difference btw fender pt-100 and boss-tu2

[Fetusborg]

hello all
i currently own the pt-100
but its hasseling me lately.
its not dead on accurate when i tune... always skipping about 10 or even 20 cents off center.

so i would like to know if the boss-tu2 is dead on accurate?
or do all tuners have this problem?
ive only owned the pt-100

thanks!
i want to upgrade.

 

[kahuna]

I've had a BOSS TU 12 for years - works great.

 

[Big Kenny]

petersen strobo stomp

 

[mrT]

I used mine to set intonation so I guess it worked alright... until it burned up in a fire.

 

[hoops]

I like the Boss TU-2. I use it on the strobe setting. Really accurate.

 

[89gtsleeper]

Damn, 10-20 cents... that's not good at all. Best piece of advice, learn to use the best tuner you'll ever find... your ears. I won't use tuners. They are deceiving and if your guitar has even the slightest intonation problems, the open tuning can be perfect and all other notes are bleh... My ears tell me the truth and they have a very good relationship with my instruments.

 

[89gtsleeper]

Oh and on the tuner you have now, when was the last time you changed batteries? When they start to run low, they do weird things like that.

 

[Lt. Bob]

I've been a piano tuner for 30+ years and unless you spend the big bucks I've spent on really good tuners, they all vary a small amount. But 10 or 20 cents is a lot and cheap tuners like that Fender do tend to vary enough to be a big deal.
I use TU-2 for gigs and find it to be fine .... it's definitely a lot better than that Fender. The Strobostomp is better and you can even go like I have and spend about $800 on a first rate tuner though it's not neccessary for gigging.
As for relying on ears ..... after 30 years of tuning 3-5 pianos a day, my ears are as good as anyones' anywhere and I use a tuner on stage. It's quicker and more reliable. Your ears change from day to day and your perception of what's in tune changes with them. As 86 mentions ....just tuning the open strings doesn't usually get a git to sound good, but that would be the case if you used your ears to tune the open strings only.
It's not the tuner that doesn't get the git in tune, it's the flawed process of only tuning open strings. When people use just their ears to tune they usually tune at various frets and chords and positions which is why it'll sound better. If you do the same thing with a tuner you'll get those same better results and a good tuner is flat out more accurate than virtually everyones' ears.
From time to time I'll play with people who refuse to use tuners and except for an occassional fiddle player, it's almost always a drag. They take forever, they tune incessently between every song, and it almost never sounds as good as they insist it does. Sometimes it's horrible.
Basically, anyone I hire gets one gig to do it their way, if they manage to make it sound good (rare but it does happen) then I don't care. But usually I end up telling them to use my tuner the next gig or go home.

 

[gbdweller]

Damn, 10-20 cents... that's not good at all. Best piece of advice, learn to use the best tuner you'll ever find... your ears. I won't use tuners. They are deceiving and if your guitar has even the slightest intonation problems, the open tuning can be perfect and all other notes are bleh... My ears tell me the truth and they have a very good relationship with my instruments.

I agree with the ear thing, but IMHO, a good tuner is a must in a live situation. You need to tune quick to avoid dead time between songs and you need to do it quietly/silently to avoid sounding unprofessional. There's nothing more annoying than audible, nervous tuning between songs. The TU2 is great because of the mute function. I use the mute to control feedback between certain songs as well. Some rooms just want to feedback and my 5150 can be a little ornery at times.

The TU2 is also a workhorse. I've been using mine on stage for years now and the only problems I've had were the occasional dead battery. Not bad for under $100.

 

[hoops]

I agree with the ear thing, but IMHO, a good tuner is a must in a live situation. You need to tune quick to avoid dead time between songs and you need to do it quietly/silently to avoid sounding unprofessional. There's nothing more annoying than audible, nervous tuning between songs. The TU2 is great because of the mute function. I use the mute to control feedback between certain songs as well. Some rooms just want to feedback and my 5150 can be a little ornery at times.

The TU2 is also a workhorse. I've been using mine on stage for years now and the only problems I've had were the occasional dead battery. Not bad for under $100.

Some more great features listed here from this post about the TU-2.

 

[Fetusborg]

niiiice
thank you all for the replies

i just put in an order for the tu-2.
gonna upgrade definitely.

and using my ears... not quite ready yet haha
its an acquired practice... and im still acquiring

thank you all !

