Electronic tuners

[Richard Francis]

I'm thinking about upgrading my electronic tuner. I have an entry-level Korg which works OK but is a little persnickety both with guitar and mandolin. Anyone have any experience with the Intellitouch tuner that clamps on the headstock and tunes by picking up the instrument vibrations? Thanks.

[Eric F.]

I've had one for years. It gets persnickety when the battery is dying, which is about once every two or three years. Otherwise, it works pretty well. I just dropped and killed a Seiko that I liked a little better. Lots of people like the Intelli tuner, which is not to be confused with Intellitouch. Do a search and you'll find some threads on them.

[Alex Fields]

The Intellitouch is pretty bad, I don't know that I've really heard anyone say they like it. Not very accurate tuning, will tell two different strings are perfect when they are like ten cents apart. The Intelli or Korg are the two clip on tuners commonly used.

[MikeEdgerton]

There are quite a few discussions regarding this subject and they can be a wealth of knowledge. Take a look at this thread and follow the links inside it to several others.

Honestly, the Intellitouch is not the best choice in my view. I've had the Intellitouch, the Intelli IMT-500, the Seiko whatever, the Korg AW-1, and the Joyo whatever that just came out. I keep going back to the Intelli IMT-500. Others may have a differing view. take a look at the past threads.

[Richard Francis]

Thanks for the links to previous threads. Guess I didn't know how to search as well as I thought I did

[Richard Francis]

I haven't seen anyone address this topic: is it better to get a multi-instrument tuner or a mandolin-specific one? My tuner is a guitar/bass tuner which actually works pretty well on the mandolin--when it's working at all.

[KanMando]

I keep going back to the Intelli IMT-500. Others may have a differing view. take a look at the past threads.

The Intelli IMT-500 has been superceded by this:



Tune-Tech tt-1000-B

It's a chromatic tuner but also has two pre-set modes - one for guitar, and one for violin/mandolin.

It's very small, but the display is large enough, and is very bright. It seems to work OK at home. I have not used it in a noisey environment yet.

[emitfo]

I have the StroboStomp which is discontinued but is great. It's been replaced by the StroboStomp 2 which has "sweetened" tunings but I'm not sure if they have a mandolin specific on but that would probably be the same as a violin one, no?

[Mike Bunting]

I like my Stroboflip.

[Rick Schmidlin]

I have had my Intellitouch for five years,changed batteries three time and it works like a charm.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have an Intelli tuner & most times it works ok,but occasionally it has trouble telling the difference between 4th string G & 3rd string D,possibly due to some overtones somewhere. My prefered tuner is my newly aquired Intelli ''microphone'' tuner which plugs into a Guitar tuner & can be clamped onto the bridge of my Mandolins,Banjo & to the top of my acoustic Guitars at the sound hole. Because it pick up the string vibrations almost at the 'source',i find it very accurate indeed,
Saska

[mandroid]

The Clip on tuner accessory [a piezo to a 1/4"plug]
makes my old chromatic Korg work on more stuff.
Intellitouch is convenient, and decent.

quickest to use is the piano, [electronic too].

[Bertram Henze]

I have settled with the PlanetWaves Multifunctional, the strobe mode is precise enough. I can clip it on the tailpiece, which gives a better signal than the headstock.

Bertram

[MikeEdgerton]

The Intelli IMT-500 has been superceded by this...

I haven't seen that one, I have been using this one. It has presets for violin/mandolin and what have you. I just haven't spent enough time with it yet. They are very cheap on that well known auction site and have been seen with several brand names.



Here is a thread on my first impressions of this tuner.

[MikeEdgerton]

I haven't seen anyone address this topic: is it better to get a multi-instrument tuner or a mandolin-specific one? #My tuner is a guitar/bass tuner which actually works pretty well on the mandolin--when it's working at all.

That depends. I generally carry at least two instruments on stage, sometimes three. I'd rather have one tuner with me that I can use on all three or I can hand to the bass player if his tuner suddenly stops functioning.

[John Flynn]

The Intellitouch is pretty bad, I don't know that I've really heard anyone say they like it. #Not very accurate tuning, will tell two different strings are perfect when they are like ten cents apart. #The Intelli or Korg are the two clip on tuners commonly used.

