clip on tuners

[afhusband]

Chalk up another vote for the Peterson! I was hesitant to spend that much on a tuner, now after-the-fact it's WELL WORTH the money! SOLID construction & a fantastic warranty to boot! The sweeteners work well, also. I however do not use them, because everyone in my band has started using my Peterson to tune, and (even though it's simple) there's no need for a crash course on the button. C'mon, we all know a bass player!

[tburcham]

Red Snark...hard to beat for the money or 4X the money!

[mandolirius]

"According to the red Snark manual:
Power Save Feature
The tuner display will dim after approximately 10 seconds of no sound detected by the tuner. This conserves battery power. The display will return to normal brightness when a note is detected. If no notes are detected for 2 minutes, the tuner will shut off."


Must be the Red model only. The black one has no dimming/shut off feature.

Besides, that's a secondary problem. What makes them useless is you can't see them OUTSIDE!

[tburcham]

I agree the Snarks can be difficult to see in sunlight. In that situation my old trusty Korg AW1 works very well.

[almeriastrings]

Been using that Intellitouch PT-20 now for about a week, and must say I like it. Extremely clear display in all kinds of lighting. Well built, too.

[shortymack]

Besides, that's a secondary problem. What makes them useless is you can't see them OUTSIDE!

I've got a blue one, works like a charm. For 10 bucks they are far from useless even if hard to see outside. As a matter of fact Id say they are the best deal going there is in a tuner considering they basically cost as much as a pack of strings.

[Bud Barnwell]

+1 for the Planet Waves Mini. A really handy piece of gear, because you can leave it on your head stock all the time and people will hardly notice. It has a great display and is absolutely as accurate as a tuner needs to be for performance.

They are ok but don't make a mistake and leave them on your headstock. They will imprint on the finish.

[lespaul_79]

Snark's are great and cheap. I should buy 2 or 3 more.

[mandolirius]

I've got a blue one, works like a charm. For 10 bucks they are far from useless even if hard to see outside. As a matter of fact Id say they are the best deal going there is in a tuner considering they basically cost as much as a pack of strings.

The are useless, if you play outside a lot. Fantastic tuner for the money indoors but what do you do at a festival? I can see my Belcat, even with sunglasses on.

[uinsin42]

The 'SNARK' are prone to snapping, I wen't back to my Intelle Chromatic Tuner IMT-600 which costs less than the 500 version now

[Steve Ostrander]

[QUOTEThe 'SNARK' are prone to snapping,][/QUOTE]

Roger that. I had my blue Snark about two weeks before it snapped. They're cheap and that's the only thing good about them, IMHO.

[allenhopkins]

Either I'm getting the "cream" of Snarks, or others are whuppin' the snot outa them. I can read my red Snarks outdoors (have to tilt them away from the sun, but so what?), I can use them without breaking pieces off 'em, they seem to register quickly and accurately, and I get a fair amount of use out of the built-in-microphone feature.

I did have the ball joint break on one, but I glued the joint into a useful angle, and the tuner's still eminently usable.

It's been over a year that I've been using red Snarks exclusively, and so far, so good. I'm sure another tuner will come along that makes them obsolescent; that's been the pattern over the last 20 years, and why should it stop now? But for the price, and with the features with which they come, a great tuner IMHO.

[Jim Garber]

My red Snark also broke at the ball joint. I tried gluing it back together with epoxy but it didn't work.

I bought a couple of the black ones (SN-8 I think) and so far so good. I doubt that that model is made any better than the red ones. However, I am pretty careful with it but I dislike keeping a tuner clipped to my smaller instruments (mandolin and fiddle) but leave it on a guitar.

[Mike Bunting]

The only one of those cheap tuners that I've had any luck with is the Planet Waves NS thingie. For any serious use I'll stick with my Petersons.

[John Flynn]

They are ok but don't make a mistake and leave them on your headstock. They will imprint on the finish.

Thanks for the warning, but I think that depends on the finish. I've had mine on my Rigel headstock for a few weeks now, just checked it and there is not the hint of an imprint. Before that, I had it on the headstock of my electric bass for over a year. That headstock has a gloss black finish and there was no imprint when I took it off.

FWIW, I wouldn't care all that much if there was. This is just my personal choice: I like to keep my instruments as nice looking as I can without any fuss, but I go for convenience of playing. If my instruments take a little wear and tear because of a tuner or and armrest, etc. so be it.

[allenhopkins]

My red Snark also broke at the ball joint. I tried gluing it back together with epoxy but it didn't work...

Try Duco Cement; worked for me.

[Jim Garber]

I glued the small piece of the collar that broke off. Did you just glue the ball into the joint?

[mandroid]

my list: Korg CA-10 (9v battery), + a piezo clip on a wire..
Intellitouch,

and a Boss Pedal tuner running off a Wall wart.

someone left another one behind at the Jam.. Lanikai 'co-ut' it says on it.
it does the color shift to green when on pitch.. so of that type,

[herbsandspices]

someone left another one behind at the Jam.. Lanikai 'co-ut' it says on it.
it does the color shift to green when on pitch.. so of that type,

That looks to be a rebranded Intellitouch PT10, which is an excellent tuner.

[yankees1]

Looks like the Peterson Stroboclip sells for 69.95 at all sites ! Anyone know a cheaper price ?

[Mike Bunting]

Looks like the Peterson Stroboclip sells for 69.95 at all sites ! Anyone know a cheaper price ?

About $10 for the iPad app.

[foldedpath]

Looks like the Peterson Stroboclip sells for 69.95 at all sites ! Anyone know a cheaper price ?

I don't think you'll find it for less, although if someone does know a legitimate source that doesn't tack on extra fees, please post it. It's one of those quasi-price-controlled items, where dealers don't have an incentive to discount below MSRP because it's a popular item with a healthy profit margin. Beware the Ebay sellers who list a lower price like $63, but then tack on a high shipping and handling fee so you're paying $75 or more. With reputable dealers like Sweetwater or Zzounds you can get it for $69.95 with free shipping and no tax.

It's a great tuner, the only clip-on I use. I've had mine for about 2 years now with no issues.

One way to get the tuning display at a lower cost, is with the $10 iStrobosoft app for iPhones and iPads, although that's less convenient than a conventional clip-on tuner and it doesn't work well in noisy environments.

[allenhopkins]

I glued the small piece of the collar that broke off. Did you just glue the ball into the joint?

Yup. Doubt the other fix'll work; not enough glued surface to hold that li'l tab against any significant strain.

[Trip]

Snark is ok, not as accurate as some.....and they seems to get finicky after some use.....

I still have my 15 year old Intellitouch still works perfect, and battery last forever, bulletproof(I know this seems impossible, but it was literally knocked off the second story of a cabin and bounced off the stone path, batteries came flying out and could only find one of them, but it still worked, even with one battery) so I got a new tiny Intellitouch and I love the way you can fold it down on the back of the headstock, unlike most designs.......

[uinsin42]

'collar that broke off': Cut a piece of hollow plastic tube and push it down over the remaining two collars - worked for me. The tube was from a roll of light black thread elastic