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Tuner Rant

#21
Danomo said:
Were I gigging, I'd want everyone on the same brand of tuner.
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that's kind of a myth; they all use the same crystal oscillator tech as a digital watch, so A really does = 440 on all of them.

some tuners are more precise than others, but that's more about how wide the window of what they consider "in-tune" is or how well they track; a boss TU-2 has a +/- 3 cents error window*, which means there's a 6 cents wide margin of pitch ranges that it will call as being "in tune", but the "center" of that window is still dead-on A=440.



*this was by design; the TU-2 was made to be strictly a stage tuner, so the wide error window allowed you to quickly get "close enough" so you could start the next song already.
 
#22
I'm a weirdo, maybe, but I find it entirely worth it to mute (volume pedal at the gig), unplug, then plug into my lil' Korg TM-50 to tune.

I've tried a few pedal tuners and things over the years when I'd be in the Music Store Which Shall Not Be Named waiting for someone to realize a human shopper was there, and they all seemed to have tolerances & response that fell short of what I was used to in my trombone days, with pricey tuners that would track a frequency all day.

So I got to reading, and the only not-so-expensive tuner that got consistently good reviews was that TM-50. As luck would have it, it's got a decent metronome too, though it's no Dr. Beat (classic DB-66 especially). And lo and behold, it tracks amazingly well, on my five, guitar of course, when I'm doing stuff on flute and need reference, and even for tuning my MicroBrute or MS-20 mini. Consistent, super close tracking. I use it when setting my intonation and occasionally check back to make sure the readings are always consistent, which they are.

And at $24, it's priced like it's made to last for a month or two. Couple years in, going strong.
 
#26
walterw said:
that's kind of a myth; they all use the same crystal oscillator tech as a digital watch, so A really does = 440 on all of them.

some tuners are more precise than others, but that's more about how wide the window of what they consider "in-tune" is or how well they track; a boss TU-2 has a +/- 3 cents error window*, which means there's a 6 cents wide margin of pitch ranges that it will call as being "in tune", but the "center" of that window is still dead-on A=440.



*this was by design; the TU-2 was made to be strictly a stage tuner, so the wide error window allowed you to quickly get "close enough" so you could start the next song already.
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It's not the crystal, it's the other components. Same makers of tuners will be closer to themselves than others, so if you're all using Cheapo's, better to use the same brand.

Though do I agree once you get in the Boss TU price range, it's academic.

Still, many recording studio guys use ONE tuner to tune all instruments for a session.
 
#27
My digitech BP355 has an alright tuner, it's good for the first 4 strings, I tune with my ears to get as close as i can, then use the for approximating the notes. Unfortunately, the B and E strings get make the tuner fluttery and inaccurate, probably because the notes are hard to track due to the low frequencies. Situations like that make me think "thank God i have AP"
 
#29
Colonel Monk said:
Having said all of that, I've had a Korg Pitchblack for some years now, and I'm thinking of trying something more responsive (quicker, I guess). All in all it's been fine, but seems like the LEDs leading me to pitch are always flickering one way or another.
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That's what they are supposed to do - I hate tuners that "lock in" AKA pretend you're tuning is perfect. That's what I don't like about the Planet Waves pedal, I want to see the tuning wavering about as it actually does. The Korg DT-10 does this nicely, probably much like your PitchBlack. You'd really hate the Turbo Tuner ;) .
 
#30
RoadRanger said:
That's what they are supposed to do - I hate tuners that "lock in" AKA pretend you're tuning is perfect. That's what I don't like about the Planet Waves pedal, I want to see the tuning wavering about as it actually does. The Korg DT-10 does this nicely, probably much like your PitchBlack. You'd really hate the Turbo Tuner ;) .
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big +1

on a good tuner (or especially a real strobe like the turbo tuner) the "flickering" or unsteadiness around the "in tune" indication shows what the string is actually doing; a less-precise tuner will easily "lock on" with a green "in-tune" light because it's essentially given up, and that green light is really a "whatever, close enough" light.
 
#32
If you can find a used Peterson strobe stomp 2 get it.
It has a direct out power pass and mute feature.
its is pppppricey but it is boss. Youll never need another.
 

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#33
shwabilly said:
I have an Ampeg SVT 4 Pro with a Korg DTR1000 rack tuner, and I can mute the signal when I'm tuning with the Ampeg's footswitch. I prefer the rack tuner because I can see it better, and I don't use any other pedals.
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Yes, but you must turn your back to the audience and take your hands off your bass to use it, am I right?
 
#39
scottfeldstein said:
Yes, but you must turn your back to the audience and take your hands off your bass to use it, am I right?
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No, I don't have to take my hands off of my bass, because the signal is muted by the Ampeg's footswitch. I just hit the "tune mute" button, and start tuning. As far as turning my back to the audience, it's not a big deal. I tune up before the set starts, and I'm usually good for the night. I just check it occasionally throughout the gig. I tend to turn my back more to grab a drink or just kind of jam out with the drummer. I don't think turning your back on the audience for a few seconds is disrespectful imo.
 
#40
paparoof said:
My thoughts exactly. I know I've spent more than $130 over the last 30+ years trying to save money by buying cheap (crap) tuners. Never again. You can have my Turbo Tuner when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
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I'd still be using the Hartke pocket tuner if I could figure out a way to use it and be able to mute my signal without adding another pedal. That's the ONLY reason I got a Pitchblack. I totally resent my tuner taking up space on my board that I could use for fun stuff, and I hate spending money on them.
 

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