Clip on tuner for Ovation mandolin

**michaelpthompson** · Jul-11-2011, 10:06pm

I thought about hijacking the resurrected general thread about tuners, but my question is more specialized. I could just ask Tim what he uses, but maybe somebody else has this same problem.

I have used the TuneTech on my guitar, and on my A-Style mandolin, and it works great. I like my Planet Waves Chromatic Headstock tuner even better. However, both of them have problems on the Ovation because of the shape of the headstock. There's a concave edge on the headstock that prevents clipping the tuner securely. I thought the longer reach on the Planet Waves would help, and it does a bit, but the clipon part is still only partially on a flat surface.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a clip on tuner that has a long enough arm to reach the flat part of the headstock? I can't clip it on the bridge or the soundhole like other mandolins.

**mandroid** · Jul-11-2011, 10:25pm

Of course you can always use a stomp box tuner , and just use it in the signal chain,
even if it stops at the tuner..

I have an de toothed battery terminal/alligator clip {Schatten made it } ,
pickup for a tuner with a 1/4" plug. I have a Korg Chromatic to plug it into..

It works with all sorts of hard to sense strings, to Banjolin bridge,
isolated from head resonance influences,
and when I tune the Autoharp, by putting it directly on the wrench,

and you likely can clamp it on a tuner shaft on the Ovation, too.

I have a picking buddy with an ovation guitar I see that its not a normal
head stock clamp tuner friendly thing..
Though, they made a preamp/tuner combination to go in the body..

**Tim2723** · Jul-12-2011, 6:33am

I know the problem well, Michael. Even the Planet Waves isn't the best choice. Clip-on tuners need a good, solid attachment to work their best and the Ovation can be a bear to attach something to.

I've used and borrowed dozens of tuners over the years. I find that anything with a quality circuit and a 1/4" input jack works fine. Like 'Droid, I have a Korg with the alligator clip, but I use a three foot patch cord instead. There's no good place to put the alligator clip, and since there's this nice, strong signal, why not use it?

On stage I use a Boss TU-3 stomp box tuner because you can mute the mandolin while tuning, but I use my Korg CA-30 for just about everything because it has a microphone in it and can accept the different cables. It will tune the lowest note of a bass to the highest note of a tin whistle. The CA-40 model is a couple of dollars more, but includes the bypass function like the Boss tuner does.

But any decent all-purpose tuner with a jack will work, you just need a short 1/4" to 1/4" cable. Don't let the salesman talk you into the expensive stuff for this use. A $3 one works just as well as a $30 cable. If the day comes that you're playing into an amp, then buy good cables.

Oh, and you have to put the battery in the mandolin, of course. If you only plug in to tune, a battery will last years.

**G7MOF** · Jul-12-2011, 8:07am

I use a Crafter TG-200H on both my Ovation guitar and my Mandolin. It works great on my bass as well because you can change the frequency.
I don't find a problem on the Ovation head stock.

**Tim2723** · Jul-12-2011, 8:58am

Is your mandolin an Ovation or is it your guitar? I don't have too much trouble with clip-on tuners with my Ovation guitars (there's more room on a guitar headstock), it's only the mandolin that doesn't work as well. Even with all the stuff I said above, I'd still like to have a clip-on that works really well with the mandolin. On the guitar I can put a tuner on the edge of the headstock where it's nice and flat, but with the mandolin I have to put it on the end where that concave part causes trouble.

**michaelpthompson** · Jul-12-2011, 2:01pm

Originally Posted by Tim2723

I know the problem well, Michael. Even the Planet Waves isn't the best choice. Clip-on tuners need a good, solid attachment to work their best and the Ovation can be a bear to attach something to.

True enough. You mentioned your guitar. I don't have an Ovation guitar, but I do know that on a guitar headstock, there's enough room to clip the tuner between the posts. That won't work on the smaller headstock of the mandolin.

I have a Korg with the alligator clip, but I use a three foot patch cord instead. There's no good place to put the alligator clip, and since there's this nice, strong signal, why not use it?

