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Tuner Poll

gregmon79

gregmon79

Dec 20, 2012
27,397
19,561
46
Chicago IL
#1
What is so great about pedal/rack tuners? I've been using a headstock chromatic tuner by fender, the FT-004 and it's a great little tuner. Never let's me down and is convenient AND inexpensive. It does the same exact thing as any pedal tuner, just about, but it's smaller and I don't lose pedal board real estate. I always thought it'd be cool to have a ploytune or a korg pitchblack but again, pedal board space. And I spent $20 on my tuner and it works great. So what do you use and why?
 
#4
I have a headstock tuner and love it in quiet places, at a bar gig with lots of noise it gets a bit confused and therefore pedal or rack-mount is supreme. For me it is the Pitchblack.
 
#5
Gab124 said:
I have a headstock tuner and love it in quiet places, at a bar gig with lots of noise it gets a bit confused and therefore pedal or rack-mount is supreme. For me it is the Pitchblack.
Click to expand...

I've used mine in noisy situations and it works great, never had an issue. Not to say you're wrong in any way. I'm just trying to figure why I, if I ever did, would ever invest in one.
 
#6
Sure, each person has different experiences. I would say if yours works for you in all situations than you don't need to buy one, pretty easy really. Mine is the Planet Waves one, could be brand, but it was unpredictable in a few live situations I used it.
 
#9
I haven't been able to find a headstock tuner that consistently "reads" the low E string. In fact I tore in half a Korg tuner the rep GAVE me because it was so frustrating to use. On the vast majority of stringed instruments they work great but I've had trouble with all brands on bass.

That said when I need to tune a guitar or uke type instrument in the store I grab a SNARK headstock tuner. I plug into a Korg chromatic tuner to do basses and I use a SNARK pedal tuner personally.
 
#10
I like the pedal for live because its tough to see much of anything else if it's dark enough. Plus, it acts as an instant mute switch.
Personally I use the Snark SN-7 floor tuner because it is quick and the most visible of any tuner I've tried. Super bright LED. Plus, it was the least expensive of its competitors at $70 so I was quite happy. Still am happy.
 
#11
I don't see the problem with a pedal type, easy to carry, fast, clear. Mine sits on my amp and just just short jumper to go into amp. Battery powered, and batts last nearly as long as the one in my bass, so I just change both out at once. Can't say that for my headstock tuner, it eats batteries.
 
#13
On my pedalboard I use a Turbo Tuner. It's small and accurate.

When I use a headstock tuner, I use the Peterson StroboClip. Costs more than the Snark, but it's more accurate and I've used it in incredibly loud situations and it tunes perfectly.
 
#15
I'll have to look into all the tuners mentioned above. I can see why others use different kinds. My fender headstock tuner glows bright in dark environments and lights up a bright and vibrant green when I'm in tune. I've never had an issue with my E string either. I may have to stop it, and pluck again every now and then, but it works great. I'm still gonna check out others mentioned already. I've almost bought the TC poly a couple times before but I just couldn't bring myself to replace a tuner that works just as good as the one I have attached to my head and cost a quarter of the price.
 
#16
I have a Polytune Mini. I like that I can mute and tune in one stomp, I also like that I can see the display easily in light and dark places, it's also pretty accurate and takes up essentially no space on my board.

I also used to like pedal tuners because in addition to being tuners they were an easy way to get a solid buffer in the chain. But my Mini is true bypass so I can't use that reason anymore haha.

I don't know how headstock tuners cope with low B, I only 4 string so I don't care, but I can see that being an issue for some people. I know it was an issue with some pedal tuners in the past.
 
#20
Snarks work great for me. Just have to remember to turn them off, or youll replace battery often. If I misplace or cant find a snark, my iphone works great. The boss tuners have been gone for a long time.
 

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