Your favorite clip-on tuner, and why?

[Don54]

3. TC Electronics Unitune all day everyday.
Price, Accuracy, bright display. I’ve had the Polytune and the multi-string tuning feature just doesn’t work. Not worth paying extra for that. I haven’t tried the Peterson because I can’t get past the price.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Bill Sims

Uh... yeah, I got that you were referring to a Snark, hence the play on words.
But I did not intend any condescension toward YOU. I apologize if it came across that way. But I am content with a Snark tuner. I have never had a problem getting a guitar "in tune" with itself or with other guitars or with recorded music with a Snark. There is some tweaking involved. You can't just tune six open strings to the readout on a tuner. So I guess I am pleased with a Snark and that's all that matters in my situation. And I am never surprised by other's comments.

I agree with you up to the point where you state you "can't just tune 6 open strings to the readout on a tuner." If your tuner is extremely accurate and gives you options for "sweetened tunings" you can. I do every time I tune a guitar with either of my Peterson tuners. I'm sure others do the same, with no need to fine tune by ear.

But again, if you're pleased, then that's all that matters. I would have made many of the same arguments before using the Peterson.

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

I agree with you up to the point where you state you "can't just tune 6 open strings to the readout on a tuner." If your tuner is extremely accurate and gives you options for "sweetened tunings" you can. I do every time I tune a guitar with either of my Peterson tuners. I'm sure others do the same, with no need to fine tune by ear.

But again, if you're pleased, then that's all that matters. I would have made many of the same arguments before using the Peterson.

I really appreciate your input, and I think I better understand where you are coming from. What I am trying to convey is that I don't need a tuner that offers "sweetened tunings" to adjust the tuning of open strings on a guitar to achieve a "tuned guitar" over most of the fret board given the intonation over most of the fret board.
)
And yes, I am pleased. Except for snarky condescension.

[The Kid!]

Peterson Stroboclip HD. Very accurate.

[Purfle Haze]

I voted for the UniTune.

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

I agree with you up to the point where you state you "can't just tune 6 open strings to the readout on a tuner." If your tuner is extremely accurate and gives you options for "sweetened tunings" you can.

I have always wondered about this. Peterson offers three EADGBE tunings, to my knowledge. If you use anything other than Equal Temperament (EQU), you're not in standard tune. What "tuning" are you in? If you use ACU, you're tuned flat across the neck, and it sounds that way. How can ACU and EQU be reconciled? And then there's GTR, yet another tuning. Which of the three is "in tune"?

If you are in Equal Temperament, you're in standard tune. If you use ACU, where are you? (Hint: Stockbridge!) If ACU and GTR are legitimate tunings, then, really, anything that sounds good to a player is a legitimate tuning.

I do every time I tune a guitar with either of my Peterson tuners. I'm sure others do the same, with no need to fine tune by ear.

Indeed, if this is your standard, no need for ears at all! It's the Emperor's New Tuning.

But again, if you're pleased, then that's all that matters. I would have made many of the same arguments before using the Peterson.

[Sax Player Guy]

Originally Posted by Purfle Haze

I have always wondered about this. Peterson offers three EADGBE tunings, to my knowledge. If you use anything other than Equal Temperament (EQU), you're not in standard tune. What "tuning" are you in? If you use ACU, you're tuned flat across the neck, and it sounds that way. How can ACU and EQU be reconciled? And then there's GTR, yet another tuning. Which of the three is "in tune"?

If you are in Equal Temperament, you're in standard tune. If you use ACU, where are you? (Hint: Stockbridge!) If ACU and GTR are legitimate tunings, then, really, anything that sounds good to a player is a legitimate tuning.


Indeed, if this is your standard, no need for ears at all! It's the Emperor's New Tuning.

I don't know if I can help with this or not, since I don't know about the various tunings the Peterson offers, but briefly:

Equal temperament is a compromise. What's great about equal temperament is that you can play in all keys, major and minor, and things will sound more or less okay, pitch-wise. What's not so great about equal temperament is that things sound just "okay", pitch-wise.

I once heard a demonstration of this, in which a piano was tuned so that it sounded absolutely glorious in one key. It also sounded pretty good in a few of the closely related keys. In the more far-flung keys, though, it sounded just awful!

