Pedal tuners for bass

Sten · #1 09-07-2010, 08:00 AM

The FAQ section in the Effects forum reads that tuners belong to this subforum, but I found no threads regarding pedal tuners here.

I am looking to replace my pedal tuner, due to some mechanical injuries it has recieved. I currently have Planet Waves CT04, it has a typical problem, the clip that holds the battery cover breaks during transport. This means that the battery cover is loose and it takes more effort to turn the pedal on. It is usable, but somewhat unconfortable.

I check my tuning at live shows after every couple of songs. The bass stays in tune quite well, but our shows mean lot of jumping garound, vigorous playing and not ideal temperature and humidity conditions. Therefore a pedal tuner is a must for me.

What I am looking at so far are:
Boss TU-3 (TU-2)
TC Electronics Polytune
Korg Pitchblack

Has anyone compared the pedals in this group side by side? CT04 has decent tracking speed for bass, even low B is OK, but it is having more problems with the low A (tuned town 1 whole step). I also feel the green "in tune" indicator has somewhat wide area meaning the tuning is not the most accurate.

I would not be gaining anything from the simultaneous string tuning ability of the Polytune, but I've seen a video where it tracks guitar notes so fast, that if you play scale on a moderate speed it actually shows you all notes. Not that I need to see what notes I am playing, but this means the tracking system is very fast! I wonder if any of you have tried it with low bass tunings - is the tracking still as fast? Unfortunately I am not able to try it before purchasing, otherwise I would have not made this thread

From what I've heard, the second strongest competitor is the TU-3 with good accuracy and bright screen accompanied by bomb-proof reliablilty.

I would be very happy to hear your opinions and experience!

Fun Size Nick · #2 09-07-2010, 08:31 AM

The TU-3's accuracy is supposed to be better than the TU-2's, but there are still more accurate tuners out there. The Sonic Research Turbo Tuner gets a lot of praise around here, and looks like it could survive nuclear holocaust. I've had a Peterson Strobostomp for the last 3 years, which is a fantastic tuner, ridiculously accurate, and has the added bonus of having good visibility in sunlight due to its LCD display.

GtenderG · #3 09-07-2010, 09:42 AM

Sorry, can't compare them. I do use the Korg Pitchblack. It's easy to use and very acurate down to the low b

Jim Nazium · #4 09-07-2010, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fun Size Nick

...The Sonic Research Turbo Tuner gets a lot of praise around here, and looks like it could survive nuclear holocaust.

+1
I really like that tuner. Fast, accurate, easy to read, sturdy.

Bassdirty · #5 09-07-2010, 09:47 AM

I have a rackmount korg dtr1000.
I used to have the boss-tu2 (which was awesome , but i wanted erything to be in my rack)

Now that I dont use my rack, I use a POS lil Korg tuner that was on sale at GC.(which is medeocre at best)

BUT, now with the introduction of the tu3, the TU2s are on sale....so I will get another one.

SO, my advice, get the TU2, (or the tu3 if its even better)

ps, also works for low B.

cliffbass1 · #6 09-07-2010, 09:48 AM

I got the pitch black and it is pretty awesome a large bright screen. I like mine, i picked it over the boss tuner because at the time the the display was larger and easier too read they might have some vids on youtube comparing the boss vs the korg

doctorpunch · #7 09-07-2010, 09:50 AM

I use the pitchblack, also doubles as a great killswitch.

ggunn · #8 09-07-2010, 09:52 AM

If your tuner is having probs locking in on low notes, just chime the octave harmonic.

iamlowsound · #9 09-07-2010, 10:41 AM

I have had a tu-2 for years and have never had a complaint with it.

lowsound

edot3021 · #10 09-07-2010, 10:47 AM

I use a TU-2 and never had any complaints. I've thought about getting a pitch black because I've read alot of good reviews. In the studio we have a Peterson Stobostomp we all use to tune up. That pedal is pretty awesome.

Spraeg · #11 09-07-2010, 12:27 PM

I've heard great things about the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner, as stated above. That being said, I recently ganked my old guitarist's TU-2 off of his board (hey, he left it in my basement, and my tuner took a dump on me), and I've found it to be alot better than I expected. Easy to use, powers of of a standard adapter or 9v, and had no problems tracking down to a low A (I drop-tune my fiver as well).

brndn123 · #12 09-07-2010, 12:30 PM

+1 TU-2

industry standard

zachoff · #13 09-07-2010, 12:32 PM

My TU-2 crapped out a few monts ago and I tried the TU-3 and I got a Pitchblack & it's awesome. You'll get a lot of recs for the Turbo Tuner, which I've never tried... It's $50 more than the Korg.

PastorofMuppets · #14 09-07-2010, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachoff

My TU-2 crapped out a few monts ago and I tried the TU-3 and I got a Pitchblack & it's awesome. You'll get a lot of recs for the Turbo Tuner, which I've never tried... It's $50 more than the Korg.

interesting ive not often heard of a boss pedal "crapping out"

zachoff · #15 09-07-2010, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PastorofMuppets

interesting ive not often heard of a boss pedal "crapping out"

It got jumpy, wouldn't track to the note & would go from flat to sharp w/o me even turning the tuners. It was weird. The Korg tracks flawlessly, albeit slower than when my TU-2 actually worked right.

ggunn · #16 09-07-2010, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachoff

It got jumpy, wouldn't track to the note & would go from flat to sharp w/o me even turning the tuners. It was weird. The Korg tracks flawlessly, albeit slower than when my TU-2 actually worked right.

I once had a tuner with needle and LEDs where the needle and LED displays got to where they disagreed. Not good.

mmbongo · #17 09-07-2010, 01:02 PM

I've been looking at the Digitech Hardwire HT-2 myself, but I haven't compared any of them. How does this one stack up?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HardWireHT2/

jam.majors · #18 09-07-2010, 01:06 PM

I had a TU-2 that took forever to actually read anything below my D-string. Following someone's advice on here, I got a Turbo Tuner. WORTH EVERY PENNY. Reads super fast, and even faster on guitar. I look at other tuners out there and laugh: they aren't worth a dime.

Sten · #19 09-07-2010, 02:10 PM

The Turbo Tuner seems to be sold only in US, no luck getting that one in Europe, even Ebay does not seem to sell it. Otherwise it seems everyone is happy with what they have and tuners have not been compared much

DTR1000 is good, but I want my tuner in my pedalboard, so this option is out.

I now did what I probably should have started from and checked YouTube

Here are some comparative videos I found:

TU-2 vs Pitchblack vs CT04 (TU-2 seems to be the last one to go green i.e. most accurate of these):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nODhr4syQJY

TU-2 vs Pitchblack (not really a versus, but a demo):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW59T5U11-o

Polytune vs Pitchblack (This rewiever has done a great in-depth review which favors Polytune):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY5JuL0yhuc

TU-2 vs TU-3 (I like the screen of TU-3 better, it seems to have more accuracy and less glare):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mXPZijaWGc

Pitchblack vs Turbo Tuner (not really a good demo for comparing, but they both seem to track fast):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JdM-fjn9IU

Polytune vs Turbo Tuner (Turbo Tuner seems to be more picky i.e. more accurate):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGC45f9uiQU

Looks like it is going to be Polytune for me. Thanks

ggunn · #20 09-07-2010, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sten

The Turbo Tuner seems to be sold only in US, no luck getting that one in Europe, even Ebay does not seem to sell it. Otherwise it seems everyone is happy with what they have and tuners have not been compared much

Well, at the root of it, a tuner is just a tuner. My best tuner is an old brown Conn Strobotuner that I bought on eBay for twelve bucks.