Best Tuner

[Philly Watts]

Had the boss and tried the poly tune, but once I got the Pitch Black I've never looked back.

They're all great, but none were as good as the Pitch Black in my trials.

 

[alembicguy]

Petersen Strobe tuners are the best in class. Very fast and accurate. They cost a bit more.

This^^^^^^^

 

[superdick2112]

I took your statement to mean that the Peterson tuner is so accurate that it will measure the effect of gravity on the string's vibration. (I've no doubt that chasing intonation can drive a person to a teenage nervous breakdown.) Even if that were true - again, which I doubt - how do you ascertain that the effect you are measuring is a result of gravity or a change in the earth's magnetic field (or the bass's orientation to it)? What is the experiment that isolates that effect from a ton of other forces acting on the vibration of the string?

Gravity has an effect on the tension of a guitar or bass neck in relation to its orientation, i.e. laying flat vs. being held in playing position.
A really good strobe tuner can measure this effect.

Straight from the Peterson website;

"If you tune the guitar while it’s laying flat, gravity will affect the tension of the neck and skew the results."


The article;

Link Removed

 

[Haroldo]

Gravity has an effect on the tension of a guitar or bass neck in relation to its orientation, i.e. laying flat vs. being held in playing position.
A really good strobe tuner can measure this effect.

Straight from the Peterson website;

"If you tune the guitar while it’s laying flat, gravity will affect the tension of the neck and skew the results."


The article;

Link Removed

I will have to read this, but i am still extremely skeptical. I hope there are numbers in the attached blog (for which I'm thankful). Let's see what it says......it's merely an assertion on Peterson's part (tho' they also claim a person can hear the difference). Again, there are so many forces at work here (particularly magnetic ones!) it would be instructive to see some ordering of their magnitudes. An experiment would be nice - what is the difference in tuning with the neck in different orientations. Another experiment would be to do this with the TI nylon core strings on a Turner Renaissance (which I might try, but another experimental conflation presents itself - it's a fretless).

So thank you for this, I'm going to mull this over for awhile.

P.S. Have you had experience comparing the Peterson to the Sonic Research tuner?

Edited to add: The Peterson Stomp Classic vs Sonic Research ST300.

 

[TheMaynorD]

Your TC Polytune will work excellent for bass.

Mark

Yup. Ive used the TC mini for a while now, at least a year, and it has never failed me. Low B reads everytime, unlike my clip on snark which cant pick up anything below A.

 

[klejst]

My vote is for the Boss TU-3 chromatic tuner pedal.

 

[west al]

I use the TC Polytune 2 mini for tuning an SG Std., and an Epi EB-3. Both basses are strung with D'Addario ETB92M/ETB92 Nylon strings, with no issues.

 

[west al]

I don't know what is the best tuner out there.. but the best I own is my Tc Electronic Polytune clip.

I have a TC Electronic Polytune Clip as a back up for my TC Electronic Polytune 2 mini. They both work well for me on my basses.

 

[Relsom]

I've been using a Fender PT100 for years. It seems to go through batteries a lot. Other than that, works very well.

 

[superdick2112]

......P.S. Have you had experience comparing the Peterson to the Sonic Research tuner?

Edited to add: The Peterson Stomp Classic vs Sonic Research ST300.

I did a bunch of reading & watching of comparison videos before choosing the Sonic Research.
The Peterson Stomp has a display which is easier to read in daylight, but IMHO, the Sonic Research ST300 is superior in every other aspect. Its also about 1/2 the size & more pedalboard friendly.
Here are some videos to check out....


The Turbo Tuner - A True Chromatic Strobe Tuner, Guitar Tuner, Bass Tuner, Violin Tuner, Cello Tuner, Musical Instrument Tuner

 

[Haroldo]

I did a bunch of reading & watching of comparison videos before choosing the Sonic Research.
The Peterson Stomp has a display which is easier to read in daylight, but IMHO, the Sonic Research ST300 is superior in every other aspect. Its also about 1/2 the size & more pedalboard friendly.
Here are some videos to check out....