Great choirs of singers who sing without piano accompaniment can get chords to ring that will transport you to another realm. That's because they can nudge notes one way or another as needed to get the chord perfectly in tune.

Piano players aren't so lucky. On a piano, the notes Bb and A# are the exact same note. In music, they aren't, quite. I once saw a television program in which a professional symphony orchestra bassist was filmed. At one point he was asked to play a Bb. Then he was asked to play an A#. His hand noticeably moved up (in pitch) the fingerboard to play the A#.

Well, enough anecdotes. Anyway, I'm guessing that most of the different tunings on the Peterson are for different situations. Maybe one is to make the pitch better in commonly encountered keys (e.g. jazz guitarists play in flat keys all the time, but people like me spend most of the time in sharp keys like G, D, A and E Major). Other possible situations that might call for a different tuning would be if you were using a capo or partial capo.

By the way, it seems to me that if you are a guitarist who plays with piano players, then you ought to stick to normal intonation so you will match. If it's just you, though, or just you and a singer, then the sweetened tunings could sound really nice.

[phcorrigan]

James Taylor has a very specific method of tuning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xnXArjPts

Here is his method programmed into Peterson tuners: https://www.petersontuners.com/beyond/?p=1046

[fongie]

I have 2 Korg AW-2G, 1 Korg Sledgehammer, 2 D'Addario sound hole tuners and 3 Snarks. I have had the Korgs AW-2G for 8 years now and they are my favourite. The Snarks come second. The Korg Sledgehammer I only purchased recently but not very happy with it. The clip on is not as mobile as the AW-2G. The D'Addarios is another I am not happy with.

[Glennwillow]

I use my old Peterson Stroboclip more than any other tuner, even though I own a bunch of tuners -- each of those on the list. I have no complaints about any of them.

- Glenn

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Sax Player Guy

... please vote, and, if you have the time, make a brief comment below about why you like your favorite more than others you may have tried....

I had no clamp-on tuner, and ordered a Snark because it was voted here as the #1 favorite.
But when I got it, the instructions said "Do not use on any Gibson guitar or any guitar with nitrocellulose finish."
So I have a new Eastman guitar whose specs say it has nitrocellulose finish on body and neck.
And I am not sure of the finish on my Martin and Yamaha. Their sites just say "gloss."

Why would the #1 favorite tuner's clamp material be damaging to the finish of the instruments that it is tuning?
The tuner is not worth returning so I might just toss it.

[Long Road Home]

Originally Posted by Don Liv

3. TC Electronics Unitune all day everyday.
Price, Accuracy, bright display. I’ve had the Polytune and the multi-string tuning feature just doesn’t work. Not worth paying extra for that.

That's pretty much my experience as well. I have both a Polytune and Unitune. I bought the Polytune before the Unitune came out. I also find that the multi-string tuning feature isn't accurate, so I really have 2 Unitunes.

[5th Element]

Originally Posted by vintage40s

I had no clamp-on tuner, and ordered a Snark because it was voted here as the #1 favorite.
But when I got it, the instructions said "Do not use on any Gibson guitar or any guitar with nitrocellulose finish."
So I have a new Eastman guitar whose specs say it has nitrocellulose finish on body and neck.
And I am not sure of the finish on my Martin and Yamaha. Their sites just say "gloss."

Why is the #1 favorite tuner's clamp material hazardous to the finish of the instruments that is is tuning?
If this is a problem, the tuner is not worth returning so I might just toss it.

I use my StroboTune HD all the time on my Eastman E10OM. Sometimes I forget it and leave it on for a day or two. After over a year, no marks.

[Slothead56]

Of the five I have? Whichever has a working battery.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by 5th Element

I use my StroboTune HD all the time on my Eastman E10OM. Sometimes I forget it and leave it on for a day or two. After over a year, no marks.

But is that tuner a Snark, with instructions that boldly warn against putting it on a nitrocellulose finish like the Eastmans have?

[schneidan]

Originally Posted by vintage40s

But is that tuner a Snark, with instructions that boldly warn against putting it on a nitrocellulose finish like the Eastmans have?

No, it's different. I also have a Peterson StroboClip HD as well as several Snarks; the StroboClip has different material on the lads where it contacts the headstock surface than the Snark has. I've left my StroboClip on the headstock of my Martin for days at a time with no ill effects, but I don't know if it's a nitrocellulose finish; it's very glossy.