I've been happy for many years with a Golden Gate or a Dawg.
Dave H
I've been happy for many years with a Golden Gate or a Dawg.
Dave H
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
Oops.
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
I like my Snark. I don't keep it on the instrument - I bring it out tune 'er up and then put it away. So less risk of damage.
I really like my Peterson Stroboclip. I especially like that I can move it off 440. I was playing in an ensemble, and we were told, just before the show started, that we were to tune to 438 (if I remember correctly). Yikes.
Will often use a Snark HZ for jams and band practice. Easy to pass it around if folks need it. Also fairly bright compared to the others so works decently outdoors.
FWIW, do use a Unitune or Polytune (have both) when getting tuned up for shows. Have a Stroboclip and while nice, it don't seem to catch the vibrations well on either the Strad-O-Lin or Brentrup. No idea why.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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I just ordered a pair of the rechargeable ones ($35 at Sweetwater). I figure I’ll just keep a charged one for backup. If it saves collecting a stack of batteries that need recycling I’m for it.
When/if a rubber pad falls off I try something else. Leather seems to work pretty well but I’ve got felt, thin cork, all kinds of stuff. It might make a difference in how well (or not) they respond to some frequencies. I will say I find these things, regardless of brand, work better on mandolins than guitars, for me, anyway.
At one battery in a year and a half for the polytune, I won't be collecting much of an old battery stockpile.
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!
The D’Addario Micro series can all change off of 440. I believe that many of the better tuners will do that as well.
I would like to start using my ears again, old school. When I first started playing there were no electronic tuners. We had pitch pipes or tuning forks. One of my band mates bought a table top oscilloscope tuner the size of a clock radio. I think is was made by Peterson. It cost $200. Before that we just tuned to each other.
I still have my tuning fork in my case. I do from time to time tune by ear and see how close I can get. However in a performance situation I always fall back to the electronic tuner.
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
Where did you get that, Sue?! As a harp player I gotta have one
I got it on Ebay, Don. I saw another one the other day, but I paid $5 plus shipping for mine, and they wanted like $36 for the second one I saw.. I have half of the box (the top, damaged), the higher priced one has the whole box, fwiw.
I have to figure out how old it is, then will decide which case to put it in
Here's the other side and the box.
"To be obsessed with the destination is to remove the focus from where you are." Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar
Wow you got a great deal! That looks like it’s in great shape.
I like the little D’Addario/Planet Waves microtuner. I just leave it on all the time, even in the case, and though it’s seemingly not as accurate as the TC (I have the Polytune), I just use my ear to match courses, and my mandolin plays in tune with other instruments and it records just fine.
I had a red Snark that bit the dust in very short order. But my black one (same design) has lasted for years, and it usually only needs one battery change a year. I also have one of those micro D'Addario tuners. It seems to work better on the mandolin than the Snark (but not on guitar), and it has the ability to move from 440. I've been messing around playing in lower pitches and that's a lot of fun.
It just dawned on me that I've been using clip-on tuners for over 20 years: my first was one of the original Intellitouch tuners that was rectangular in design (they made some square ones later on that I never liked as much). I'm not sure what happened to that company but they had excellent customer service. My original Intellitouch stopped working at some point. I contacted them and they sent me a replacement at no charge, which was a pretty big deal because those tuners were about $50 back then!
Cool story I've not thought of in years. Seems apropos to share on Christmas...
Back in 2001 or so I had been rat-holing some money to buy an Intellitouch. I was very young and with a young family was very broke and $50 was hard to come by. My wife and I knew a single woman from church who was going through a really tough time financially. We found out somehow that she couldn't even buy groceries at that time. Anyway, my wife had the idea to get her some groceries. Something in me just knew I should toss in my tuner money, so I did. Wasn't that big a deal.
Fast forward a few weeks when a married couple we knew came through town. They were gaining some steam in the Bluegrass world at the time, were on tour, and had picked up some sponsorships. My wife had grown up with the woman in the group and I was meeting her guitar-playing husband for the first time. They came to our house to stay a night and brought in all their gear. He was showing me his old Martin and then said, "Hey, have you seen these?" and tosses me an Intellitouch tuner. I told him I'd been wanting one for a while, and next thing I know he's producing a brand new on in the box out of his bag and giving it to me. Pretty cool how that worked out!
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Caleb, that's a very nice story. Think there may be one of the original Intelli tuners around here still. Big and ugly, but they worked. For most of us anyway. Also have the smaller one and still use it. Also will throw it in a case as a backup. Maybe a bit slower responding than the new models, but still seems accurate to my ears.
That makes me think of my favorite tuner story. Not long after getting the original Intelli was at a local jam. Hosted at a music store where some of the teachers would sit in if/when they could. One was a local legend (who left us far too soon). He could play jut about anything and in any genre. Anyway, he saw my tuner and asked to borrow it. Had turned it off, but handed it over. He started pressing buttons left and right. Well, he finally did get it turned on, but it was set to A=443 or something. After a few minutes he was exasperated and handed it back to me and said it was "junk". Don't think he ever got one of those for himself. But he did use the Snark when it came out and loved it.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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After probably more than a dozen and piles of batteries, I finally gave up on Snarks. Little Polytune works good, pads stay on, battery lasts for months.
I bought another Snark this week (needed an extra tuner anyway). I chose this one solely because it has pitch calibration, but the one I recv'd can only be used for 440 (i.e., there are no buttons on the back to change pitch). Caveat emptor.
https://www.amazon.com/Snark-SN1X-Cl...21&sr=8-3&th=1
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