Electronic tuner behavior on large instruments

[dj coffey]

Anyone owning a CBOM instrument or guitar for that matter have problems with the tuners that operate on vibrations?

I have an intellitouch and notice that it is particularly sluggish in responding to the lower notes on the octave mandolin. Sometimes it even says D, when it means G!

Is my tuner defective? Or is this just a common issue with this technology and lower frequency sounds?

Thanks

[otterly2k]

Hey Dotty- I have an Intellitouch and also one of those square Intelli clip on tuners. I have found them to work equally well on my mando, OM, and guitar... but also equally poorly... these tuners are great innovations, but still not perfect. And I do think they behave peculiarly when the batteries start to go.

re: the tuner reading the wrong pitch... I think they sometimes pick up harmonics. It can help to dampen/mute the other strings.

[fatt-dad]

this is why I still like my "cassette"-sized tuners. I just think these intellitouch tuners are way too fluky!

f-d

[Markse]

I've experienced the same problem with the intillitouch tuner on my mandocello, my cello and even on the low strings of my guitars. Works fine on my mandolin though. I think it's an inherent weakness in the design.

[Tim]

Same issue here with my octave and the intellitouch. The IMT-500 works fine on it.

[the_guitar_guru]

I have the same issues with my Taylor 854-CE 12 string; it doesn't always register the open E & A strings. I have found that hitting the 12th fret harmonic works so that is my work around. No problems on my mandolin.

[Celtic Saguaro]

My Intellitouch works okay with my OM (and with my guitar), but it's not much fun to use with the mandolins I tried it on. It's a question of how much the headstock is free to vibrate. The heavy glossy finish on a couple of my mandos' headstocks makes it that much worse.

I prefer to tune them by ear to a tuning fork or a keyboard.

[clarksavage]

I've wondered the same thing. I got the Meisel copy of the Intellitouch, it clips on, my OM gives it the willies, but I do eventually get it right. I just have to be patient.

Clark

[allenhopkins]

Same problem with Intellitouch on the guitar and OM, only the lowest string. Sometimes it doesn't want to respond at all. Sometimes it indicates one of the harmonics (A on the E string). Persistence seems to pay off, though.

[dj coffey]

Great guys - that tells me that

1) my intelli isn't defective
2) I might want to consider changing the battery

Very helpful.

[Smyers]

Yep, I've experienced the same things, especially the tuner saying D when it is a G. I learned that it is a harmonics issue.

I did several things experiemnting based on some advice from someone else who discovered electronic tuner issues:
1- Clipped it to different locations - different spots on the headstock, tuner buttons, bridge.
2 - Deadened ALL adjacent strings.

I found out that there are a couple of spots on the headstock of my mando where it must have resonant spots that accentuate the sypathetic vibration of the D string harmonic somehow. One I deadened all the strings and avoided those spots, I no longer had the problem and noted that the tuner settles in quite quickly now. Play around with it and see if that works for you.

[aries753]

I found that I get the best response cliping the pickup for my Korg tuner on either the bridge or one of the tuner knobs. I usually don't have a problem with the mando but sometimes it does not want to see the low C on the mandola. So I have to move the pickup to the bass side of the bridge or really "whang" (technicial term ) on the string.

[Deaf David]

My resonator guitar and banjo give the clip on Intellitouch a fit. The main problem I have with the mandolin is finding a sweet spot on the head for the tuner to clip on. I've also learned to be careful about both strings ringing; if one of them is slightly off it really confuses the tuner!

Repositioning the tuner and/or changing batteries, as stated by others, usually solves most of the wild reading problems (those things go through batteries faster than I would have thought).

[twaaang]

Dave, to minimize confusion over "which string" the tuner hears, I use a flatpick to both pluck the string in question and instantly damp its twin. -- Paul

[Michael Lewis]

Try picking the low strings very lightly. By driving them too hard they develop more overtones. I learned this from bass players.

[steve V. johnson]

Yep, light touch works much better, in my experience.

Mine reads D on the G course sometimes, but as long as -I- know what strings I'm tuning, I don't care.
It seems that a true "D" reading on the G course is still a true G, so when I'm in a hurry, fine, I'll take it. <GG>

My Intellitouch doesn't like to read the low E course on my acoustic bass guitar, either, but it does read the 12th fret
harmonic well.

stv

[Jerry Byers]

I actually find a better response if I use a regular pluck on the strings at a regular beat. If I pick it once, then the tuner is all over the place. If I pick it lightly, the tuner has a hard time figuring out the note. If I pick it cleanly with a pointed pick, I don't have a problem with overtones.

[Fred G]

I spent some time this summer with the owner/inventor of the intellitouch and found some interesting things. I don't remember the number but it will respond only after a specific number of cycles being the same note so the longer the neck the more time it takes. People are impatient but they work on a bass it just takes longer. The other important thing someone emntioned above is the softer you pluck the string the better it works. This has to do with overtones.