 

[mrT]

There's nothing more annoying than audible, nervous tuning between songs.

??? I see this all the time. Pro and amateur alike. Guitars go out of tune. Nothing unprofessional about sounding good.

 

[Lt. Bob]

??? I see this all the time. Pro and amateur alike. Guitars go out of tune. Nothing unprofessional about sounding good.

No but there is something unprofessional about letting the process be audible or obvious to the audience or dragging it out where there's a long pause as you do it.. All you have to do is have a tuner with a mute like the TU-2 and learn to use it well.
I'm always in tune and no one ever notices me tuning. You can do it very quickly without anyone knowing you're doing it with the right equipment and being comfortable with using it.

 

[mrT]

No but there is something unprofessional about letting the process be audible or obvious to the audience or dragging it out where there's a long pause as you do it.. All you have to do is have a tuner with a mute like the TU-2 and learn to use it well.
I'm always in tune and no one ever notices me tuning. You can do it very quickly without anyone knowing you're doing it with the right equipment and being comfortable with using it.

To each his own but I've never been turned off to a band or thought them unproffesional for tuning during a set.

 

[lbanks]

Either get The Strobo Stomp, or buy my Sabine Rack tuner.

 

[Lt. Bob]

To each his own but I've never been turned off to a band or thought them unproffesional for tuning during a set.

Well, I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I certainly keep my guitar in tune as I specifically said above and, of course, a band that's out of tune sucks too bad to be listened to as I also alluded to when I mentioned how many 'ear-tuners' weren't as good as they thought they were.
I am a piano tuner ya'know so I'm probably way more sensitive to tuning issues than most.
What I'm talking about is what was referred to by someone in this thread (too lazy to scroll back and find the name ) and that's constant nervous tuning and taking forever to do what should be a very quick thing. Dead air time on stage is a bad thing and also ..... * ding ding ding ding* loud enough to detract from what the frontman might be saying or that catches your attention between each and every song gets to be like an irritating phone conversation in the row behind you while you're trying to listen to the show. A very brief thing ..... no problem .... but when it goes on and on it starts to drive you nuts.
And any git player nowadays should have a decent tuner and almost all decent tuners come with a mute function so it's not hard to be unobtrusive with it.
I agree that an out of tune player is way more irritating ...... I'm just saying that you can stay in tune without it getting as much attention as the music.
You virtually never hear the real pros obviously tuning although they clearly have to do so ...... they just do it on the QT. Of course, they often just have a roadie hand them another git. Wish I could afford that!
But I'm really not talking about tuning ...... I'm talking about doing a poor job of getting it done in an efficient manner.

 

[mrT]

I know what you mean. let me rephrase that...

I've never been turned off to a band that quickly tuned their instruments without a mute on the tuner. Now if they are taking for fucking ever and being annoying doing it That's a different story.

 

[ggunn]

I know what you mean. let me rephrase that...

I've never been turned off to a band that quickly tuned their instruments without a mute on the tuner. Now if they are taking for fucking ever and being annoying doing it That's a different story.

I once saw a band in Houston (Really Red, if anybody in Hews Town remembers them) where the guitar player was out of tune, and the band wouldn't stop and let him fix it, so he kept trying to tune by holding sustained notes and tweaking the tuners. Unsurprisingly, that only made things worse. By the end of their set he was so far off I couldn't tell what chords he was trying to play, and while the rest of the band was holding the last note, he hurled his SG into the audience.

 

[Lt. Bob]

I once saw a band in Houston (Really Red, if anybody in Hews Town remembers them) where the guitar player was out of tune, and the band wouldn't stop and let him fix it, so he kept trying to tune by holding sustained notes and tweaking the tuners. Unsurprisingly, that only made things worse. By the end of their set he was so far off I couldn't tell what chords he was trying to play, and while the rest of the band was holding the last note, he hurled his SG into the audience.

LMAO!!

 

[elenore19]

So since this is a tuner thread...thought I'd ask my question here...

So I have the fender tuner, and it works just dandy for me. So how do I know if it doesn't work that great? And I'm not sure what all this about "cents" is. Anyone explain? I'm new with this if you haven't noticed. Thanks!

-Elliot