Disappointed in longevity of Snark tuners

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

These don't break or need batteries and are always ready when you are...



Tony

Not really since you have to carry it with you. Tuning by ear doesn't need batteries and truly is ready when you are.

[CASD57]

I picked up 4 for $16.00 on Amazon. THe Brand is Aroma AT-01A and they are still working after 9 months

I've never been impressed with the sharks overpriced...

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

These don't break or need batteries and are always ready when you are...



Tony

They don’t work in a noisy session/jam. Or on stage while you’re busy talking to the audience, introducing the next song, switching guitars, yadda yadda.

But, sitting on the sofa in the peace and quiet of your living room, I’m sure they’re great.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

They don’t work in a noisy session/jam. Or on stage while you’re busy talking to the audience, introducing the next song, switching guitars, yadda yadda.

But, sitting on the sofa in the peace and quiet of your living room, I’m sure they’re great.

Actually, my musical partner and I used "A" tuning forks when we played in Irish bars that were so loud during our breaks that you couldn't hear yourself think. (This was back in the Olden Days, when we still wore tricorn hats and cheap, reliable clip-on electronic tuners hadn't been invented yet.)

The way we used them was this: we each had our own "A" fork and what we would do is bang the fork on a knee, then while it was vibrating put its base to one of our teeth (I tended to use a canine tooth, though I don't think which tooth you use matters, so long as it's in your own mouth...) When you touch the base of a vibrating tuning fork to a tooth, no matter how loud the room is, you'll hear that note throughout your entire skull clear as a bell.

Seriously, try it. It works.

Listening to that we'd tune the A strings on our instruments, then tune the rest of the strings to that by feel, more or less.

Again, I'm serious here. When I'd get the A string in tune, I'd sound it and the D string simultaneously. There's a certain way the guitar vibrates when you achieve a musical fourth - there's a harmonious vibration to it, whereas when they're out of tune with each other there's a discordant feeling to the way the back of the guitar feels.

So I got in tune with a fork in a noisy room by tuning the A string first, then tuning the D and low E strings to pitch based on how the guitar felt while vibrating against my chest. I tuned the rest of the strings based on how they vibrated against their neighbors.

Ancient technology, I know, but it works.


whm

[JayBee1404]

Ha! And that’s one of the reasons electronic tuners were invented!

[jschmitz54]

Originally Posted by lar

My 1969 VW bug with an automatic stick-shift (yes, you read that correctly) would stall out infrequently and doing this on the rotor and distributor cap contact points always solved the problem. I always kept a pencil in that car for this reason.

I took my drivers test in a bug with the automatic transmission. You know how you have to shift from low to high so the car has enough power to start moving quickly enough. When I took my drivers test the examiner marked me down a substantial number of points for improper use of an automatic transmission. My drivers ed instructor was upset about it because he felt I was a very good driver.
Anyway I hadn’t thought of the red bug we had with that automatic for many moons. Thanks for posting that.
Those automatics must be very collectible.

[Robin, Wales]

Give your broken off Snark tuner heads to mountain dulcimer players.

[Kerbie]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

These don't break or need batteries and are always ready when you are...

I still have eight of these from my childhood. They work great in my living room, although I love my Peterson StroboClip HD.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Actually, my musical partner and I used "A" tuning forks when we played in Irish bars that were so loud during our breaks that you couldn't hear yourself think. (This was back in the Olden Days, when we still wore tricorn hats and cheap, reliable clip-on electronic tuners hadn't been invented yet.)

The way we used them was this: we each had our own "A" fork and what we would do is bang the fork on a knee, then while it was vibrating put its base to one of our teeth (I tended to use a canine tooth, though I don't think which tooth you use matters, so long as it's in your own mouth...) When you touch the base of a vibrating tuning fork to a tooth, no matter how loud the room is, you'll hear that note throughout your entire skull clear as a bell.

Seriously, try it. It works.

Listening to that we'd tune the A strings on our instruments, then tune the rest of the strings to that by feel, more or less.

Again, I'm serious here. When I'd get the A string in tune, I'd sound it and the D string simultaneously. There's a certain way the guitar vibrates when you achieve a musical fourth - there's a harmonious vibration to it, whereas when they're out of tune with each other there's a discordant feeling to the way the back of the guitar feels.

So I got in tune with a fork in a noisy room by tuning the A string first, then tuning the D and low E strings to pitch based on how the guitar felt while vibrating against my chest. I tuned the rest of the strings based on how they vibrated against their neighbors.

Ancient technology, I know, but it works.


whm

Thanks for providing that information. This subject comes up from time to time and I ALWAYS get push back on it. On one occasion, I mentioned attending the Fingerstyle Festival that was put on at the U of Wisconson Milwaukee campus by John Stropes. Leo Kottke gave a concert and seminar that year.

