Clip-On Tuner Question

[Cliff Seruntine]

Okay, so I'm a Luddite, but I never bought a new-fangled clip-on tuner til a couple months ago. It surprised me, but I actually like the little bugger. Got the TC Electronic Clip-on Tuner. Anyway, is it okay to leave these on the instruments all the time, or should I remove them after each use?

[Phil Goodson]

Remove.
2 reasons: 1. They're ugly. 2. They can permanently mess up some finishes if left for too long.

[MikeEdgerton]

I play shows with mine on because it's nice to be in tune. It goes in the case pocket when I put the mandolin away. On my guitars I use the D'Addario tuners that sit inside the sound hole. Those I leave on.

[Jim Garber]

Wow, Mike. You took the words out of my mouth:

"I play shows with mine on because it's nice to be in tune. It goes in the case pocket when I put the mandolin away. On by guitars I use the D'Addario tuners that sit inside the sound hole. Those I leave on."

Great minds run in the same gutter.

[trabb]

My mandolin has a nice brown streak across the headstock logo and a discoloration on the back of the headstock from the previous owner who left a tuner on. I also have one that buzzes badly if I leave it on while playing. I don't need anything else on my mandolin that might buzz, so I take them off.

[pops1]

I leave it on when I play a gig, but take it off after. I have quite a lot of play wear from years of gigging so I shouldn't worry about it, but take it off anyway.

[Mike Snyder]

I left mine on the headstock for years. I tune with an iPhone now. I’d have to look for a clip on tuner. I’m sure they’re in the cases somewhere.

[EdHanrahan]

I've had a D'Addario/Planet Waves NS-Micro tuner (similar to & predecessor of the current NS-Mini, I believe) on my '72 Martin's headstock since they first came out, guessing 5 or 7 years ago, with no ill effect. Since I often use it to tune other instruments, I'd readily notice if there was even a hint of finish discoloring. On other instruments, including a mid-'90s Flatiron, I've had NS-Micros since THEY came out a year or two ago, so I'm fairly confident that both of them are benign to, at least, the Martin & Flatiron finishes (nitrocellulose?). The soft grip pads feel as if they're silicone-based, which chemically is fairly inert.

A nice feature of both, besides being tiny, easy to read, and "accurate enough for gov't work", is that they can mount on the BACK of the headstock, with only a barely-visible tab showing on the front. The Micro is improved in that the display inverts to mount on either the back OR front, and the clamp mechanism is more ergonomic, to remove it w/ just one hand. And they're cheap, as low a 2-on-a-card for $20 or so. NFI.

BTW if it wasn't mentioned: Vinyl guitar straps, left on in the case, are notorious for discoloring guitar & mandolin finishes.

[MontanaMatt]

I just saw an advert for a new version of the Planet Waves micro tuner that mounts to a tuner screw, so it is completely hidden in the back. I don't like the inaccuracy of the pwaves, so I hope Peterson comes out with this option for the stroboclip!

[Paul Busman]

I like the Planet Waves micros. They're darn near invisible and work well. I have one for each of three instruments:mandolin, octave mando, and tenor banjo. They live right on the headstock with no finish problems. Only time I take one off is if I need it to tune another instrument.

[Seamus B]

I leave my Snark on my mandolin - but now I am questioning whether that is a good idea!

I moved from a tuning app to my clip-on Snark because I found the app less accurate and is affected by environment sounds.

[Mando Mort]

I use Snark tuners and usually leave it on while playing and remove it when done.

[Caleb]

All personal preference, but I cringe each time I see a tuner clipped on to a headstock during a performance. Those newer ones that fold behind don't bother me, but the ones that look like billboards do.

[CES]

I like Snarks...cheap, accurate enough, Etc. But I tune and then take it off and either put it in my pocket or on a music stand depending on the performance environment. At home I have one I leave out with a guitar capo that I use on whatever instrument I'm playing. Same deal, tune, then remove.

Would probably be fine to leave on during a performance or practice, but I wouldn't leave on all the time. Seen too many mandolins discounted in the classifieds from "Snark mark..." Like pops, my main mandolins have some wear anyway, so it probably doesn't matter, but...

