Good tuners?

[andrushkiwt]

Hey yo, looking for a good/great free tuner. Studio One 2's stock is not so good for me, and the G Tunes I found online is eh (although the best i've found so far). I've noticed that some are not very good for bass - the meter doesn't know what to do sometimes. What do you guys use?

 

[Tadpui]

I've been using those cheap little Shark clip-on tuners for everything the last couple of years. They're great. Not free, but cheap enough that you don't need to budget for one. I saw Sweetwater was giving them away with some 3-packs of strings. If you need strings, swing by their site and see if the freebie tuner comes with your string brand.

I used G Tune for a while several years ago. Even ponied up for the paid version. But I lost track of it after a while and moved to hardware tuners instead.

Bass is tough for tuners. Sometimes I have to tune bass using the 12th fret harmonic in order to get it to register correctly. Sometimes I can catch it in a good mood and tune the open strings with the little Shark.

 

[andrushkiwt]

cool...i'd prefer plugs though since i'm too lazy to unplug form my interface, into the tuner, unplug, back into interface... slapping it on the channel is my go-to, if possible. how did G Tune work for you? My meter is a notch up, then square, then a notch down, then square...etc.. back and forth. bass is worse.

 

[Tadpui]

Yeah, I have the same issue with software tuners. It's like they're too sensitive and the minor little tuning fluctuations that happen as the string vibration decays show up as major-looking tuning differences. At least with the segmented LED display tuners, you can get to the "pretty darn close" point where it shows as stable.

The good thing about the clip-on tuners...you can just leave it on between tuning and playing. No plugging/unplugging.

 

[andrushkiwt]

It'll pick up a bass without being plugged into? If so, then yeah, that sounds good. And yes, the vibrations are picked up during the decay on the vst's i'm using. need less of that.

 

[Pinky]

It'll pick up a bass without being plugged into? If so, then yeah, that sounds good. And yes, the vibrations are picked up during the decay on the vst's i'm using. need less of that.

Yes, the Snark works on vibration not audible sound or a line-in. I have one, love it. IMO this makes all other tuners obsolete.

But if I'm already plugged in I just use the Amplitube tuner. Saves the Snark's battery.

 

[Tadpui]

Yeah, I tune all of my guitars and basses with the clip-ons. It's a little less stable on open bass strings, but very stable on 12-th fret harmonics. Depending on where you usually play on the bass neck, and how accurate your intonation is, that may or may not be a problem. I'm usually a 5th-7th position bass player when possible, and I've recently had my intonation set. So harmonics get me pretty darn close to being in tune.

 

[andrushkiwt]

thanks, think i'll check it out

 

[Tadpui]

Yes, the Snark works on vibration not audible sound or a line-in. I have one, love it. IMO this makes all other tuners obsolete.

But if I'm already plugged in I just use the Amplitube tuner. Saves the Snark's battery.

That is definitely a drawback to the clip-ons. They use those little button batteries, which isn't something that I tend to keep spares around the house. I've had a dead battery in one of my Snarks for about 6 months now, and I never remember what size it is so I can buy a replacement.

 

[miroslav]

You just missed the Plugin Alliance XMas sale on their tuner....they had it for $5
I grabbed it for the DAW, since G-Tune isn't the best.

That said...I do all my tuning with a Peterson VSAM strobe tuner.
The software tuners I only use to check how for in/out a note might be on a recorded track...etc.

 

[andrushkiwt]

so...the thought of having to find/replace batteries did stick out to me. lol. didn't want to sound extra lazy, but yes i'd consider that a drawback as well. oh well, if it gets the job done nicely, i'll try it. I'll look into the $$ of that strobe as well, though I've never used one.

 

[miroslav]

so...the thought of having to find/replace batteries did stick out to me.

If you are referring to the VSAM strobe...it has an adapter as well as bats....so you can run either way.
What I like about it is that it is very portable...I can bring it wherever I want to tune up...instead of bringing everything over to the computer.
I use it for a variety of stuff...mostly my guitars, but also my pedal steel, and sometimes I use it to spot-tune my upright piano.
Not to mention...of you gig or go somewhere to jam with friends...you can take it with you.

Also for me...I don't always have my DAW on. Like I might be just working on something, and I need to tune up a guitar...so a hand-held tuner is quite handy, and the strobe tuners are the most accurate, plus, they come chock full of tuning temperament presets, and the ability to also store a few of your own tuning presets....and they also include sweetened tuning presets for guitar, bass, pedal steel, etc.

Of course...they're going to cost more than a $5 soft-tuner.

 

[Chili]

I find myself using my iphone as a tuner more often. I have a clip-on, but the battery life is really bad and those 2032 batteries can be expensive. Never liked the VST tuners.

I use my digitech bass amp sim for my bass and do the 12th fret trick, too. works great.

 

[andrushkiwt]

I find myself using my iphone as a tuner more often. I have a clip-on, but the battery life is really bad and those 2032 batteries can be expensive. Never liked the VST tuners.

I use my digitech bass amp sim for my bass and do the 12th fret trick, too. works great.

Which app on your phone? And what 12th fret trick? Not to start a riot, but tuning according to the 12th frets isn't a good idea unless you're only playing in that region. There will be differences on much lower notes...haven't played a guitar yet where that isn't true. maybe i'm imagining this incorrectly though..?

 

[Chili]

I use n-Track tuner. It's free. I wouldn't really call the 12th fret thing a trick... just use the harmonic at the 12th fret. It will be the same as an open string, but with a stronger fundamental which helps the tuner to lock in. Not actually fretting the note, just the harmonic.

 

[andrushkiwt]

ah the harmonic. ok, yeah i do that. any of the harmonics work well, really, for tuning. N-track...k, ill check it out too. thnx!

 

[miroslav]

I prefer using the 5th and 17th frets...pressed...since 99% of the notes played are with pressed strings.
The 12th fret harmonic thing is great if you play a lot of open strings, in the first three frets.

I just press at the 5th...get that in tune, and then I press at the 17th and compare the difference , and then I use the saddles to get them both as close to in-tune as possible. IOW...if they both need to be a little off, it's OK as long as they balance each other out...rather than having one perfect and the other more off.

It's been a big help in better tuning for me...where in the past I use to do the 12th fret harmonic thing.


You can do as many notes/frets as you want...really...not just 5th and 12th...and you simply try and get them equally balanced relative to perfect tuning. It just takes more time the more frets/notes you use. By going for "balance"...no matter where you play it's equally tempered, and you won't get that "perfect here" and "what out here" thing as you move up/down the neck.

 

[fireflyva]

Another thought - somewhere a while back I read that VST tuners are designed to respond to the fundamental of the note you're looking for/trying to tune. So a trick to using a VST tuner is to switch to the neck pickup (if that's an option), and then turn the tone knob all the way off (getting rid of any treble and thus cutting down on frequencies that interfere with the tuner) and then tune the instrument. I use VST tuners all the time and it does seem to "help" some. Just a thought. I hope it helps.

 

[Paj]

You just missed the Plugin Alliance XMas sale on their tuner....they had it for $5 . . .

Back on sale at Plugin Alliance, as mentioned in above post. I just noticed a banner on the website that says the sale is on until January 1.


Paj
8^)