True enough. You could clip it into one of the sound holes, but a patch cord would work much better. I've used that style before, but it's just not as convenient as a clip on model.

On stage I use a Boss TU-3 stomp box tuner because you can mute the mandolin while tuning, but I use my Korg CA-30 for just about everything because it has a microphone in it and can accept the different cables. It will tune the lowest note of a bass to the highest note of a tin whistle. The CA-40 model is a couple of dollars more, but includes the bypass function like the Boss tuner does.

Those both look good except for the lack of a backlight. I'll have to keep an eye out for something like that. I do especially like the ability to change from A=440 to a wider range of alternatives. My son plays the bagpipes, and I was told by another bagpiper that if he tunes his pipes to A=463, he can play with standard instruments, which is usually difficult. My usual tuners don't go beyond A=443.

Oh, and you have to put the battery in the mandolin, of course. If you only plug in to tune, a battery will last years.

Yeah, if I keep taking it out and putting it back in, right? Or do you leave it in and just use it for tuning? Will that work? I haven't removed the battery yet, though I've thought about it, as I don't play plugged in very often.

Originally Posted by mandroid

Though, they made a preamp/tuner combination to go in the body..

I've seen that on a few Ovations, and was envious. I wonder if I can buy one of those aftermarket? That would be cool.

**Tim2723** · Jul-12-2011, 2:39pm

About the battery, it's only 'on' when plugged in, so the battery lasts forever just for tuning only if you unplug the tuner from the jack when no in use.

As to a retrofit of the on-board tuner, I did something kind of like that on my first Ovation. Sabine made a chromatic tuner for guitars called the Stealth model. It had the guts of the tuner on a small board that mounted inside the instrument while a very small LED display attached to the edge of the fingerboard on the spot very near the soundhole where the fingerboard extends over onto the body of the guitar. I had my local electro-guru mount it inside the mandolin with the display glued to the plastic just above the control panel. He also wired in a miniature toggle switch and put that alongside the control panel. The toggle switch acted to mute the output allowing silent tuning. With the switch pushed out toward the audience the mandolin was normally amplified and running, with the switch toward the player the mandolin was muted.

That cost me around $200 IIRC, and that was nearly 15 years ago. I would have mentioned it, but I think it was a bit of overkill even at the time. I didn't bother with it for my second mandolin. I don't think they make the Stealth tuner anymore.

**michaelpthompson** · Jul-12-2011, 10:48pm

I did some looking at the Ovation web site and I did learn something about the built in tuners. The standard pre-amp on Ovation mandolins is the OP-24+ but there's another called OP-24+C which contains the built in tuner. Couldn't figure out which models have it and it's not listed in their page with all the other tuners. There are lots of different pre-amps and tuners, but the OP-24+ is the only rectangular one, so the others wouldn't fit the hole if I tried to retrofit. Wouldn't mind having an OP-24+C if I could figure out where to get one. Meanwhile, I suppose I'll get a box tuner instead of a clip-on and use a cable.

**kkmm** · Jul-26-2011, 4:15pm

I discover a similar issue, my clip on tuner clips really well on my guitar, my Fender mandolins, but it barely clips on my Ovation mandolin. I found a spot for it: next to the E string tuning button, it clips well enough to stay there for tuning. But I would not leave it on during play as it may fall off. It does stay on the Fender forever (until I take it out). The Ovation headstock looks very pretty but not friendly to clip on tuner.

**mandroid** · Jul-26-2011, 5:00pm

Just thinkin'
my Y'ha AG stomp has a TRS hot lead option for pre amp guitars , like Phantom power,
swapped out, a dummy 9v shorts the 2 battery leads together and the 2nd, Ring contact,
powers the guitar/pre-amp,

off the power supply for the acoustic DSP pedal ..
no battery to go dead in the middle of the show !

a rewired pedal tuner which could run off the mains power, thru the usual transformer ,

perhaps could do something similar.

maybe tap off the incoming + lead in the DC power jack..

need a TRS jack in both ends.., 'balanced' cable..