Double Bass Clip on Tuner Problems

[drurb]

Nah, a real "stretch" is insisting that the piano be tuned to the bass.

 

[maveriten]

Good luck with atuning fork in noisy club

Good luck using ANY clip-on tuner in a noisy venue as well. I've used several and the $25 Meisel works as good as any. But when the room is loud, you have to plug in. I have several tuners to plug into and they all work well. No reason to spend a lot or overthink it...

 

[pbasswil]

I have a Korg AW-2 clip-on tuner. No problem with the low E. I've occasionally had trouble with the D string, but I'm almost certain that was because of the vague pitch of the (cheap and worn-out) string itself.
Overall it works well and is not too expensive.

There are two versions of this tuner -- one for guitar (small clamp), and the one I got, which comes with two clamps, one of which is big enough to clip on a bass bridge or headstock.

 

[bejoyous]

I have found my tuner picks up the vibrations better when I use pizzicato rather than bowing an open string. I guess there is less harmonics to confuse the little computer brain.

And my hands are freer to adjust the tuning as I don't need to put down the bow first.

 

[drurb]

I have found my tuner picks up the vibrations better when I use pizzicato rather than bowing an open string. I guess there is less harmonics to confuse the little computer brain.

And my hands are freer to adjust the tuning as I don't need to put down the bow first.

One hand on the tuner, the other on the bow or pizzicato. Why do you need to put the bow down first?

 

[LEUllman]

If you have a pickup, I've found this to be the perfect solution.

Korg Pitchjack

I rarely use my pickup, so I just leave this thing plugged in. It's about 2 inches long, weighs practically nothing, and gives easy to see, rock solid indications on every string, right down to E. For $18, you can't go wrong.

 

[jsw]

I play with bluegrass/roots folks, i.e. no piano. I have tried several clip-on vibration tuners and all suffer the problem of picking up the E string. However, the Snark tuner does a fine job, when clipped on to the peg box.

 

[drurb]

No problem grabbing the E with the StroboClip.

 

[michaeln]

No problem grabbing the E with the StroboClip.

I was amazed to see that with my Stroboclip clipped to the G side of the bridge, if I damp the G, D, and A strings with my left hand and then simply tap lightly on the top of the bass, the Stroboclip will immediately lock on to the E's vibration that was transmitted from the tap.

I have not seen any other tuner lock so easily onto the E.

 

[Ampig]

I went with the Meisel

 

[Bob Gollihur]

All tuners seem to have an on and off love affair with the low E string. The fact that it is 41.2hz, and the slower the cycles per second the longer it takes for the electronics to recognize the frequency. The level of success is interesting; certain basses and the bridges interact with the low end response of a tuner better than others. This parallels what we've all learned from pickups on different basses, doesn't it?

This is a factual observation, not a commercial for the COM90: Earlier Meisel and similar tuners have the element that senses vibration within the display itself, and relies upon the clip to transmit those vibrations to the unit. If you take one apart you'll discover that (not to mention that you can swivel the clip forever), confirming the lack of any wires between the body and clip. I took one of the COM90 tuners apart and observed that the sensor is at the clip itself, with wires leading through the gooseneck to the tuner electronics.

I have to conclude that having the sensor directly in contact to the clamping surface probably gives this type of tuner construction an advantage over earlier Meisels and similar tuners.

As an aside, I have always loved having the onboard tuner on my first generation Euphonic Audio iAMP800, and dislike having a wire hanging from other amps' tuner outs to an outboard unit. (Slab, not URB gigs) Just to experiment, I cut the clip off a Meisel COM90 and soldered the pair of tuner wires to a 1/4" plug and plugged it into the tuner output of a couple different amps. It worked great, but you still do have to reach down and turn it on and off.

I love the smell of solder in the morning...

 

[Ampig]

I have to conclude that having the sensor directly in contact to the clamping surface probably gives this type of tuner construction an advantage over earlier Meisels and similar tuners.

I hope you're right Bob. I see you've shipped mine out.

 

[maveriten]

I have been using the Meisel MCT 8L. Works fine as long as the room is quiet, and it's placement is somewhat crucial depending on the string being tuned. I'm eager to hear if the COM90 overcomes these issues...

 

[Bill Bentgen]

My iPhone with the ClearTune app is reliable and capeable of picking up my B string. My alternative for really noisy rehearsal rooms (damn trumpets and timpani) is my reliable Korg CA-30 with the Korg clip-on mike. This also picks up the B string well.

(When I say the iphone and Korg pick up the B string, it MAY be hearing the 1st harmonic, but it does so reliabily.)

 

[Tom_RCJ]

I use a Parkinsons clip-on tuner. Won't detect the low E at all... UNLESS I hit the harmonic at the 12th fret. In fact, all strings seem to be detected much better this way.

Try it with whatever other brands you have. I've used mine in VERY loud rooms and it works fine using the harmonic. And mine isn't high-end by any stretch of the work.

I play a hollow body Epiphone Viola, mind you. That might have some impact. Different vibrations and what-not.

 

[Ampig]

I play a hollow body Epiphone Viola, mind you. That might have some impact. Different vibrations and what-not.

My original post was in reference to URB. For electric basses, I always use some type of plug in tuner.

 

[Tom_RCJ]

Ah, my bad. I'm fairly sleep deprived and though URB just meant some brand of bass I'd never heard of. Guess it means UpRight Bass.

 

[tstone]

>> I was amazed to see that with my Stroboclip clipped to the G side of the bridge, if I damp the G, D, and A strings with my left hand and then simply tap lightly on the top of the bass, the Stroboclip will immediately lock on to the E's vibration that was transmitted from the tap.​

michaeln, I have to admit my eyebrows went up when I read this, but I tried it with the Meisel, and by Jove, it works! On all strings!

Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'tap tuning' ;-)

 

[drurb]

I was amazed to see that with my Stroboclip clipped to the G side of the bridge, if I damp the G, D, and A strings with my left hand and then simply tap lightly on the top of the bass, the Stroboclip will immediately lock on to the E's vibration that was transmitted from the tap.

Neat one! Can you say impulse response?

The fact that it is 41.2hz, and the slower the cycles per second the longer it takes for the electronics to recognize the frequency.

Well, the period of 41.2 Hz is about 25 ms, a duration that I suspect is quite a bit shorter than the integration time of these tuners. In English, that should be plenty short for the tuner to "catch on." I think the difficulty that some tuners have with the E has much more to do with a roll-off in the low-frequency response of their transducers than anything else.

 

[Kev2007]

I have a Korg AW-2 clip-on tuner. No problem with the low E. I've occasionally had trouble with the D string, but I'm almost certain that was because of the vague pitch of the (cheap and worn-out) string itself.
Overall it works well and is not too expensive.

I've got two of these and they work great on my DB's, no matter how noisy the environment. I use the bow to tune, though, so maybe that helps. It has no problem finding the low C extension. Back light works great, and I've never had to change the battery in two years of about 250 gigs/yr on my main axe. I clip onto the bridge between the D and A strings.

Ironically, they are harder to get working on my electric basses...