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Thread: Fastest Tuner

  1. #26

    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Never had a problem with ClearTune on the iPhone - as someone previously mentioned, it is rare not to have the phone with me, and the app works very well.

  2. #27

    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    The fastest tuner is the Bluefin, of course!

    Scott

  3. #28
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    The Turbo Tuner is head and shoulders above everything else mentioned here.

  4. #29
    Notary Sojac Paul Kotapish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    I guess I'm in the minority, but I find the Peterson strobes really hard to to look at, especially in less-than-ideal lighting condition, and I always feel slightly dizzy by the time I'm done tuning.

    They may be fast and accurate for some, but I find them slower to use.

    I still prefer the cheap pre-gooseneck Meisel or Intelli clip-ons for general use--they are certainly as fast and accurate as I need to be, battery life is reasonable.

    For studio work, I always go back to my BOSS TU-12--great when background noise and setup space isn't an issue.
    Just one guy's opinion
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  5. #30
    Registered User djeffcoat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Today only, Snark tuner:

    http://goingtoday.com/

    But, you may find a better deal on Amazon or eBay.

    Don

  6. #31
    Registered User bmm5255's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Unless I am missing something, it looks like the Turbo Tuner would be useless for acoustic instruments in a noisy environment.

    Bruce

  7. #32
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Quote Originally Posted by djeffcoat View Post
    Today only, Snark tuner:

    http://goingtoday.com/
    That's for the blue one, which is billed as being for guitar and bass. Does that mean it is not chromatic, and also that it is geared toward lower pitched instruments? I see the black one, for guitar, bass, and violin, is actually less expensive (from the Snark site), which seems odd. Do these tuners only function for these specified frequencies? It looks like the best one to get is the red one, as it is billed as chromatic.

    BTW, this site has it for $8.99 + $5 shipping; Amazon has it for $10.26 + $2.98 shipping.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  8. #33
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Quote Originally Posted by bmm5255 View Post
    Unless I am missing something, it looks like the Turbo Tuner would be useless for acoustic instruments in a noisy environment.
    In that situation, you just use a clip-on transducer with a cord to the tuner, like a Peterson TP-3 pickup. My S.O. uses that setup with a Turbo Tuner on her fiddle (she likes that it can be set up for perfect 5ths). She doesn't like the Peterson display style, and I find it easier to use than the whirly circle on the Turbo Tuner. I'm probably just more used to it.

  9. #34
    man about town Markus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Foldedpath has the answer if you don't have a pickup. In a loud context I love my Turbo Tuner more as it cuts down on string-pair-matching which is the worst in loud bars.

    My sensitive eared guitar bandmate never calls me for being out of tune once I switched to the TT, noteworthy as he has an annoyingly good ear (he doesn't tell you you are out of tune, he tells you which string ... glad I don't have that ear).

  10. #35
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Quote Originally Posted by Markus View Post
    My sensitive eared guitar bandmate never calls me for being out of tune once I switched to the TT, noteworthy as he has an annoyingly good ear (he doesn't tell you you are out of tune, he tells you which string ... glad I don't have that ear).
    Heh... I played for a while in a trio with a blind fiddler who had an ear like that. The comment was always phrased as "I think one of us is out of tune?" But that was just the diplomatic way of saying I was out of tune.

    Not that you can ever be completely "in tune" with a fiddler who tunes in perfect 5ths by ear, or a piper where the tuning is... shall we say... "variable." But that's another whole subject.

  11. #36
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    None of these tuners is really "slow." This reminds me of an old joke Joan Rivers told about an overweight female celebrity, "She stands in front of the microwave and yells 'hurry up!'"

    I'm a total convert to electronic tuners, but I started out tuning by ear against a pitch pipe, tuning fork or another instrument. There is not a tuner out there does not do better that for speed and accuracy, although I still use my ear as the final test. Have we really gotten so impatient that a few more tenths of a second is too slow and we're worried about accuracy we can't even hear? Because if you could hear it, you'd just tune it out by ear, which should be the final test anyway. I guess there really is a market for instruments that tune themselves.

    Also, if you play the mandolin, let's face it, you'll wind up playing out of tune anyway. It's either a tradition, a law of physics, or both!