He talked about (among other things) how our ears can "get lazy" and tuning by ear is a good way to keep them tuned up as well. In that thread, a couple of guys really came down hard on me, suggesting that one should always use an electronic tuner and that I was leading newcomers to the forum and guitar astray by suggesting otherwise.

I simply don't understand why some folks are so opposed to using your ears, preferring electronic tuners all the time and TAB over listening. I am a throwback to an earlier time and that isn't always welcome.

Edit: To me, this does not need to be a mutually exclusive issue (i.e. either tuning fork OR electronic tuner) all the time. I only suggested it in the context of this thread for the reasons I specified. It is amusing the responses I get when I mention tuning forks. Music is first and foremost, a HEARING art. I think that this gets to be forgotten, depending on the environment in which a person learned to play. Well, this is the last time I bring up use of the ear in music and then other folks can just relax and leave me out of it.

Tony

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

I simply don't understand why some folks are so opposed to using your ears, preferring electronic tuners all the time and TAB over listening. I am a throwback to an earlier time and that isn't always welcome.

Not sure if that was meant for me, but I’ll respond anyway.

I don’t regard you as ‘a throwback to an earlier time’, and I’m not ‘opposed to using my ears’, Tony - I tune by ear very frequently at home. I tune the A string to my tuner, to get the pitch correct, then tune the rest by ear. While I’m playing/singing, I’m constantly listening to the guitar’s relative tuning, and I adjust as necessary by ear. The first thing I do when I pick a guitar up is check the relative tuning by ear.

But in a session/jam, or in a performance setting, especially with a band, tuning by ear doesn’t cut it for various reasons, so I use my TCE PolyClip or Peterson Stroboclip HD - quick, slick, and accurate.

And I never, ever use TAB - I listen and work stuff out. Done it that way since 1961.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

These don't break or need batteries and are always ready when you are...



Tony

Wow, that's an oldie. I just found mine as well. It was my sister's.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

Not sure if that was meant for me, but I’ll respond anyway.

I don’t regard you as ‘a throwback to an earlier time’, and I’m not ‘opposed to using my ears’, Tony - I tune by ear very frequently at home. I tune the A string to my tuner, to get the pitch correct, then tune the rest by ear. While I’m playing/singing, I’m constantly listening to the guitar’s relative tuning, and I adjust as necessary by ear. The first thing I do when I pick a guitar up is check the relative tuning by ear.

But in a session/jam, or in a performance setting, especially with a band, tuning by ear doesn’t cut it for various reasons, so I use my TCE PolyClip or Peterson Stroboclip HD - quick, slick, and accurate.

And I never, ever use TAB - I listen and work stuff out. Done it that way since 1961.

The usual disclaimers apply......IMHO, YMMV etc.

JayBee1404,

Thanks for your comments. My comments were not aimed at anyone specific, but rather intended as a general observation of the type of reactions I get when mentioning by ear in a thread discussing tuning. To me, a tuning fork is a fallback measure if, for whatever reason, there isn't an electronic tuner available. I tend to prefer a tuning fork much of the time, but also have an electronic tuner.

As far TAB, I do think that being able to read TAB as well as standard notation, are good skills to have. But from what I have observed, it seems that there are many who would rather go with TAB than even attempt to figure stuff out by ear. So my comments were, in general, about using our ears more and relying on other means, less - but not throwing out the other means at all.

Tony

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

JayBee1404,

Thanks for your comments. My comments were not aimed at anyone specific, but rather intended as a general observation of the type of reactions I get when mentioning by ear in a thread discussing tuning. To me, a tuning fork is a fallback measure if, for whatever reason, there isn't an electronic tuner available. I tend to prefer a tuning fork much of the time, but also have an electronic tuner.

As far TAB, I do think that being able to read TAB as well as standard notation, are good skills to have. But from what I have observed, it seems that there are many who would rather go with TAB than even attempt to figure stuff out by ear. So my comments were, in general, about using our ears more and relying on other means, less - but not throwing out the other means at all.

Tony

Ha! Glad we’re singing from the same hymn-book!

[Joe Beamish]

Electronic tuners are great tools, but not if you HAVE to rely on them. It’s better to train your ears and learn your instrument. Besides, tuning all the strings open sounds like crap sometimes.

[leew3]

I too used a tuning fork in the olden days. Instead of teeth, I'd just bang it on a knee and old it against the guitar while my ear was pressed to the side. I used an E so at least two of my strings were in tune. Back then I drank pretty heavily so have no idea whether this worked well, but it seemed to me like I sounded good.