• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Tuner pedal

Jacobaeus

Jacobaeus

Oct 19, 2020
63
95
British Columbia, Canada
#1
Okay, not certain if this should have gone under effects, electronics, or accessories, so hopefully I'm in the right place.

I'm learning fretless (first bass) and while my ear is pretty good from nearly two decades of trombone and chorale I'm finding that the timbre of the instrument is throwing me off while I'm developing muscle memory for the fingerboard. As such, I need to get a new tuner, preferably one that lives in the signal chain (pedal?) so I can use it while playing with headphones. I've been looking at this one (Korg - Pitchblack Advance Pedal Tuner - Black) but want to know what others think of this tuner or if anyone has a better recommendation.

In short: help! Need a signal chain tuner for intonation!
 
#3
Most responsive tuner I have ever used is a turbo tuner. It's nearly instant and tracks perfectly even at subcontrabass frequencies. I believe this is how most strobe tuners are, though I don't know the details of how they work. If you want to use it in assisting your playing it might be worth spending the extra money for the better responsiveness. And yeah it has an always on mode.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jacobaeus and biguglyman
#6
YawningJorin said:
Most responsive tuner I have ever used is a turbo tuner. It's nearly instant and tracks perfectly even at subcontrabass frequencies. I believe this is how most strobe tuners are, though I don't know the details of how they work. If you want to use it in assisting your playing it might be worth spending the extra money for the better responsiveness. And yeah it has an always on mode.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll check that one out, too! I don't mind paying more for something that will work the way I want it to. Thanks! :)
 
#11
I practice fretless with a tuner. I use the TC Polytune as well. I will play my scale monkey business for a few minutes and then slow down and check my landings. I do not have a lined fretless so I secretly believe the tuner lit on my pedal board encourages me to look away from my neck. So that's a win-win. I just restored a P bass fretless and intonated it about 2 hours ago (whew) with painter tape for my 5, 7, 12 marks. I think any decent digital tuner pedal would be fine. An old school needle tuner would be hard to follow in my opinion. Bright letters on the floor work for me.

One thing I can attest to, if you are playing solo it is harder to catch some of the near misses. If you are playing in a group you get immediate feedback and it's easier to adjust your hand.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jacobaeus
#12
I'd say it's a toss up between Peterson StroboStomp HD and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner for accuracy and fastest tracking, but the Peterson also has the superior visibility and biggest screen which may be an important factor for your use case.

Oh and the Peterson is 15-20% off frequently... including right now, check out the big retailers for Black Friday deals. Some ship to Canada afaik.
 
  • Like
Reactions: One Way and Jacobaeus
#13
Jacobaeus said:
Okay, not certain if this should have gone under effects, electronics, or accessories, so hopefully I'm in the right place.

I'm learning fretless (first bass) and while my ear is pretty good from nearly two decades of trombone and chorale I'm finding that the timbre of the instrument is throwing me off while I'm developing muscle memory for the fingerboard. As such, I need to get a new tuner, preferably one that lives in the signal chain (pedal?) so I can use it while playing with headphones. I've been looking at this one (Korg - Pitchblack Advance Pedal Tuner - Black) but want to know what others think of this tuner or if anyone has a better recommendation.

In short: help! Need a signal chain tuner for intonation!
Click to expand...

No you don’t.

What you need is to train your ear. If you don’t have fret lines (or even if you do), use harmonics/fifths/octaves to occasionally check your hand positioning.
 
#14
g-dude said:
No you don’t.

What you need is to train your ear. If you don’t have fret lines (or even if you do), use harmonics/fifths/octaves to occasionally check your hand positioning.
Click to expand...

Well, that's kinda super obvious, not helpful, and not what was asked. Already doing that and using a drone (this isn't my first rodeo - 19 year jazz and orchestral trombone player and used to have nearly impeccable pitch on the trombone, though not perfect pitch). Somehow the pitch on trombone is somehow different and I'm not as accurate on the bass. Further, ear training is completely useless without reference and correction, which a tuner provides.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ricky Rioli
#16
I use the boss tu-2 and tu-3 in the bypass mode for the exact same purpose.

I prefer the display on the korg pitchblack but I am unsure if I can set it to bypass mode, I’m going to search right now.


Edit: the korg pitchblack: “Because the pitchblack has a True Bypass circuit, you can only tune “silently”, meaning you will not hear your audio signal through an amp etc.”
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Robbie J
#17
Killing Floor said:
I practice fretless with a tuner. I use the TC Polytune as well. I will play my scale monkey business for a few minutes and then slow down and check my landings. I do not have a lined fretless so I secretly believe the tuner lit on my pedal board encourages me to look away from my neck. So that's a win-win. I just restored a P bass fretless and intonated it about 2 hours ago (whew) with painter tape for my 5, 7, 12 marks. I think any decent digital tuner pedal would be fine. An old school needle tuner would be hard to follow in my opinion. Bright letters on the floor work for me.

One thing I can attest to, if you are playing solo it is harder to catch some of the near misses. If you are playing in a group you get immediate feedback and it's easier to adjust your hand.
Click to expand...

Good points, thanks! Yeah, as an orchestra player or in a jazz quintet/sextet it was really easy to be like "whoops, that's slightly flat!" But practicing on the couch without the benefit of having player this instrument for years is a bit of a novel challenge for me. :)
 
#18
I use the TC Polytune 3, and love it. Mine is the "noir" mini version, but any of the 3's are great imo. As others have pointed out, it has an always-on mode for doing what you're asking about. Plus it has a strobe mode that is accurate to 0.02 hz, which I use for setting intonation when I do setups on my basses. It's one of the most accurate pedal tuners available, and it's extremely versatile.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zbysek
#19
Wretched Banana said:
I'd say it's a toss up between Peterson StroboStomp HD and Sonic Research Turbo Tuner for accuracy and fastest tracking, but the Peterson also has the superior visibility and biggest screen which may be an important factor for your use case.

Oh and the Peterson is 15-20% off frequently... including right now, check out the big retailers for Black Friday deals. Some ship to Canada afaik.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm liking the Peterson's display, probably going to go with that one if the Pitchblack doesn't have a bypass (it's just so aesthetically pleasing!).
 
#20
Jacobaeus said:
Well, that's kinda super obvious, not helpful, and not what was asked. Already doing that and using a drone (this isn't my first rodeo - 19 year jazz and orchestral trombone player and used to have nearly impeccable pitch on the trombone, though not perfect pitch). Somehow the pitch on trombone is somehow different and I'm not as accurate on the bass. Further, ear training is completely useless without reference and correction, which a tuner provides.
Click to expand...

So having taken up the upright this year, I can tell you that the less you consult a tuner whilst playing the better.

One thing I do is to try to play the scale of the key I’m playing in to try to get things to feel and sound right. In addition, playing a couple of fifths is great to get yourself anchored. Fret lines are to be used as rough guides, but never trusted 100% - on my squire the fret lines around the 17th fret are not even close to sounding right.

I mean, it’s up to you, but the work is worth it. As for it being “not helpful”, not agreeing with your course of action doesn’t constitute being “not helpful”.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back