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A better tuner

J-Bassomatic

J-Bassomatic

Mar 30, 2017
2,628
4,844
Canton OH
#1
OK, I lost my Snark for the last time, I turned the house over under sideways down and I could not find it. I got so tired of looking for it I got in the car and drove to my fave store (The Music Farm in Canton OH, if that's allowed) and they recommended the TC Electronics Polytune3. I trust these guys so I bought it. Then, of course, there was the power supply and the connector cable but I was so much in a rage that I lost my Snark for the umpteenth time I thought, "I'm not going to lose something I paid this much for." Earlier in the week my truck died so I used the salvage yards payment to buy it. Fact is I like it. I started thinking, What's your fave tuner and why? Are there any caveats with the Polytune3?
 
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#3
Korg PitchCrow is the first one I was able to set intonation with, because it's got a Fine setting:

7feda7f866a2a7785bf626293f770e3b_pc.jpg


https://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/pitchcrow_g
 
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#6
I like the TC tuners because I can see them on a bright day in the hot Florida sun. I use a Polytune 2 Mini on my board, although I resent having a tuner on my board and do my best to get away without using it. So about a year ago I bought a Unitune clip-on, and it's been fantastic, by far the best clip-on tuner I've used and a lot cheaper than the Polytune clip-on since I have zero need for poly mode.
 
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#7
I like the real small d'Addario clip-on tuner. Very small, like a stack of four quarters small, unobtrusive. $15 cheap. Easy to use.

Can't see it in bright daylight tho. And the little clip doesn't hold, I was constantly finding it in the bottom of my gig bag 'til I velcro'd it to the headstock.

Got a Snark, too, fugly imho. And an old Korg 9V LCD display tuner that works fine in sunlight, but has to plug in to the amp tuner out, but I always bring it as backup, very easy to use. Peterson Strobostomp for setting up intonation.
 
#8
H Nighttrain said:
I like the real small d'Addario clip-on tuner. Very small, like a stack of four quarters small, unobtrusive. $15 cheap. Easy to use.

Can't see it in bright daylight tho. And the little clip doesn't hold, I was constantly finding it in the bottom of my gig bag 'til I velcro'd it to the headstock.
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Got a couple of them too, and feel exactly how you do. Not the most accurate tuner on the market but does the job and does it well enough. Except I never had trouble with them falling off. I can't stand leaving them on my bass during a gig, though. Don't like the look at all. So maybe that's why they never fell off...I don't give them a chance to fall off.
 
#11
JimmyM said:
I like the TC tuners because I can see them on a bright day in the hot Florida sun. I use a Polytune 2 Mini on my board, although I resent having a tuner on my board and do my best to get away without using it. So about a year ago I bought a Unitune clip-on, and it's been fantastic, by far the best clip-on tuner I've used and a lot cheaper than the Polytune clip-on since I have zero need for poly mode.
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I swear by the TC clip-ons as well. Does the job markedly better than any other clip-on I’ve ever had.
 
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#14
JimmyM said:
I like the TC tuners because I can see them on a bright day in the hot Florida sun. I use a Polytune 2 Mini on my board, although I resent having a tuner on my board and do my best to get away without using it. So about a year ago I bought a Unitune clip-on, and it's been fantastic, by far the best clip-on tuner I've used and a lot cheaper than the Polytune clip-on since I have zero need for poly mode.
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The brightness kind of surprised me too, no missing that in the daylight. I don't really need the poly feature either but I will be using it to tune a guitar also, so who knows.
 
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#17
I have TC Polytune 3 and love it. I have no benchmark to compare it to, cause it's my first electronic tuner. Never used one before.

It allows me to play songs that are drop D, quickly and silently. In fact I bought it because I was on a fence between the Polytune 3 or a Hipshot drop DTuner. Decided to buy the Polytune.

It's the right decision for me, now I can play drop D songs with any of my bases.
 
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#18
geesharp said:
I have TC Polytune 3 and love it. I have no benchmark to compare it to, cause it's my first electronic tuner. Never used one before.

It allows me to play songs that are drop D, quickly and silently. In fact I bought it because I was on a fence between the Polytune 3 or a Hipshot drop DTuner. Decided to buy the Polytune.

It's the right decision for me, now I can play drop D songs with any of my bases.
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No doubt it's an excellent tuner. I have a Polytune 2 Mini myself. But I still would consider trying a Hipshot in the future. I used to caveman the re-tuning my own self till it got to the point where I wasn't given enough time to retune in my old band. So I got a Hipshot with two stops and it was an absolute godsend that you can't fully appreciate till you use it. I hated that band because of the BL and I'm so glad I'm out, but I kept the Hipshot and bought two more :D
 
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