Intelli IMT-500 vs 'Other' tuners.

[John Kelly]

I have used this model for a long time now Neil, and have never experienced this problem of rattling buttons. A friend found that his battery cover was a bit loose and tended to drop off but he tapes it on now. i also use the wee Planet Waves which is very like the Intelli but much smaller and the clip is more of a fiddle to adjust, so I keep it on my octave more or less all the time.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well,seemingly,the Red Snark (SN-2) gets a thumbs up from most of the folk that use them,so yesterday i ordered one.It should be here by tomorrow,so hopefully,it'll respond better than my Intelli's do - one things for sure,it can't be any slower off the mark.The Intelli's are fine for if you're close to being in tune,so i'll keep one in each of my 2 cases,but i'll use the Snark for tuning up from scratch after re-stringing,that's where the Intelli's totally fail for me.
Thanks for all your input folks,
Ivan

[neil argonaut]

I've never found retuning from scratch when restringing a problem, as I'll always change one string at a time, meaning there's the other in the pair to compare to until in the general area; I supposed everyone restrung this way, but maybe not.I always thought it wasn't particularly wise to remove all strings at once from a stringed instrument for the sake of bridge placement and because the neck was designed to have the tension of strings pulling at it, but maybe the second one is only an issue when an instrument is left unstrung for a long time. But I can't see any advantage to taking them all off at once.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Neil - "But I can't see any advantage to taking them all off at once.". I agree,unless you want to give your instrument one of it's 1/4 yearly wash & brush-ups.I do usually remove them one pair at a time & replace them. Even doing that releases tension on the neck & a tuner is needed to ensure that you're back in correct tuning,not a tad flat or sharp.
I do keep both my instruments in good order because it's so easy to do.So,every 4 months or so,i'll take off all the strings,clean & oil the fingerboard,polish the frets with a Silver polishing cloth,polish the body & do a simple set-up to get it back to where i want it.It's then that the Intelli's fall flat when tuning up.
My Snark arrived yesterday,but i haven't tried it yet.I was taking advantage of our good weather over here to finish a few outside chores & didn't get a practice in. It does look a bit of a weird critter.One bit is poor design i'm sure,that of having 2 ball & socket joints attaching the clamp to the tuner head. The Intelli only has 1,that's all that's needed for it to be able to pivot in any direction.The 2 sockets are on a long 'neck',& i can understand why some folks have broken them at that point.That's just bad design (IMHO).However,if it does what i hope it'll do,it'll be fine by me,
Ivan

[Ivan Kelsall]

I tried the Snark yesterday & it did exactly what my Intelli does when tuning up the G strings,it wavered between the G & D notes.It seems that maybe the G strings put so much of a vibration into the bridge that it sets the D strings vibrating as well,but not the A & E strings.It is a big improvement over the Intelli in one respect,when checking to see if the strings are in tune (after taking my instrument out of it's case),the Snark locks solidly onto the note & doesn't waver above & below it in the same manner as the Intelli.
IMHO an improvement,even if i do have to twang the G & D notes a bit hard to get them to 'separate',
Ivan

[Mike Bunting]

D is a strong overtone of the G and with a new string, the tuner has trouble differentiating between them.

[Markus]

What Mike said. I have had multiple tunes pick up such overtones on guitar and mandolin - always a fifth above the note.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks Mike - You've bourne out what i was thinking.One of my fellow UK members on here,Gerry Hastie,from Scotland,mentioned the "Sabine" tuners that he saw down at TAMCO UK last year & he was pretty impressed with them. I hadn't heard of them until Gerry mentioned the name.They make a couple of clip-ons,one being as expensive as the Peterson Strobo-clip & another less expensive one,
Ivan

[Ivan Kelsall]

I used my Red Snark for the first time straight after a string change this morning, & i have to say that it exceded my expectations.
I got the strings on & with a bit of tension in them already,i began to tune up. Straight off,the Snark showed the notes either sharp or flat 'as they were' & as i got to the correct pitch,it locked onto the right note. It did precisely what the Intelli won't do,display the note of a string with not much tension in it. That's a thumb's up from me for the Snark,
Ivan

[Steve G]

Time for a Snark with all the great reports. I've had the Intelli 500 since it came out about 6 or 7 years ago. The one I use still works great with a little ear sweetening. I don't care about it displaying the 5th (G/D). Sometimes I leave it on the headstock and the buttons don't rattle. I got a second one a couple of years later and it performs much like the ones in the thread. Buttons rattle and it's inaccurate. I also have a Korg clip-on which is the worst one I've ever used.

[Jim Hilburn]

I also thought Intelli's were great until I noticed that on mandolin with the double strings one could sound flat to the other but the Intelli showed both to be correct. To me that meant it was incrimentally not fine enough to show when each string was in fact dead nuts. The Snark seems much more accurate for this.

[almeriastrings]

I think the red Snark is far and away the best 'cheap' tuner out there. I taught a workshop recently, and got a chance to try a whole bunch of others, including the new, black SN-8 "Super Tight". Not that impressed - the red one seems easier to read, to me. Of all the tuners there (must have been about a dozen different kinds) the red Snark stood out for accuracy and ease of use. I have had one break on me, though, so they lose points for the design/construction. The only other tuner that had it beat (for different reasons) was the Petersen strobo-clip. Nice tuner indeed.

