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best pedal tuner for bass?

#41
KJung said:
Both the Sonic Turbo and the Pitch Black have a few users who report this 'pop' issue, and from my experience it has at least something to do with what else is in the signal chain. My Turbo Tuner is totally quiet when switched, but a few get pops when bypassing. I had this problem with the active/passive switch on a Pope preamp. It only happened with my Thunderfunk amp. No other bass had a problem with the TF, and the Pope didn't pop with any other amp. Dave put some sort of capacitor somewhere in the input stage of the amp and it never was a problem again.
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Yeah, all but one of my pedals are true bypass and I have a couple that pop. It seems to be more related to the pedal itself than the chain though. One of them, a mosfet boost pedal that I built, was popping when I engaged the pedal - due to the LED. The only way I could get it to switch silently was to power the LED from it's own battery (I just wired 3 watch batteries together). Here and there I've borrowed a TU2 to tune up on gigs and in the studio and it was on my list for a long time. However I never felt comfortable putting it in my chain because I've had such bad experiences with Boss pedals coloring my sound when bypassed - thus the obsession with true bypass and my delight with the Pitch Black.

Ralf
 
#42
rpatter said:
Yeah, all but one of my pedals are true bypass and I have a couple that pop. It seems to be more related to the pedal itself than the chain though. One of them, a mosfet boost pedal that I built, was popping when I engaged the pedal - due to the LED. The only way I could get it to switch silently was to power the LED from it's own battery (I just wired 3 watch batteries together). Here and there I've borrowed a TU2 to tune up on gigs and in the studio and it was on my list for a long time. However I never felt comfortable putting it in my chain because I've had such bad experiences with Boss pedals coloring my sound when bypassed - thus the obsession with true bypass and my delight with the Pitch Black.

Ralf
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I think the interactions are so complex that it's hard to develop a causal chain on those pops. The vast majority of Pitch Black and Turbo Tuner users have completely silent operation, but a few have problems. As you know, electronics can be 'strange'!

+1 The Pitch Black is a nice unit. Now, just imagine a tuner the size of the pitch black with faster tracking and strobe accuracy:smug:

IMO, it's the product of the decade, and literally the only thing I've ever been comfortable placing between my bass and amp... period! It's significantly more accurate than the Strobo-Stomp and a fraction of the size and cost, and the true bypass is beautiful!


For live application, it's not really worth dumping the Pitch Black for the Turbo Tuner if you already have purchased the Pitch Black (it works fine), but the Turbo is so far advanced from the Pitch Black that I continue to post about it. Since you can only buy direct, many don't even realize it exists.


K

PS... I am still amazed that anyone would put a TU-2 in their signal chain. My god... awful.
 
#47
I'm impressed with the Planet Waves Strobe that I got from MF on sale for $39, normally $79; I own several other tuners, two Boss, Sabine, Fender, Seiko, a different Planet Waves, two on different effects units, one built in to amp. The Planet Waves Strobe is the quickest, most accurate, of the bunch, and I only paid $39. It's not a pedal, but you'd be hard pressed to do better for the money.
 
#48
I'm a peterson fan.. they're not in your price range.

Out of all of the others I've played.. the Seiko Chromatic can be bought on Craigslist for about $15.. it's the most accurate of the 20+ other tuners I own.

Do not discount the low budget hand tuners, korg etc all will get you in tune.

NOTE.. I do not own basses that require retuning during gigs. I'm not qualified to discuss mid-set list tunes etc.. mine stays in a rack drawer.. this is part of the reason for the Peterson preference (along with the emergency DI onboard)
 
#49
Turock said:
I'm impressed with the Planet Waves Strobe that I got from MF on sale for $39, normally $79; I own several other tuners, two Boss, Sabine, Fender, Seiko, a different Planet Waves, two on different effects units, one built in to amp. The Planet Waves Strobe is the quickest, most accurate, of the bunch, and I only paid $39. It's not a pedal, but you'd be hard pressed to do better for the money.
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The deal is still on at MF; I ordered one, mostly for studio work, nice to keep a tuner on the desk at all times. But I might take it out on a gig just for fun.
 

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