I have to disagree. I have an Intellitouch, as well as two Intelli's and several brands of non-clip-on tuners. I like both of the clip-on models and probably use the Intelli's more, but your statement is not accurate in my experience. I have tested the Intellitouch and the Intelli agaist a more accurate tuner and my Intellitouch had to be within 2 or 3 cents to lock, whereas I was getting locks with the Intelli as far off as 6 cents. That's why the Intelli locks up more quickly: It's not as accurate. Also the Intellitouch is more rugged, has a great case, and is backed by really good customer service. The Intelli's break easily, have no case and I'm not sure ever have any customer service associated with them at all. Don't get me wrong, the Intelli is a a great tuner at a great price, I really like it. But my Intellitouch is still in the game.

[Bruce Evans]

I haven't seen anyone address this topic: is it better to get a multi-instrument tuner or a mandolin-specific one? #My tuner is a guitar/bass tuner which actually works pretty well on the mandolin--when it's working at all.

I wouldn't get anything but a chromatic tuner. In my house I am reponsible for tuning two hammered dulcimers, an autoharp, three guitars, one mandolin, one 5 string banjo, one 4 string banjo, 7 ukuleles, a cavaquinho and a cavaquinho banjo. That amounts to well over 200 individual strings.

I have several Korg CA30s and an AW-1, but the most accurate tuner is still my first - a Yamaha YT-3000 with a real D'Arsonval meter movement. It measures 4 octaves down from middle C and 3 octaves up. The mechanical meter movement does a real nice job of damping out the signals that make some LCD display tuners go crazy. Besides, I'm an old electrical engineer and I am very comfortable with D'Arsonval meters. It's pretty much irreplaceable, so it stays at home and the small LCD screen devices ride around in the instrument cases.

[Bruce Evans]

Let me add a litle anectdote in here.

The other night at out ukulele GROUP meeting one of the ladies sat out a couple times and got out her tuner to check her uke. Finally she handed it to me and asked me to check it for her. I put my AW-1 Korg on it and found that all four strings were about 30 cents high. I said, "Let me see your tuner." She had a Korg CA-30, which is a good inexpensive meter. I turned it on and looked in the upper left corner of the display. I pointed it out to her and said, "See that number 446 there?"

"Yeah, what does that mean?" she asked.

"It means you are tuning to a reference that is 6 Hertz higher than it should be. That number should be 440." I showed her how to push the calibration button to get it back to 440. She had no idea how it got there.

So, remember to check that you are tuning to the correct reference when you use your meter.

[MikeEdgerton]

That's actually one of the reasons I don't like the AW-1. I'm clumsy and hit the calibration button accidentally too many times.

[Richard Francis]

Well, we're getting close to too much information here, but continued thanks to all who posted. I'm off to Sioux City today and I may come back with an early Christmas present.

[JHo]

The Intelli IMT-500 has been superceded by this:

Tune-Tech tt-1000-B

I picked up one of these at IBMA this year, and I like it even better than my Intelli, which also works quite well. I do like that this new version has an extra swivel point so you can turn it in more/different directions. Also I think the yellow/green/red LED indicator makes tuning in a hurry easier. Oh, and so far it doesn't rattle the way my Intelli does.

[ApK]

Ooh, I see there's a new batch of gadgets to load own stocking with this year (or fill out the last few nights of Channukka, if I can't wait).

I also disagree with the Intellitouch being bad. It's a reliable, durable accurate tuner, and it's still my main guitar tuner. I also have a Seiko STX, the Intelli, and several non-clip on models.

The Intelli is my current favorite on mando, mainly for the size. I've found them all to be equally persnickity on occasion on one string or another on one instrument or another.

The Seiko seems as accurate and easy to use as any of them, is only slightly larger than the intelli, seems sturdier, and has a beefer, more positionable clip...for the life of me, I can't understand why I don't like it more, but I always find myself grabbing the Intellitouch or something else for guitar.

[Charles Andre]

Don't be afraid of the intellitouch. I've used them for years. I've got two and never had a problem.

[MikeEdgerton]

I've got two Intellitouches that I should probably put in the classifieds. I didn't know they still had fans.

[tterral]

Has anyone tried the new Planet Waves Tru-Strobe tuner ($120.00 Street)? I have the Intelli and Intellitouch and like the Intelli a little better, but I want something more accurate. Mine can say the strings are in tune, but they are obviously off a bit. In a noisy enviornment I need something I can count on for better accuracy and the Intelli is OK, but no cigar. The StroboFlip looks really nice, of course pretty expensive.

Mike - how does the accuracy of the Joyo compare to the Intelli 500?