Tuners

spantini

COO of me, inc.
I've been using a Korg CA-1 Chromatic Tuner for my acoustics and electrics for 8 years now - I got it for my dulcimer. It's battery op and has passed the hard surface bounce test more times than I can count. Lately, I've thought about upgrading - so I searched this site for tuners.. Results Here https://homerecording.com/bbs/search.php?searchid=1653463&pp=&page=2

No one's been in that area for several years, but I see some great recommendations which are still available - some even at the same prices.

When all I had until recently were a couple acoustic guitars, it was nothing to just lay the tuner on the soundboard and have at it. Now I've got an electric guitar and bass, it's slightly more work with the cord (it's so heavy.. :p) - so I'm looking to upgrade.

I like the idea of a clip-on and I'd like to try one for my Strat and bass, but how well do they work there? Especially in a noisy room. I wouldn't mind a pedal tuner, I like the Boss TU-3 but the Korg Pitchblack is probably where I'd go budget-wise.

I'm setting my budget at $70 for a pedal tuner (the Pitchblack is currently on sale for $50), and $40 for a clip-on.

I don't have the room, so I don't keep my guitars out, nor all the cables and stuff. That's why I'd like to go with a clip-on as I could leave it on my Strat when I bag it and not have to think about it much.

I've read some of youz guyz selections in past posts from several years ago - have you upgraded? Still using the same? Got any info or more recommendations?
 
Well...your budget pretty much excludes anything I would suggest... :D ...but I'll say it anyway....get a Peterson Strobe.

I've got a couple of their older VSAM tuners, which were about a $175 new when they were available, and still fetch about $125 used....but a few months back I picked up the newest Peterson Classic Stomp pedal strobe tuner, as I always wanted to add a pedal tuner...but never cared for the previous pedal offerings they had. The new Classic Stomp gives a nod to the Conn Strobe tuners (Peterson acquired the rights)...and it's a fantastic pedal tuner.
Real bright amber light, and it has a lot of the features found in their older strobes, like the VSAM and later...though it is mainly focused on guitar, bass and pedal steel, where the others included tunings for various instruments.
Anyway...it's not cheap, runs about $175-$200 new...but Peterson had it on sale this past winter for $150, so I grabbed one...and I'm actually thinking of buying a second one since I've been gearing up to start playing out, so I would want a spare.

Like I said...way outside of your budget, but the Peterson strobe tuners are IMO the best in accuracy and options. They do also have a few other models, including a clip-on...but I personally don't find anything "clip-on" worth using, unless I was maybe playing an acoustic guitar thing out live...in which case I would want to be put out of my misery for doing so, 'cuz there's way too many people doing acoustic sing-along shit lately...and I wouldn't ever want to add to that madness. :p ;)

Peterson Strobe Tuners

StroboClip HD | Peterson Strobe Tuners
 
I just got a TC polytune^3. I really like it. The polytune^2 is good, though it's only "true bypass" and I specifically wanted the buffered capability of the 3 and its 1MΩ load for some non pre-amped acoustic pickups that are pretty common (K&K) in my open mic recording.

I had a Korg and the TCs are way, way brighter. The Boss tuners are also buffered, BTW, and anything like that is going to eat batteries, so you will want a power supply if you go that route. I seriously recommend one with isolated outputs if you have multiple pedals because splitters/daisy-chained supplies can create noise problems IME, especially with single coil guitars.

For clip-ons, I get the $5 ones at Reverb and buy batteries by the dozen on eBay. Good enough, and they seem to work fine in noisy environments and on both acoustic and electrics. In fact, they have an advantage that they don't care which pickup you've got selected or the tone settings. They can be a bit more susceptible to loud noises, and, of course, they don't mute your guitar and don't have that quick all-strings mode like some floor pedals, so can be a bit slower to use in a live situation.
 
I got one of those tuners that you clip on your guitar headstock. It was like $10 and it works perfect. It's easy to see in darkness or light.
I personally, wouldn't spend more than $10 to $13 on a tuner nowadays.
I have a korg tuner that I have had for decades. I think I spent $99 on it. I'm still kicking myself for letting the music store clerk talk me into that one and out of the banana tuner I was going to buy.
 
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Thanks for the replies, everyone!

...
For clip-ons, I get the $5 ones at Reverb and buy batteries by the dozen on eBay....

I just looked at the Reverb clip on - it's $5 and it comes WITH a battery and FREE shipping! Now that's a deal! I'd feel guilty ordering just the one item.

This is cheap enough I could afford to at least try it out. I don't need all the bells and whistles.. yet. Thanks for the tip!
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Now this doesn't mean I've given up on a better tuner - "Small steps, Sparks. Small steps." - Contact (1997)
 
I have a couple of tuners but honestly lately for acoustic instrements I have been using a free phone app. Im sure its probably not super accurate but it seems to be really close. It's called simply "Instrument Tuner" from Google app store.
 
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I just looked at the Reverb clip on - it's $5 and it comes WITH a battery and FREE shipping! Now that's a deal! I'd feel guilty ordering just the one item.

This is cheap enough I could afford to at least try it out. ...
I use mine all the time, unless there's one of the old Snarks in the case and I grab that, but I actually prefer the Reverb ones. I keep it on the Chromatic mode (vs Guitar).
 
Well...your budget pretty much excludes anything I would suggest... :D ...but I'll say it anyway....get a Peterson Strobe.

Like I said...way outside of your budget, but the Peterson strobe tuners are IMO the best in accuracy and options. They do also have a few other models, including a clip-on...but I personally don't find anything "clip-on" worth using, unless I was maybe playing an acoustic guitar thing out live...in which case I would want to be put out of my misery for doing so, 'cuz there's way too many people doing acoustic sing-along shit lately...and I wouldn't ever want to add to that madness. :p ;)

Peterson Strobe Tuners

StroboClip HD | Peterson Strobe Tuners

.. a little late to this party, but -

Although not clip-on, I ran across (after reading the reviews) and purchased the Peterson Strobe Tuner iOS app iStroboSoft | Peterson Strobe Tuners, after coveting a friend's Peterson Strobe pedal and looking for my own cheap Strobe tuner. I thought: what the heck- it's cheap enough to try and I would not be out too much money if it didn't work out. IMHO - it seems to be pretty doggone accurate, compared along side of my TU-2, Korg, and onboard tuners. [not affiliated with this company... just passing on my end-user information]
Dale
 
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