSS-TU-3S-Chromatic-Tuner/1JDO

CarbonCopy

Pedaltrain Space Saving Tuner?

It could stick on the side of an amp vertically, and a short patch cable to the input, and the cable from your guitar into the input of the tuner. I think it would always be on and you would need a 9v power supply.