Some time ago I purchased a new clip-on digital tuner. To my shock and surprise, the tuner left a very visible, but fortunately only temporary mark on the headstock of my mandolin. As I do not want to incrimante either the maker of the tuner or of the instrument, I have digitally removed the name logo from the headstock. I have not performed any digital corrections other than that. Has anyone had a similar experience with a varnished instrument?
Headstock before the tuner went on.....
Headstock with the installed tuner.......
Headstock after the tuner was removed. Tuner only stayed on the headstock for less than 3 minutes. Fortunately the 'bubbly' mark disappeared after some time. Naturally, I no longer use this tuner.
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Intelli thread
Thanks a lot, Jeff. Interesting to read about the experiences that other players have with their clip-on tuners. However, I would not judge 3 minutes an excessive period of time, especially after getting the instrument back in tune after a string change. My regular Korg DT-1 tuner with an aligator clip attached to the bridge now seems to be a much better option.
One thing that I won't do, is clip anything on my headstocks; eventually there will be signs of wear. Years ago when guitar players started the fad of storing their capos on headstocks, I saw some problems; not to mention poking other musicians with the capo. I guess I have been "over protective" of my instruments to take a chance of having problems with the finish wearing off. I imagine some of the smudges could be buffed out, perhaps solving the problem.
New varnish finishes are notorious for being soft and prone to scratches and abrasions. I would not reccomend using any brand of clip-on tuner on a newly built or newly refinished varnish mando.
From what I can tell from the photos, the marks appear to be more a result of the pressure of the spring mechanism than any chemical interactions between the rubber cushion on the clamp and the varnish finish.
If you must tune in a noisy environment you could try an accesory microphone clip, but that too may leave marks as it is also a clamp system.
It may be that you can't place any sort of tuning device in contact with your finish without some marks or risk of marks.
You got varnish - that's just what happens.
One further thought, you could try cutting a small peice of natural leather chamois (dearskin) or micro-fiber cleaning cloth and place it down between the tuner clamp and your mando headstock. It might add an extra bit of cushioning that would protect the finish.
It also might make it so the tuner didn't work as well, but maybe not.
Does the tuner have to be clipped to the peghead? The same vibrations are experienced through the tuning machines. Try clipping to one of the buttons and see what kind of results you get.
I understand that the materials are different, but surely some manufacturer could electronically compensate the tuner for the difference.
Or, why couldn't you clip it to the endpin?
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