Btw, use the guitar capo on guitar and mandocello, not the mandolin

[BrianWilliam]

The ugly snark hides in my pocket when I'm not tuning and stays in the case pocket when my mandolin is sleeping.

[Ray(T)]

Sorry to change the subject slightly but I've noticed from various YouTube videos that Bryan Sutton has his tuner (looks like a black Snark) fitted at the heel end of his guitar strap. Any ideas as to exactly where? Clearly, the head isn't the only place a tuner can be fitted.

[OneChordTrick]

My Snark (red) has a microphone option as well so perhaps that’s how he’s using it?

[MikeEdgerton]

They operate on vibration as well as sound. The ns guitar tuners live inside the sound hole. As long as there is a place to attach it to the instrument it should work. I'm going to have to check that out.

[Phil Goodson]

One disadvantage that I didn't mention: They cover up the headstock logo and drive me crazy when I'm trying see what kind of mandollin that guy on stage is playing.
Also, if you happen to have a very nice mandolin, the tuner might cover YOUR logo and other people won't be as impressed with your possessions.

Kidding aside, I had a D'add Micro on one of my mandolins for YEARS without any significant blemish on the finish (catalyzed varnish finish) and I've had 2 or 3 others with significant finish damage after only a few days of the tuner sitting on the headstock with the mandolin just hanging on its stand at home. So YMMV.

[Steve Ostrander]

I had a an Eastman varnish that the previous owner left a tuner on the headstock for a long period. It messed up the finish. So I don't take any chances, even with nitro, although I fell like it's a lot tougher.

[pops1]

They will work just fine touching the body as the headstock. A violin friend of mine takes the clip off and touches it to the body. If it is on your strap you could let it rest against the body when you want to tune and it would work without having to put it on the headstock. I think the snark is ugly and too big to leave on, I use the small clip on ones like polytune or planet waves micro.

[allenhopkins]

My Snark (red) has a microphone option as well so perhaps that’s how he’s using it?

Black Snark tuners don't have the microphone. My guess is that it's to save the finish, and he moves the tuner to the instrument's headstock when using it -- just a guess. Doubt there'd be enough vibration through the strap to activate the tuner.

I've been leaving the D'Addario mini-tuners on guitar, mandolin and ukulele headstocks for quite a while now, with no apparent damage to a variety of (older) finishes. Snarks can be another story, since they tend to lose their pads; I've Duco-cemented a couple back on, but others have vanished somewhere in the chaos of picking and performing. I'd be a bit more worried about the un-padded plastic marring the finish...

...if I were protective of my instruments' finishes, which, in general, I'm not. I'm squarely in the "it's a tool, use it vigorously, wear and tear's to be expected" camp of instrument users. A one-person "distressing" service, pretty much. So a few finish blems don't deter me from keeping tuners on instruments. What does deter me, in the case of Snarks, is their size, and the fragility of their "stems" and ball joints. I've gone through a few of them that have been damaged in normal use; luckily, they're not too expensive.

[Randi Gormley]

I've always just left mine on, but I don't have any fancy mandolins with fancy finishes that might be damaged. There is a slight pressure mark on the snake's headstock from my micro, but only I would notice since the headstock is already less than perfect (which is what I'd expect from an instrument more than 90 years old that had been played pretty hard during its life) and I don't think it was from the tuner so much as from other people taking it off to tune their own instruments. This is peculiar to me -- if I don't have it on the headstock, it's MIA and I play without a tuner and probably out of tune. I've lost far too many of them to take them off.

[Willie Poole]

I had a nice tuner that broke so I found that the stem of the head piece fits perfect in the scroll on the top of the mandolin so that's where I install it but I also use a red Snark, I always like to fine tune by ear after I set all of the strings with a tuner, after all my ear is what I am actually hearing when I play...

Willie

[Cliff Seruntine]

I think what I'll do is just nail a 2x4 into the neck of my 1920 Gibson and leave the Snark attached to that so it doesn't muss the varnish.

I thought that would get a few cringes