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rack or floor tuner
- Thread starter nojj
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
Rack pros: easier to see from across the stage, flashing lights look cool in rack.
Rack cons: bulkier, heavier, tend to be a "tone suck" if your amp doesn't have a dedicated tuner output. Can't be used as a mute when it's connected that way (connect in series for mute, get tone suck). Plus the only one in current production afaik is the Peterson.
Search on tuner here and in the Misc forum to learn which pedal tuner to buy.
Rack cons: bulkier, heavier, tend to be a "tone suck" if your amp doesn't have a dedicated tuner output. Can't be used as a mute when it's connected that way (connect in series for mute, get tone suck). Plus the only one in current production afaik is the Peterson.
Search on tuner here and in the Misc forum to learn which pedal tuner to buy.
+1
I had a Korg DTR1000 that looked cool but it made my tone sound weird, and the only way I could use it while preserving my tone was to use a Radial Bigshot ABY switch to basically switch between my amp and the tuner. So at that point I though "Why go though all this trouble when I could just get a pedal tuner and call it good?" so I sold the Korg and Radial and bought a Boss TU2. Tunage without tone-suckage
my amp has a dedicated tuner out, GB ShuttleMax 9.2 and can be muted so i use a DTR1000 in my rack. its always on so if i need to tune i just mute the amp. i have been trying to simplify my set up so now i have a 4 space rack a cab with wheels and a bass in a gig bag. i can load in, in just one trip and 3 plugs and im set up.
+1 for the Boss TU-3! 100% silent too (which is surprising for a Boss pedal). I can't find any flaws with it.
Get a Polytune mini. Awesome tuner. Cant think of one negative in it. Never had a rackmount. They look cool. Thats all I can think about of them that would be better than anything else.
The problem I had with a rackmount tuner was being able to read it at daytime outdoor shows. A few years ago I switched to a pedal tuner that is visible in daylight. I went with the TC Electronics Poly tune.
You can use a pedaltuner as a killswitch too, it's just nice to have really. I can't see why you would put something as simple as a tuner in a rack
Unrepresented
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All good points, but I'd like to add that:
a) A rack tuner will always be with your head regardless of whether you're bringing a pedalboard with you to a gig/recording situation.
b) For me rack space and power supply are more easily available than board space and power supply. I'd rather lose a rack space to a tuner, especially since there's not a lot in the way of quality rack effects equipment that has an equivalent in pedal form -- in other words, it's a lot easier to throw the tuner in the rack than other pedals, especially if you're tight on space.
Stick_Player
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- Nov 13, 2009
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I prefer a floor pedal because I can check the tuning quickly between songs without having to turn my back on the audience or loose sight of any signals from my band mates.
Unless some has perfect pitch, it will be difficult to tune completely by ear.. Tuners guarantee the most accurate tunings. Even if you have a great ear and are given some initial pitch to tune your instrument, you will more than likely be tuning your instrument with your inner sense of just-intonation rather than even-tempered intonation (which is required to play in multiple keys)
Im pretty anal about being in tune so i actually have both. I have a korg rack mount tuner which is what I look at while I'm playing a song. The korg gets a signal from an output on my preamp I wouldn't otherwise use And does not connect to my amp so it doesn't effect tone at all. Downside is I can't tune silently with it.
On the pedal board I have a pod hd desktop which is connected to a boss line selector pedal. I use the pod to tune silently between songs but the ls2 allows me to take the pod out of my signal when not using.
The boss ls2 has been great for dealing with tone suck. I have the pod hd hooked through one loop for delay, reverb, chorus and so on, I have a tech 21 gt2 hooked to the other loop on the ls2 which I use in mix mode as a blender. So I am able to completely take those effects out of my signal path when not using them.
On the pedal board I have a pod hd desktop which is connected to a boss line selector pedal. I use the pod to tune silently between songs but the ls2 allows me to take the pod out of my signal when not using.
The boss ls2 has been great for dealing with tone suck. I have the pod hd hooked through one loop for delay, reverb, chorus and so on, I have a tech 21 gt2 hooked to the other loop on the ls2 which I use in mix mode as a blender. So I am able to completely take those effects out of my signal path when not using them.
And as you can't tune by ear with the sound muted, it's a quite annoying method on stage.