The Turbo Tuner - A True Chromatic Strobe Tuner, Guitar Tuner, Bass Tuner, Violin Tuner, Cello Tuner, Musical Instrument Tuner

I've been a ST300 guy for many years (for an unremembered value of 'many'). I'm happy to see I've got company!

 

[VoodooJazz]

I used a Boss TU-2H for close to 30 years before it slowly disintegrated over the last 2 years. Was a fine tool for a long time.
I replaced it with a Peterson Stomp Classic that I bought last summer. This tuner is ridiculously fast, and easy to use/read. I like this a lot. It will mute when you stomp on it, and this is extremely useful if you have any instruments that need frequent tuning. It's a snap with the Stomp Classic, and the rest of the band isn't left waiting for you. It's also built like a tank, of heavy metal, and may be used as a boat anchor or a weapon in a pinch. It is unquestionably the Best Pedal Tuner for Metal.

For my acoustic instruments, each case gets an Intellitouch PT-10. Accept no substitutes.

 

[chadhargis]

I've had a PolyTune pedal and iphone app, the built in tuner on a Zoom B3, Peterson iPhone app and Mac app, and the Turbo Tuner ST-300.

Without question..the Turbo Tuner locks in on the note faster than anything and is every bit as accurate as the Peterson. I'd say even more so because it seems to track the low strings better. The only thing missing from the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner is a cents display. When intonating, it's nice to see precisely how sharp or flat you are rather than guessing based on the speed of the strobe. I typically use the Turbo Tuner to do all the work of intonation, then tweak with the Peterson app.

One of the very nice things about the Turbo Tuner is that the switch is a "soft" switch and not mechanical. You can program the tuner to mute on power up. This keeps you from plugging your rig in and hearing a bunch of noise. It sounds minor, but it's really a nice touch.

 

[alavelle]

For electrics on my pedalboards, I use the corgi pitch-black and the mini version. No complaints. For uptight, I use the new korg AW-LT100B clip on. This clip on tuner accurately feels the E string even when the low brass are warming up pretty loudly.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

I use the Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner - by FAR the best tuner I have ever used. I had a StroboStomp and it tuned as fast but it died.

The only better tuner was the Korg DT-1 rack tuner and that was only because it was so much fun to set it facing the guitarist and have them watch the LED's going back an forth when it was not tuning - drove them nuts'er!

Dan

 

[secondbestcody]

I’ve used this since I got my very first guitar about 12 years ago and never had any problems with it. I’ve only owned one tuner and I think I’ve switched the batteries once or twice since getting it. I’m not sure if it’s considered a cheap one or good or whatever but it’s what I’ve been using all this time.

 

[bullbear]

I use the Suoer Snark clip-on — it’s fast and one less pedal on the floor and 1/100 the weight. Also does low B well. And I can easily flip it to my guitar vs. bass (I cringe to confess this personal failing here). Boss TU-2 pedal is also fine but mine is buried in my guitar pedals set-up. TC Polytune I find to be slow and thus harder to get tuning right. Used it once and it went in the closet. (I should have returned it while I could.)

 

[ExaltBass]

Sonic Research ST-200 or ST-200 Mini

 

[jasonmatthews]

Any recommendations for a tuner that will work on low B? I've not found one yet that works well. (Mostly clip ons and phone apps)

I've had a Korg DTR-1000 rackmount tuner for over a decade. It never has any issues with the low B. You can usually find them now for about $50 or so.

 

[Bassbeater]

I have an always on rack-mount korg pitch black in my amp rack. It looks cool and performs pretty well. I have a cheap joyo pedal tuner on my board with DOD 270 to mute and send only to the joyo on my pedalboard. That way I can tune while playing with the big stroboscopic korg or mute and tune between songs with the joyo on the pedalboard. I would likely move too much and throw a snark or other clip-on from the bass in a live gig. I also think the clip-ons don't look professional on stage. I will say the new rack-mount korgs are not built as well as the older models, but it does the job and looks good.