Problem with Boss TU-3!

[SeanSaliSE]

Lemme guess your first thought: "Not suprised"...

Actually, It's nothing to do with the TU-3's ability to tune. I've read up lately for HOURS on the different tuners out there, but only after buying my TU-3 to replace my TU-2.

This is my dilemma. I play a bass with active pups into a Mesa BB750 with a swack of other stuff in it, but I've always used the front-side 'tuner out' 1/4'' jack on the mesa to plug into the TU-2. When I bought the TU-3, I found that the TU-3 wouldn't even turn on when I tried to do this! I was using the same cable and everything. The TU-3 was only working when it was placed in series in my pedal chain.

Anyone else having this problem? Is my tuner defective or is this Boss' idea of "improving" their products? Also, I friggin' hate the look of the display on the pitchblack, and I don't wanna hold on to my TU-2 cause it doesn't track the notes as fast if I need to tune on the fly. My guitarist has a TU-3 and (for some reason) we're all finnicky about using the same tuners on stage.

Any input is welcome. I got nothing against Boss but I'm bot sure I want to be forced to put the pedal in my signal chain.

[DerHoggz]

Is the tuner out at line level? I'm guessing the TU-3 is meant for instrument level signals. I can't think of anything else that would cause that?

[foomanfat]

It seems like the tuner is only activated when something is plugged into the output.
My PitchBlack is like this, except it won't turn on until something is in the input and I've had Boss pedals that do this also.
I've never had a Boss pedal that wasn't active until the output was plugged in, though.

[Thunderscreech]

did you plug the 9 V input into the right input? how about checking both plugs?

[SeanSaliSE]

I've tested and looked for any possible error in trying to determine why the pedal wasn't working.

I'm not too sure about the level on the tuner out. There's also a tuner out jack on the rear of the amp and I tested that jack too with the same result.

What IS for certain on both boss tuners is that something needs to be plugged into the input jack for it to turn on. I tested this with both pedals. I also checked to make sure I had the power source plugged into the right jack, which it was (it also had a fresh 9v battery that I tested with it installed and also removed). Tested multiple 9v adapters to be safer, etc.

The only thing I can think of is that the TU-3's input sensitivity is different from the TU-2. But given that I CAN'T use my amps tuner out jack to get a signal to it, I wouldn't consider it an improvement on Boss' part. I sent them an email on their website to see what the deal is.

At the moment I'm considering other options for a pedal tuner. It's a shame since I've owned the TU-2 for a number of years and loved it.

[walterw]

that is weird. have you grabbed your guitar player's tu-3 to see if it behaves the same way?

[BillyIVbass]

Just got a TU-3 and it works fine for me if I just plug an instrument into the input and have nothing plugged in the output. (I've only ran it on 9v battery)

None of my amps have a Tuner Out, if I run into one I'll check it out.