1U Rack-mountable tuner

I like the Korg. It is fully chromatic and automatic. It responds better to bass than most and it has HUGE lights on the front. NOt only does it look cool, you can actually use the tuner standing 25 feet from the amp. In addition, it is mutable.

They make two models. DTR-1 and DTR-2. One in your price range and one above. I have only tried the less expensive one and it works great with a 5. I really don't know what makes the other better.

Chas

 

I too say Korg. I hae an older DTR1-Pro, which is essentially the DTR2 in black. The high end DTR1 actually displays the note name on a display on the left. That's the only difference between the two that I know of, but there maybe something else.

You could also keep your AX1B and get a pedal tuner. The best pedal tuner I've seen is the Boss TU-2. But you may prefer rackmounted to floor pedal. I do, but I have a rack just for effects and the switching system I'm using so it was logical. That and I don't have to look down to tune.

 

I have the Korg DTR-1 and love it! True, it displays the name of each note as you're tuning, but it does all sorts of other stuff, some of which isn't incredibly useful, though it can be if you're a gear head (I'm not).

On it, there's a cable check, you can tune a second instrument or vocals, and tune in 3 modes: cent, hz, and strobe.

I got mine for around $250. I know it's above your price range, but I also can vouch for the speed and accuracy of Korg rack tuners, the DTR-2, included, which IS in your price range.

 

ooops i just realized that i have never had a tuner!! is this so wrong?

 

barroso ~

Some folks disdain tuners ... like Jeff Berlin, f'rinstance. You know, "You suck if you can't tune it by ear." Well, in a gig situation, people aren't paying to hear the Tu-Ning band. A tuner makes it easy to tune quickly and tune often, without that annoying pre-overture tuning drone we've all come to know down at the symphony concert.

Every instrumentalist (except the drummer) in our band has an in-line tuner. Nothing makes a band suck more than the cacophanous wrank of being out-of-tune. I've listened to a lot of bands who might otherwise have been entertaining, but fell into suckdom because they were out of tune, both with each other and with themselves. Even non-musicians in the audience are affected. They can't figure out exactly WHY you suck, but they know you suck. So there you are. That's all.

 

oh yes, i know.
i wanted only to point that i feel not so necessary a tuner when i play live. i have seen a lot of good players playing live without a tuner and tuning or change tuning between the songs, i was amazed when doug pinnick and ty tabor from king's x were tuning their instruments by ear on the stage. i'm not saying to play out of tune, but luckly i'm able to tune myself without a tune quite well.
you can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish

 

I'm just not that cool... I love my DTR-2...


P@

 

i'm not cool too...

 

Our old drummer bought one of those little tension tuner things.
It didn't reduce his suckitude though.

 

Tuning by ear is fine for a guitar-bass kind of band. But if you do anything else, you really should have a tuner. Personally, it bugs me when a band tunes by ear, because even when they are in tune together, they might all be tuned to some note somewhere between E and Eb or somewhere else. I don't claim to have anointed ears, but after a dozen years of playing at 440, you know what it sounds like.

Plus without tuners, you have to take the time ask another player to play and then tune with them. Very unprofessional.

IMHO, it is part of being professional to have an in-line tuner and some means of tuning silently, (like a mute switch or your volume pedal behind the tuner) That way you can tweak up at any time, check tune regularly and play with any musicians using any instrument at any time and sound in tune.

Believe me, there is no bigger turn off when playing with new players than to have someone out of tune.

 

chasarms makes great points... If you have perfect pitch, then by all means knock yourself out and tune by ear... I would rather have the tech to back my ear up... I don't have perfect pitch, but I can sure as hell tell you when I am out of tune!!!

And, as chasarms brings up, it is professionalism. Know what your gear is doing, and what you are doing with it, and you will get called back time after time...

P@

 

yeah! way to go, J Bass man!

I wish my money was called Guilders...

 

I'm looking for a 19" tuner too. I tried the Korg DTR-2 but when I connected it in line it would hum and I lost a lot of low-end. I tried a second one with the same results. So, I'm currently looking at the Sabine RT7100. Anybody here knows anything about it?

GreetZ from The Netherlands

PS. Guilders until the end of the year, then we have Euros .

 

Is there anything more annoying than a condescending musician who "claims" to be able to tune without a tuner and somehow tries to make others feel inferior if one can't? (I know I can, but I digress).

It's not so much the fact that you can tune without a tuner...but why annoy the audience with it?