  12. #37
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Quote Originally Posted by John Flynn View Post
    I'm a total convert to electronic tuners, but I started out tuning by ear against a pitch pipe, tuning fork or another instrument. There is not a tuner out there does not do better that for speed and accuracy, although I still use my ear as the final test. Have we really gotten so impatient that a few more tenths of a second is too slow and we're worried about accuracy we can't even hear? Because if you could hear it, you'd just tune it out by ear, which should be the final test anyway. I guess there really is a market for instruments that tune themselves.
    One problem with "just tuning by ear" is that I've met many people who think they do this very well, but they don't. Electronic tuners are wonderful for settling those arguments we used to have in the old days.


    The other problem with tuning with a tuning fork or pitch pipe, is that it's more anti-social than quietly plucking a string with a sensitive clip-on tuner. I don't have to do more than just lightly brush a string with the edge of my thumb, for the StroboClip to pick it up.

    If I was at a session and the person next to me started blowing a pitch pipe, or thwacking a tuning fork and setting it against the instrument for a tone, loudly plucking each string so it can be heard clearly for tuning.... I think I'd be looking for a vacant spot on the other side of the circle.

    Electronic tuners have done wonders for the social aspects of casual music-making. People can tune up quickly, and relatively quietly (well, except for the fiddlers and pipers!), and then get down to the business of making music together with minimal fuss. I remember the old days of tuning forks and pitch pipes too. It wasn't much fun.

    Also, if you play the mandolin, let's face it, you'll wind up playing out of tune anyway. It's either a tradition, a law of physics, or both!
    Well, yeah... there's that.

    Still, we can try. It's a slippery slope, once you stop caring about getting as closely in tune as you can manage.

  13. #38

    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Quote Originally Posted by John Flynn View Post
    None of these tuners is really "slow." This reminds me of an old joke Joan Rivers told about an overweight female celebrity, "She stands in front of the microwave and yells 'hurry up!'"

    I'm a total convert to electronic tuners, but I started out tuning by ear against a pitch pipe, tuning fork or another instrument. There is not a tuner out there does not do better that for speed and accuracy, although I still use my ear as the final test. Have we really gotten so impatient that a few more tenths of a second is too slow and we're worried about accuracy we can't even hear? Because if you could hear it, you'd just tune it out by ear, which should be the final test anyway. I guess there really is a market for instruments that tune themselves.

    Also, if you play the mandolin, let's face it, you'll wind up playing out of tune anyway. It's either a tradition, a law of physics, or both!
    As Jethro said, "We spend half our time tuning the mandolin and the other half playing out of tune."

    I've found that by using a tuner for the last 20 years that my ear improved. I'm always in tune and that is what my ear is used to hearing so when a string goes out of tune, it really stands out. I'll tune one of the pair to the tuner and do the other one by ear. When I double check with the tuner, I'm dead on.

  14. #39
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    I have a Snark tuner (red one) I like it but seem to have difficulty in picking up the E string, getting an accurate reading. Does anybody else find this? Any ways round it?
    Kevin
    All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song - Louis Armstrong

  15. #40
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    Tuners are like a religion, every one thinks that theirs is the one true tuner. I think the best tuner is the one that is very small, backlit, clips to the headstock , other folks can't see it, tunes great and then you just leave it on and put the mandolin or guitar away. After you use a tuner you have to go back and dial it all in anyway. Even the best mandolins are not in tune up and down the neck after tuning. Try this, tune the mandolin to itself and check the tuning on the different frets like a guitar. They are never right on. A master guitar builder in San Diego told me that several years ago. He said "It's just the way they are".
    ntriesch

  16. #41
    Registered User Bill Baldridge's Avatar
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    Default Re: Fastest Tuner

    I have been using the Planet Waves mini headstock tuner. While I like the tuner, I find the use of a flexing plastic clamp to be a problem as the plastic develops a memory. I order the new Snark SN-8, and it arrived the day of one of the local bluegrass club meetings. I ran the Snark through its paces at home and declared it better than my old red Snark, threw it in the case, and headed out to jam. A banjo was tuning to my right, the SN-8 does not have a mike, the display was bouncing all over the display screen as my mandolin vibrated in response to the tuner. I went back to the Planet Waves with great success. I don't know if is more or less sensitive than the SN-8, I don't know if the mini sitting next to the nut compared to the Snark sitting at the top of the headstock made any difference. I just know that in that real world situation, more sensitive was not more useful. Things have come a long way from pitch pipes.

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