I’m looking for new tuner that handles pitch sufficient for the low B; some on the market list frequency response, others don’t. Any ‘best choice’ out there?
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Best pedal tuner for 5 string bass guitar
- Thread starter GracemanBass
- Start date
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I have a Korg PB. We tune down a half step, and do some drop D. It works, for sure, but I plugged into this thread because I'm looking to possibly upgrade. It gets a little shaky with the drop D. I only have seconds to check my tuning though, my band takes no breaks whatsoever between tunes... so there's that, too 
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I have a Polytune Mini, and it’s better than the Boss TU-3, but it is glitchy on the B. Shifts into the useless multi-string mode often when I hit the B-string. I usually have to use a harmonic.
turbo tuner ST-300 by a wide margin, it'll track down past a 7-string bass's low F#!
it's also way more accurate, being an actual analog strobe tuner.
it's also way more accurate, being an actual analog strobe tuner.
Just bought the ST300 Turbo Tuner. So the best I’ve used before we start talking old Strobotuners and StroboConns which are ultra great, but won’t fit on a pedalboard.
Curious about the ST300 Mini. In chromatic mode, does it indicate flats or sharps? That is, can one tune to Eb without resetting the tuner? (I play sets with standard and Eb tuning.) Thanks.
Yep, fully chromatic.
Still, most of my bands play Eb so I have my turbos (different pedalboards for different instruments) all set for 1/2 step down so they show “normal”.
Thanks. I frequently do multiple tunings in the same set. Not convenient to reset the tuner for that.
me as well. but it's not currently shipping, so waiting for it to become available.
meanwhile using Polytune for my 5-string. Polytune 3 is tad better than 2 for silent switching, as for tracking low B they all have no problems.
in fact, I think that any modern pedal tuner from a decent company will cope well with low B: Pitchblack Advance, Turbo Tuner or Polytune.
given that the turbo is true analog yet switches pitches faster than even regular digital tuners, the only mechanical strobe that would hang with a turbo tuner is that $4k monster with 12 different wheels, and that really ain't fitting on the pedalboard
i used a regular old-school mechanical peterson on my repair bench for years, and loved its analog nature which let me see harmonics and partials as shifting patterns in the display and which had zero lag between turning a key and seeing the pitch move. i just hated having to reach up and change the desired pitch over and over.
i retired it for the first big blue peterson virtual strobes, which were very accurate as far as they went and also auto-switched pitches. the problem with them (and with the later strobostomp stuff) is the display only showed the fundamental frequency, all the harmonics and such don't show up. you see the LCD picture showing the multiple strobe bands, but they're locked together and don't move independently of each other, meaning that the finer ones might as well not be there.
the turbo was the first replacement that had the same information-rich and zero-lag analog display as a mechanical strobe wheel while self-switching super-fast. it's been many years since i've tolerated any other tuner either at a gig or at my repair bench.
those look cool and could i not have a turbo tuner me too, but since i can have a turbo tuner...
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given that the turbo is true analog yet switches pitches faster than even regular digital tuners, the only mechanical strobe that would hang with a turbo tuner is that $4k monster with 12 different wheels, and that really ain't fitting on the pedalboard
i used a regular old-school mechanical peterson on my repair bench for years, and loved its analog nature which let me see harmonics and partials as shifting patterns in the display and which had zero lag between turning a key and seeing the pitch move. i just hated having to reach up and change the desired pitch over and over.
i retired it for the first big blue peterson virtual strobes, which were very accurate as far as they went and also auto-switched pitches. the problem with them (and with the later strobostomp stuff) is the display only showed the fundamental frequency, all the harmonics and such don't show up. you see the LCD showing the multiple strobe bands, but they're locked together and don't move independently of each other, meaning that the finer ones might as well not be there.
the turbo was the first replacement that had the same information-rich and zero-lag analog display as a mechanical strobe wheel while self-switching super-fast. it's been many years since i've tolerated any other tuner either at a gig or at my repair bench.
those look cool and could i not have a turbo tuner me too, but since i can have a turbo tuner...
Thanx, Walter. Very cool pic and very cool post. I've seen a lot of the Conn Strobotuners, but that's only the second Peterson tuner I've come across.
Like I said, cool post. Made my day. Seriously (if that tells you what kind of day I had....
lest anybody think i'm being down on peterson, their istrobosoft app for iphone is fantastic. it's super-accurate and responsive, frankly better than the hardware virtual strobes (i guess because the iStuff has such a higher-resolution screen and more processing power).
it's a pricier app at like $10, but well worth it. i even sprung for the $20 "harmonic tuning" upgrade which unlocked the strobe bands so they tracked harmonics and partials like a "real" strobe, i don't think any of their non-analog hardware tuners do that.
it's a pricier app at like $10, but well worth it. i even sprung for the $20 "harmonic tuning" upgrade which unlocked the strobe bands so they tracked harmonics and partials like a "real" strobe, i don't think any of their non-analog hardware tuners do that.
Neil Young solved that problem by using 5 Conn ST-11's (one tuned to each string value), seen here below the drums:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/74/c2/7174c29dadb194dd3532a79d47033040.jpg
i'd heard about that! glad to see a pic confirming it.
a great idea, especially for a touring rock star in the age before stage tuners. just think of how much better all those old hendrix and grateful dead live tapes would be had ol' neil hipped them to it back then.
