Favorite Pedal Tuner

[Matt Morgan]

Another recommendation for the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner.
Ridiculously fast note tracking, super bright display and, if I’m not mistaken, the most accurate pedal tuner out there.
Accurate to +\- 0.02 cents if memory serves.

 

[Discount Bassy]

Another vote for the Boss. I grew up with a TU-2 and picked up a TU-3 a few years ago, handing off the 2 to a friend in need. The TU-3 does have a few updates, including 2 brightness levels for the LED's. Never had a problem from the only Boss product that I use. No trouble picking up the low B, either.

 

[Wfrance3]

I tried a used Polytune 3 that made a pop through my system and in general dulled the overall tone coming from my bass.

It has to be broken then. I had a Korg mini-tuner that started doing that. It would still tune, but at some point started to always pop when you stepped on the switch. I replaced it with a PT3 and it's just fine and dandy. Years ago bought one of those original design polytune tuners with the white case. It's still on my other board and working great as well. Moral of the story; you gotta go with what works!

 

[Killing Floor]

Polytune mini for me. No pop. And bypass or play through mode which I use for fretless practice. Never had a problem with response time. Accurate on all my instruments (bass, baritone, guitars, keys, violin).

 

[GwenOnBass]

An outlier here with the Vox VXT-1 strobe pedal tuner. I can read it in the dark without my glasses

 

[DrColossus68]

I've been using a TU-2 for about 15 years and the thing is a tank. I don't notice any tone suck or popping when I use it (but maybe I'm just used to the tone suck after 15 years).

General question for all: Why use a battery over a power supply for a tuner? I've seen a few people mention it but I don't know what the benefit would be.

 

[Mark_70]

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

+1 on the TU-3. Been using it for years and always worked just fine.
Regards
Mark

 

[Jefenator]

I've been satisfied with various Korg units. I bought a hand held tuner of theirs in the '90s and it still works. I keep an old pitch-black pedal in my cable bag for backup. Also have a clip-on and even had the rack version for a while. They all seem to track & read out well enough.
The Turbo Tuner does set the bar, though.
I like it when a utility pedal delivers true bypass even with a dead battery. (After having my graduation recital nearly ruined by a dying battery, I pay attention to these things.) I don't do pedalboards yet, but it's nice to be able to keep a tuner inserted for bigger shows without having to mess around with a power supply. I get the low battery warning maybe twice a decade?
The only feature that might tempt me on newer tuners is buffering. (OTOH I already have plenty of other boxes that do that well.)

 

[Lenny JG]

Good ol polytune pedal. Only people who have a bad time w it are the ones who don't know that it has a bass mode.

 

[Selios]

I’ve been using my Korg Pitchblack for at least 12 years with no concerns!

 

[Cave Puppy]

I have also been using the Polytune for years with no issue.

 

[Chamber]

Another vote for the Sonic Research ST-300 mini. I compared it against the Peterson Strobostomp HD and the ST-300 won due to its quickness. The Strobostomp sure is a visual treat, though. But, functionality > looks.

 

[Cave Puppy]

My clip-ons are of the Peterson and Polytune varieties. No issues there either.

 

[Obese Chess]

I really like the Strobostomp HD, with the caveat that it has a bit of a learning curve due to the absolutely insane amount of features packed into it.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Turbo Tuner ST-300 would be my choice. I have several of them.

 

[MdC64]

I’ve been using a Polytune 1st version for several years-no pops and works very well.
I recently picked up a Boss TU-3 from the classifieds and it is fantastic too.

 

[WillyW]

boss tu-2, tu-3 and I have a polytune? maybe

prefer the boss because of the bypass

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Boss TU-2. I got mine in the late 90s and hundreds of gigs later it's still going strong. It's not precise enough for setting intonation but more than adequate for tuning on stage when FAST tuning is more important to me than +/- 0.0000002 cent.

I tried "upgrading" to the Waza Craft TU-3W but the blue LEDs were so blindingly powerful that it was almost impossible to see the green LED in the middle. Totally useless IMO. I couldn't trust the tuner and had to tune by ear. I sold it after one gig.

I've also tried some of the fancy strobe pedals (Peterson, Sonic Research) but found them to be WAY too precise for use on stage. I could probably have spent the entire gig tuning and the tuner would still say I was out of tune. The one from Sonic Research (brand new) also made a loud CLICK through the amp whenever I engaged the foot switch. Maybe it was faulty? I ended up selling both of them.

If my TU-2 ever fails I will probably get a regular non-Waza TU-3. Or maybe a Korg. They generally make excellent tuners (the OT-120 is my favourite workbench tuner).

 

[theduke1]

Sonic Research strobe tuner
Duke

 

[HelpImaRock]

A lot of time, pops happen because of something further down the signal chain. It's weird how two people can have the same pedal and one person has a completely different experience regarding line noise and pops, but it does happen.

I use a Peterson Strobostomp HD or Sonic Research Turbo Tuner Mini depending on the situation. The Peterson is easier to read, but the Sonic Research doesn't get washed out at outdoor day gigs. They're both high quality, and neither is more accurate than the other. I've used both to set intonation as accurately as possible.