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Just bought T.C. Polytune Clip-on...it's great except for one thing.

Headlands

Headlands

Feb 19, 2011
51
44
#1
This thing is awesome aside from the fact that sometimes it shows the E string as a B, or it switches between E and B. It will do the same with the low F, as an experiment (switches between F and C sometimes). From low F# and up it's perfect. It doesn't happen al of the time and it doesn't affect how it shows that the E string is in tune, it's just the note name that is sometimes wrong. Yes, it's in Bass Mode. :)

On my guitars it's fine -- this only happens with bass.

Anyone else have this happen? Any kind of adjustment you can make? Again: Yes, it is in Bass Mode when I use it on bass. I just want to know if I got a bad one and need to exchange it, or if this happens with other people. It's a little annoying for a clip-on that's more expensive than almost any other!
 
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#5
wvbass said:
If this happens, experiment a little with where on the headstock you clip it. I have seen this, but I can move the clip to a different location to correct it. FWIW, I think the Polytune Clip is the best tuner I have owned.
Click to expand...

That helped greatly, thanks! It doesn't always fix the issue, but seems to help. Seems on some of my basses the placement doesn't matter as much, but on some it does.
 
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#8
I haven't run into this issue much. Maybe 2 of 30 basses for me, but your experience may be different.

My biggest gripe is that mine doesn't seem to power itself off in a reasonable amount of time. If I forget to turn it off, I can be faced with a dead bettery. That has happened to me a couple times. I have to admit, I have not RTFM to see if there is an auto-off setting.

EDIT: I also find the polytune gimmick to be worthless, both on the clip and the pedal. Great tuners, though.
 
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#9
Headlands said:
This thing is awesome aside from the fact that sometimes it shows the E string as a B, or it switches between E and B. It will do the same with the low F, as an experiment (switches between F and C sometimes). From low F# and up it's perfect. It doesn't happen al of the time and it doesn't affect how it shows that the E string is in tune, it's just the note name that is sometimes wrong. Yes, it's in Bass Mode. :)

On my guitars it's fine -- this only happens with bass.

Anyone else have this happen? Any kind of adjustment you can make? Again: Yes, it is in Bass Mode when I use it on bass. I just want to know if I got a bad one and need to exchange it, or if this happens with other people. It's a little annoying for a clip-on that's more expensive than almost any other!
Click to expand...

I get the same thing with mine - however, it still tunes solidly despite what note it is displaying, so I just ignore it. I find it works fine for bass in either guitar or bass mode, too.
 
#10
wvbass said:
I haven't run into this issue much. Maybe 2 of 30 basses for me, but your experience may be different.

My biggest gripe is that mine doesn't seem to power itself off in a reasonable amount of time. If I forget to turn it off, I can be faced with a dead bettery. That has happened to me a couple times. I have to admit, I have not RTFM to see if there is an auto-off setting.

EDIT: I also find the polytune gimmick to be worthless, both on the clip and the pedal. Great tuners, though.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I've had mine for about a year and a half and haven't even had to change the battery once yet. Use it quite frequently too.
 
#14
It isn't really an issue. The 5th is the 3rd note in the harmonic series so it is understandable for tuners to get confused, especially on bass instruments. Even if it does pick up the B instead of the E you can continue to tune it to whichever is displayed. If the "5th" is in tune so will be the actual fundamental. But as mentioned the easiest solution is just hitting the harmonic.

OvertoneSeries.png
 
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#18
Headlands said:
This thing is awesome aside from the fact that sometimes it shows the E string as a B, or it switches between E and B. It will do the same with the low F, as an experiment (switches between F and C sometimes). From low F# and up it's perfect. It doesn't happen al of the time and it doesn't affect how it shows that the E string is in tune, it's just the note name that is sometimes wrong. Yes, it's in Bass Mode. :)

On my guitars it's fine -- this only happens with bass.

Anyone else have this happen? Any kind of adjustment you can make? Again: Yes, it is in Bass Mode when I use it on bass. I just want to know if I got a bad one and need to exchange it, or if this happens with other people. It's a little annoying for a clip-on that's more expensive than almost any other!
Click to expand...

I have that happen on my guitar, fairly often shows F# instead of B. The frequencies are multiples of each other and the tuner gets confused. Moving it slightly helps, since different parts of the headstock will vibrate differently. Unfortunately the "most natural" location for mine isn't the best for the functionality of the tuner, but the slight inconvenience is still better than tuning forks, or worse, a Snark. Still the best clip on on the market for my money, very accurate in strobe mode.

I imagine the Peterson may perform a little better, but the bigger size and fact that it's LCD and I play a lot of gigs outside in bright sun make me hesitate to try it. I do have the Peterson phone/iPad app, absolutely insane what you can do for $10 nowadays.
 

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