Electronic Tuners

[Hubert Angaiak]

The Peterson strobes have become quite small and it seems they can play your mando if you let it. How accurate are the cheap ones.. Korg, Sabine and others? I don't mean to offend anyone who hates and don't use these devices.

[Jeff Baldwin]

Yes... the Korg CA 30 is my favorite...it works and its easy to work and costs
>$20. .. so cheap I have one in each of my cases so I'm never without.

[Pete Martin]

From what I've seen, portable tuners where the lights come on to indicate being in tune have an error rate of from 3 to 8 cents, depending on the tuner. A cent by the way is 1/100th the distance between two chromatic notes. Depending on how good your ear is, this can be fine or drive you crazy. In my experience, the Intelitouch (however it is spelled) tuners are the worst.

The Peterson strobe tuner is great, especially the newer one with the tempermants. You get so in tune that it makes the small tuners seem bad. Strobe tuners are accurate to within 1/10th of a cent.

[Ted Eschliman]

The issue in buying a tuner isn't so much accuracy, as even the cheap ones are "accurate."
The issue is how responsive (how quick they "lock" into the pitch), how readable (rotating LED vs Needle for more visual interface), how ergonomic (size, and the intellitouch and the new Seiko knock-off are quite conveniently accessible--while you play), and perhaps price.
You'll get lots of individual faves reported here; I own about six of them, but my most recent acquistion was the Roland/Boss TU-80 (http://rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=3&subcatid=12&prodid=TU%2D80)
http://rolandus.com/images/products/pedals_tuners/tu80_md.gif
which also includes a metronome. This has a cool new feature that not only gives you high & low, the "Accu-pitch" which chirps back at you when you've found the pitch.
These street price in the mid $20's, too!

[Bradley]

I'm with Jeff....

The Korg is a great tuner which again is around $20.I have kept one of these in my case with one of the tuning clips from FQMS (which allows me to tune in noisy places if need be) for several years now and have yet to see anything to beat it

[Bob DeVellis]

I think the plug-in clips (sold separately) are the key ingredient for many of the little tuners. They make them a whole lot easier to use. Clip the sensor to the bridge or a string post, plug the other end into the tuner, and you cn tune even in the presence of background noise.

I think if you're doing precision set-up for intonation, the little wonders may not be sufficiently accurate but for just tuning to correct pitch on an already correctly intonated instrument, I find that they work great.

[jim_n_virginia]

I use the Intellitouch and I have no problem tuning up quickly and accurately. And the best part is I can tune up in a room with 15 other people tuning up at the same time. I have found the Intellitouch tuner easier to use with more use and experience. I am on my second one and have been using them exclusively on my acoustic instruments (mandolin and guitar) for about 2 years now.

I have noticed that most people have a little trouble when they first get one but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it.

An added boost to using the Intellitouch is that I can clamp it on the headstock and while I am practicing runs or scales the tuner digitally tells me what note I am playing individually on the fretboard and helps me memorize notes on the fretboard easier.

[Fretbear]

The Sabine AX2000(W) is an absolutely amazing and deadly accurate piece of equipment. You couldn't reasonably expect to be much smaller than it is (business card size) I stick it or place it on the mandolin's side, just behind the scroll, and then pass it over to my guitar player, who also loves it but prefers me to spend money(!) If you do play guitar, it is even better, as you can "park it" on the side next to the neck joint and have your tuner right there on stage, but no one even knows what you are looking at as you check your tuning. I have experimented with using it on the peghead face, like an intelli-touch, but found that the reading there is different than the reading from the body, telling me that that is not an ideal place for tuner readings. It is also chromatic, so I can use it for odd guitar and bouzouki tunings. It is fantastic for overdubbing in the studio as you are always "back to where you were". The only down side is that it sometimes struggles to read very low notes, like a dropped D on guitar or low bouzouki notes, but that is certainly no problem for mandolinists.

[Rroyd]

Just a comment or two on the Intellitouch tuners; I've never tried one so I can't comment on their accuracy, but I have wondered about their semi-permanent attachment. #Snuffy Smith replaces the Rotomatics on 60s D-28s with the open lightweight butterbean type tuners and says tone is much improved after removing the extra mass of the heavier tuners, and I've heard others voice similar opinions. # Along the same lines of thought, I recall some years ago some classical guitar builders who were doing a bit of experimentation found they could drastically alter their guitars' tone by changing the peghead mass. # I've also read similar comments about banjo necks and how the density of different woods affected their tone. #Perhaps the mandolin is enough different that neck mass is not as much of a factor, but I never could quite figure out why someone would spend years locating that pre-war guitar, and then leave a "tone-dampener" clamped on the peghead all the time they're playing it.

[Hoyt]

Although I use the cheap little Korg quite often, the Peterson virutual strobe tuners really make a difference. I didn't believe it would make such a difference, but you will notice how much better you sound with one. The really good players can probably fine tune with their ears, but I'll never be one of those.

As soon as I get around to it, I'm going to get one of the new pedal strobes. I think they are about $190 -- which is epxensive -- but really worth it espeically if you are recording with a bunch of instruments that you want tuned accurately.

[bjc]

I have heard that the metronome is on the quiet side. Any comments? This sounds like a great deal and tuner AND metronome, since I carry both in my case. Thanks

[WireBoy]

i use an intellitouch on my mando. #its real easy to see. # just clamp and go. #and then pass it along for quick tune checks with the other players. #it works great.

i have a sabine (AX 1000) stuck on to my ovation flattop. #its real easy to use too. #i haven't tried it on my mando though. #i would think there are too many curved surfaces. #i'll have to try the side trick.