[tburcham]

Red Snarks are what I use on all my instruments these days. I've had an Intellie 500 as described in this thread...one quit working and I gave the other one away. I have been known to give tuners to folks I play with often who have crappy tuners....stuff that is 10 years old or older....it just kills me to watch someone try to tune an instrument with an old mic based needle tuner in a noisy environment. I have a Peterson Stroboclip, but I have had multiple breaks on the swivel portion....I've super glued three times now. It is easily the most accurate tuner that I have ever owned, but the Snarks a more than adequate for jam settings. Red Snarks are the Bee's Knees!

[almeriastrings]

I have a Peterson Stroboclip, but I have had multiple breaks on the swivel portion....I've super glued three times now.

Yeah, that is what has put me off buying one myself. I like the performance...but, while I can forgive a sub $15 tuner breaking and needing a super-glue fix, at the price the Petersen is, I would be very unhappy indeed. Just not good enough at that price.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The only 'weak' point,literally,with the Red Snark,is the swivel joint.Currently i use mine only at home for the 'new string thing',i use my Intelli's if i'm playing out,they're perfectly good for that.If i was keeping a Snark in my case,i,d be tempted to pre-empt a break in the swivel,break it off,make a stub to go in the socket of the clamp & then super-glue the tuner to the stub.After that,i'd mould a small amount of Epoxide cement around the joint.That should make it rock solid,
Ivan

[Mike Snyder]

I've broke the socket on the blue one and glued it, then broke the stem. Drilled a hole in the "ball" that was glued into the socket, then glued the stem into the hole. Lots of imaginative engineering. The SN-8 I'm being more careful with.

[Steve L]

It seems sooner or later most folks snap one of the three plastic prongs that hold the ball joint in place on the snark. I fixed mine with a small nylon zip tie and it's held up well. I just thought that that might be a good pre-emptive move to protect the prongs and keep the unit together if one does break off.

[AlanN]

Recently saw a black Snark. Maybe mentioned already, but what is the diff bt. that and the red one?

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

I have the old Planet Waves "slim" model, 3 different Snarks and the new tiny Planet Waves. They all have some issues and the display on the new tight Snark and the new mini Planet waves are best, but the "tight" Snark has color bleed in the display that can make it look like your out of tune in certain lights and if the display isn't pointed directly at you. Tunes pretty well, not as lightning fast as they claim. The mini Planet waves has a pretty good display, but it can't tune an A string on any of my mandolins to save its life, same as the older Planet Waves and the way it mounts to the headstock is a shame as its hard to take on and off and the slightest bump could be disastrous.

Like cases, the perfect one doesn't exist yet as far as I'm concerned, but the options available are in no way horrible.

[bobby bill]

I fixed mine with a small nylon zip tie and it's held up well.

Same solution I came up with and I haven't had a problem since. It's a shame because it seems like it would take only a minor change in design (little miniature flying buttresses supporting the three prongs) to fix the problem.

[Mo Soar]

According to the Snark webpage:
SN-1 (blue) guitar and bass
SN-2 (red) all instruments
SN-6 (black with white lettering) guitar, bass, violin
SN-6 (black with red lettering) ukulele
SN-8 Super tight (matte black with yellow lettering) all instruments

I think there was also an SN-5 (black) and an SN-3 (black) but those are old models.

I have the SN-2, SN-6 and SN-8 - I prefer the SN-8, it seems to have a lot less trouble with the E string. I also have the Peterson SC1 clip on. The Peterson is far more accurate, but it's also very fussy and I find I spend a LOT more time tuning with it. Am I in better tune with it? Probably, but I like the SN-8 better - it can be left clipped to the instrument (for what I paid for the Peterson I am loathe to leave it on while I play and dance around).

None of them are particularly visible outside in bright sun, but the Peterson is probably the best for that.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I re-strung my other mandolin yesterday with the same result using the Snark - spot on tuning. While i had it out,i tried it on my banjo & guitar,again, easy to read,locked-on tuning. Regardless of price,i can't see how other tuners could be 'better' for the basic function of simple tuning. A winner all the way. After using it on a mandolin,i did need a telescope to read it when using it on my banjo & guitar,
Ivan

[tburcham]

Snark Owners: You can reinforce the plastic joints (the three clips that surround the ball-joint on the tuner and the base) on the Snarks by placing a small zip-tie around the three prongs that surround the ball portion on each end. One of my friends did this preventive measure on his blue snark and he hasn't broken it yet.

[Jim Hilburn]

Totally off subject but for a non clip-on the Cleartune app for I-phones is the best tuner I've ever had. Same problem as all non clips, doesn't work in a noisy environment but when that's not an issue it's got the most user friendly display ever and even reads out the hz.

[Mandobart]

My $ 0.02 - Intelli works fine on mandolin, but doesn't seem to recognize the lower frequencies on my mandocello or my son's bass. And it doesn't fit easily on my fiddle's scroll. So I went to the music store and found the planet waves could recognize the low E on a bass, so I bought a couple. Still won't fit a fiddle scroll, but it will work on the bridge. Then I found the battery compartment door on the planet waves falls off real easy, like during an outdoor gig. Now the planet waves is completely useless as a tuner with no battery door. Then I found the Snark. Got a couple red ones. They fit over a scroll on a fiddle. The battery compartment is much more secure; you have to try and remove it. Yes the plastic prongs break easy, but I did the epoxy and zip tie fix like everyone else. And new snark owners - remember the red one can be in "mic" or "vib" mode (which is great for checking the tuning of brass/woodwinds). I've found when I accidentally leave mine on "mic" it is not as stable and doesn't distinguish between notes as easily.