Favorite Pedal Tuner

[FryeHenderson]

I'm looking for a new pedal tuner. Do you have a fav for your bass? I'm looking for a silent mute bypass switch. And, when bypassed, dead quiet. I tried a used Polytune 3 that made a pop through my system and in general dulled the overall tone coming from my bass. Maybe there was something wrong with the polytune 3. I've been thinking about the ST-300 Turbo Tuner and using a 9v battery in it. I read that when it's in bypass there is no draw from the 9v, so I'm hoping there's also no dull tone as the signal passes through. I'm playing a Warwick NT4 Thumb with Bartolini active preamp going straight into a Trace Elliot V Type 115 combo. My sound is very clean. Thanks for your advice. Mike

 

[FryeHenderson]

Here's my setup. Thanks for your advice, Mike

 

[Jefenator]

I love my old ST-200. It's very rugged, batteries last a very long time, no pops or coloration in bypass mode that I can discern and not least of all, the tuning tracking & accuracy are superb.

 

[kesslari]

Super happy with the Peterson StroboStomp HD

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

As a bit of an odd duck recommendation, the Source Audio EQ2 has, amongst its many tools, a fast and accurate chromatic tuner. I use mine for that, high pass and lowpass filtering, and noise suppression, all in one handy enclosure (and it still has all its stereo equalization properties on top of that).

Here’s a photo to show how it looks in action. The LEDs for the different EQ bands will move in accordance with sharpness/flatness as an extra visual clue as to how close to being in tune you are, with two centered dots as shown when in tune.

 

[westrock]

ST-300 Turbo Tuner would be my choice. Easy to read, long battery life and dead silent. I bought the ST-200 years ago and it still works fine.

 

[Silver Blues]

I use the Kliq Tiny Tune Pro Stage. Nice and small, lots of features, tracks low B very nicely, well made.

 

[pbass2]

I love my old ST-200. It's very rugged, batteries last a very long time, no pops or coloration in bypass mode that I can discern and not least of all, the tuning tracking & accuracy are superb.

I've got an ST-200 still going strong after over 10 years, and getting worked on tours.

 

[halcyo]

Boss TU-2. The individual led lights are very easy to see on stage, even in questionable light. It picks up pitch very quickly. Snappy.

 

[JakobT]

There was something wrong with your PolyTune.

 

[BlueTalon]

I use the receiver of my Shure GLX-D wireless unit. It does exactly what you say you want your tuner to do, but it's probably a lot more money than you'd want to spend on a tuner.

 

[Curtybob]

Going against the grain here:

I can't tell you my favorite, but the Korg PB-03 (pitch-black poly) is crap. It agrees with my bandmates' tuners... which is the only reason I haven't tossed it. But getting it to register the lower notes on my 5er is a pain. There's also some confusing function I keep accidentally activating when I press the stomp button to disengage the mute. Not sure what it might be (screen reads like the poly readout, but doesnt respond to tuning), but I randomly have to stomp it 2x to get back to making sound.

 

[Christophe C]

Nothing fancy : Boss TU-3
it works, it' reliable, it's sturdy.

 

[Jefus]

Super happy with the Peterson StroboStomp HD

Completely agree. It's configurable beyond expectation for a tuner, but works just fine plug and play. Can be true bypass or buffered. And you can adjust the colors and brightness on the gigantic screen that's super easy to read.

 

[2112]

TC Polytune 3 been my go-to for awhile now... no pops.

 

[Microbass]

Have a Boss TU-2 that I used for 15+ years. The last few years it has allowed me to tune completely wrong more than once. I also found with my short-sightedness harder to read the LEDs. It also struggled when I'd drop the E string to C# which was frustrating as we normally had a fast change in between songs.
Always like the Korg tuners and finally picked up a PitchBlack Custom. Huge screen, super accurate, way faster than the my old TU-2. Have just completed 15 days on the road and it performed perfectly. Only downside is the lack of additional bypassed output like on the Boss tuners, so I'll be hanging onto the Boss for recordings (but not to use as a tuner).

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

I've owned quite a few and so far the Petersen strobo stomp hd is the best at tracking my low b. The tc polytune 3 and korg pitch black worked too but where slow on tracking the b string

 

[Aloe]

well, I didn't use Polytune from battery, but for me it definitely didn't pop (2 did a bit, but not 3) and didn't change the tone in true bypass mode, especially with an active bass.

I'm partial to strobe tuners, I own two Strobostomp HD pedals now and very happy. they don't pop in true bypass, but do in buffered since some software update. but, again, I don't use mine from battery, only from power supply. if I had a chance to source a Turbo Tuner, I'd try it as well.

I've also tried a Korg Pitchblack Advance and didn't like the bypass. with a passive bass there was a perceivable loss of details in highs. frankly, don't remember how it sounded with an active bass, or I didn't try it.

 

[Julian G]

I'm using a D'Addario Pw CT20 - works fine and has a nice clear display

 

[dax21]

Still using a discontinued Korg DT10. Waiting for it to die so I can get something with a smaller footprint... but it will never happen because it's built like a tank. Tracks downtuned bass well too.