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Good tuner for bass?

wideyes

wideyes

May 9, 2007
991
22
Eugene, OR
#1
Sorry if this is the wrong forum for this thread... couldn't decide where to put it...

But: the other day I decided to mess around with my tunings (34" scale, 4 string p-bass, flats) and I discovered that my Korg GA-40 tuner couldn't reliably detect pitches lower than drop D! It does have a "bass" setting on it. The LEDs flutter and the needle pendulates for a moment, then nothing. No registered pitch. Is this A). a crappy tuner, B). my instrument's inability to adequately reproduce pitches that low, or C). something wise beyond my powers of conception?

Also, while we're on the subject, what do you guys use to tune? Are there methods you prefer? A buddy claims that tuning with harmonics is the way to go. I remain open, but skeptical. Thoughts?
 
#6
There's a ton of decent tuners on the market out there, but the most accurate ones are (in order of accuracy):
Turbo Tuner (+/- .02 cent) I own this one now.
Peterson Strobe tuners (+/- .1 cent)
Korg Pitchblack (+/- 1 cent)
Hardwire HT-2 (+/- 1 cent, said to be less than 1 cent, but does not specify)
BOSS TU-2 (+/- 3 cent)

Also, your problem is likely A) crappy tuner
as far as tuning, if I need to tune relative to anther instrument such as a piano I use open strings and double check with the 12th fret harmonic; if I am tuning relative to myself I use fifth frets going up, and 7th frets going down, the double check with 5th fret of lower string and 7th fret of higher string harmonics (when tuning in 4ths obviously eg: EADG, BEAD, ADGC, etc).
 
#8
I have about 6 tuners..

If you want to go low budget high quality the Seiko hand held picks up just about everything I try... it's a good ebay find.. if you want I can dig up a part number.. it's accurate within 3 cents.. I think I paid $5 for it used.

Peterson is cool (there's one for $90 on the classifieds) if you're gigging out - back lit, DI out, doesn't tone suck, you can save alternate tunings, unfortunate thing is it's not free.

Tim
 
#10
Livewire said:
I just bought a Korg Pitch Black tuner and it's great.
Click to expand...

+1. For gigs it is the Pitch Black. Accurate as can be and can be seen in ANY light. It should be all you need.

I play 5s and it picks up the low B just fine and it is pretty quick.

In a gig situation, do you really need better than +/- 1 cent?! I hit wrong NOTES all the time and no-one notices...

Ox.
 
#12
+1 for the Boss TU-2

Great pedal. Fast (even in chromatic mode), accurate (and honestly, if you need it more accurate than this, you need a Peterson strobe tuner) no noise, hard to kill. Can work as the source for powering other pedals, too. Less than $100. Buy it.
 
#13
Thanks guys! As usual, my gear-based question on here leaves me drooling over a $129+shipping ST-200 tuner - just the kind of GAS I need to be carrying around right now! I'll probably invest in one of these fine boxes sooner rather than later, so I appreciate the recommendations!
BTW: one more question: how do tuners usually handle active vs. passive signals? Are there ones that perform better in either category?

EDIT: Free shipping on the ST-200, but CA sales tax for me :(
 
#16
Have you tried tuning to the Octave harmonic?. It works for my circa 1980 Korg GT-6.

As for tuning without a meter - there once was a time when tuners didn't exist (really!!) - I tune to the A from the keyboard, or to an A tuning fork held over the bridge pickup - and then 5th and 7th Fret harmonics.
 
#18
PJSShearer said:
Have you tried tuning to the Octave harmonic?. It works for my circa 1980 Korg GT-6.

As for tuning without a meter - there once was a time when tuners didn't exist (really!!) - I tune to the A from the keyboard, or to an A tuning fork held over the bridge pickup - and then 5th and 7th Fret harmonics.
Click to expand...

Good point.. even little korg tuners work with a harmonic.

For gigging may not be necessary to go overboard.
 
#19
I'd agree that most of the time it's probably not important to use the most accurate of tuners. The guitarists probably aren't using super accurate tuners, and if they have a floating/tremolo/uncompensated bridge or a poorly intonated bridge, you're not going to stand out much more than they are.

In my case, it's extremely important because I play with instruments that don't need tuning (keyboards, two of them!) and my amp is up pretty high (second loudest behind the vocals... I have no idea why the leader started liking it like that, but it's great for me!). Because of that, when my pitch is off it's pretty noticeable and you can hear the out-of-tune wobble quite easily. :crying:
 

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