Do you use a clip on tuner? Is it good at picking up the low E? I have a couple of clip on tuners both are reluctant to pick up the low E--very rarely and may take several attempts--if I'm lucky. I try both the headstock and the bridge to try the tuner. Can you recommend a clip on tuner?
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Double Bass Clip On Tuner
- Thread starter gypsydjango
- Start date
I like my cheap TC-Electronic Unitune. It easily tracks down to low B.
I have one of these, and it works well:
Eclipse Clip-on Electronic Chromatic Tuner for Double Bass & Cello
Eclipse Clip-on Electronic Chromatic Tuner for Double Bass & Cello
I use a D'Addario NS micro on the bridge of my DB and EUB(Yamaha SLB 200) and it is easy for me to see but almost invisible to anyone else. Good battery life. I also use one of these on guitar, mandolin and banjo and haven't had any problems.
Want to also add to avoid Snark tuners. They usually break at sone point - the plastic pieces that hold the head on the neck specifically.
My Snark picks up the low E well--and even if I tune it down to D. (Which normally I don't do--but there's one riff I came up with that sounds good with a low D)
The older ones may break more easily--but I've had acoupel for years & no problems until recently when one of them wasn't packed up properly.
the new ones are reinforced, so less likely to break.
The older ones may break more easily--but I've had acoupel for years & no problems until recently when one of them wasn't packed up properly.
the new ones are reinforced, so less likely to break.
I have a Snark that I like. It picks up the low E ok, but I often use the octave harmonic to tune the E. The tuner reads that pitch better.
They are easy to repair with several wraps of thread and elmer's glue applied over the thread.
These are the only 2 clip on tuners I've found that track low bass well such as drop C tuning or low B on a 5 string
My Korg Clip-on tuner works down to low B when mounted on the bridge and well for the E when mounted at the peg box.
This is pretty much my story too. No problem with the low E, at least on my DB, mounted on my bridge.
AKA: D'Addario Planet Waves NS Micro.
That's great, but why should I have to do that?
The TC Electronics design avoids that weak point. I'd rather spend the money on the more reliable design.
Now, if the TC Electronics clip on tuners didn't do the job, it'd be a different story. But they perform just fine - as does their pedal.
I also like this one. It picks up the E string as well as the Snark but is more compact and less prone to breakage.
- Steve
Yep, that's what I use, and it's pretty good as well as really flexible about where you clip it.
Only downside I've ever experience is sometimes it thinks it needs to be upside down - a slight change in tilt of the bass fixes that usually.
I used to use the D'Addario NS Micro, but they had a hard time with the E, then I found their Universal Micro, which tunes the E much better. It has a screen that can rotate the read out in 4 directions, and the extension is infinitely adjustable.
