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Which tuner should I buy?

S

Strikebass

Oct 16, 2012
90
1
Rome, Italy
#1
Since I'm throwing away my harley benton tuner pedal (i firmly advise everyone not to get this pedal) I got to decide another chromatic tuner

My choices are stuck on

1-polytune TC
2-korg pitchblack

I've excluded the boss chromatic tuner because I heard it's not true bypass (yet, the only thing about "true bypass" i know is that a pedal with true bypass is better than another without it. XD)

I've noticed obviously that both of them have got true bypass, but the korg costs a little less (even though there's another version of the poly, the mini polytune I believe, which costs less and so I assume is worse than the former)

SO my question is: which one should I get myself? Have you had experiences with these pedals?

Thanks in advance ^_^
 
#2
I've been using the polytune TC for close to 3 years exclusively now. I've had great success in that time, playing more than 250 gigs with the tuner. It's quick, accurate, great in all light surroundings, and is just very dependable and reliable.
I have not used the Korg.

-Dan
 
#6
In the past 40 years, on almost every kind of instrument from concert band brass from trumpet to tuba, to rock-n-roll bands, I have had occasion to use just about every kind of tuner out there, from the venerable Conn Strobotuner in its original form, through rack mounts, hand helds, clip ons, acoustic guitar mount on the instrument, either separately or as an integral part of a Fishman system, etc., even new cell phone apps.

My favorite is the Korg CA-1: inexpensive, durable, accurate, not influenced easily by extraneous noises or interference, portable. I have several: a couple for my various basses & guitars for gigs (main and backup), one for my tuba, one for my double bass, another one or two kicking around as needed. If you have a "side out" or "fx out" or "preamp out" on your amp, you can keep it plugged in and refer to it "on the fly."

It has both a built-in microphone and 1/4 inch inputs; it can be calibrated up or down (like to match a house piano at a jazz gig, etc.) It reads all pitches so you can do alternate tunings.

In short, the best value-for-money out there.
 
#7
Peepaleep said:
I have a Korg rack tuner that works very well. If it is a representative sample of their other tuners I would say you cannot go wrong with Korg.
Click to expand...
That reminds me: I need to dig out my old Korg rackmount and take it to my rehearsal hall where I have set up my older rig of a Carvin PB300 (from 1993) into an SWR Triad, so I don't have to carry a bunch of "stuff" back and forth. That was my main tuner setup for, well, years of gigging until the CA-1 came out.

CAVEAT: The Korg rack-mounts have a 3-prong plug. Unless you have a really good grounding system for your rig, I found I have to add one of those 3-to-2 prong power cord adaptors when it is in the signal chain to keep hum out of the system. That's alright, so long as the main amp it is going into is properly 3-prong grounded.
 
#8
From a recent a/b test, tc poly tune tracks faster than the korg and korg is faster than boss. Plus polytune has true bypass). It also has a more precise display to work on your intonation on DB or fretless. Korg only tells you if your on, sharp or flat; poly tune indicate how far you are.

I'm not sure which can adjust A's freq to something else than 440hz, tho'.
 
#9
The TC Polytone is 'ok'. The poly mode is pretty useless. Tracking is decent. Pitchblack tracks more quickly and is a bit more rugged IMO.

If you have the cash, the Sonic is the best of the lot by far. VERY quick tracking, even on an open B, built like a tank, and literally strobe accuracy (you can use it to intonate your instrument.

All three have nice 'true bypass', so they won't reduce the treble response of your instrument.

The 'value winner' is the Pitchblack. The top of the top is the Sonic.

IMO and IME
 
#10
I have a Sonic Research ST-200 Strobe tuner. It's a great
tuner and way more accurate than a chromatic tuner when
doing setups. The fact that it's a pedal makes it even better
IMO.

st_200.gif
 
#12
Bassbubble11 said:
I have a Sonic Research ST-200 Strobe tuner. It's a great
tuner and way more accurate than a chromatic tuner when
doing setups. The fact that it's a pedal makes it even better
IMO.

st_200.gif
Click to expand...

Definitely the finest tuner ever made IMO regarding size/quality/accuracy and speed of tracking. A bit pricey, but if you have the cash, it is money well spent.

It isn't just a fake strobe display like on the Pitchback (which I believe has an option for 'strobe display'. It is an actual 'strobe' circuitry, with actual strobe accuracy. The accuracy isn't a big deal for playing live (the tracking is, though).
 
#13
Strikebass said:
@Etienned: unfortunately I do not have the cash. Probably you already know this but there isn't anything worse than a guy overwhelmed by GAS with no money. LOL
Click to expand...

I'm gas'ing for the poly tune since I got to try it. There are probably other great tuner but the sheer tracking speed is great to monitor my DB playing.
 
#16
KJung said:
Definitely the finest tuner ever made IMO regarding size/quality/accuracy and speed of tracking. A bit pricey, but if you have the cash, it is money well spent.

It isn't just a fake strobe display like on the Pitchback (which I believe has an option for 'strobe display'. It is an actual 'strobe' circuitry, with actual strobe accuracy. The accuracy isn't a big deal for playing live (the tracking is, though).
Click to expand...

They say you get what you pay for. Even if this is a little pricer than
some of the others I believe you are getting way more than what you
pay for with this thing. Honestly $129 is not crazy money.

Not to mention it's a freaking TANK and made in the USA.
 
#17
I have the pitchblack, which i have been very happy with. I needed an ab/y for my weekly church gig so after some deliberation i bought the pitchblack plus. that thing is really awesome. two basses, great tuner, no loss of signal... just outstanding.

It also has some functionality that the standard pitchblack does not, but I haven't needed to delve into it. I think it can save some user presets and calibrations.

It's only about 20 bucks more than the standard pitchblack and with the 2 inputs, i think more than worth the extra expense.

good luck
 

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