Guitar tuning devices
Hey forumers, Back in the early 1990's a friend a mine give me a Boss TU-12 guitar tuner...and its seen better days.....in the early 2000's I bought a Korg Chromatic Tuner,,,a CA-20. It worked just fine until last week when my student "Andrea" came for her lesson....I told her to tune up and went to use the bathroom........when I came back the tuner no longer worked. So......a new tuner is needed.
I only have a couple guitars. Its very seldom that I play out anywhere. When students come they need to tune.......and also I do guitar repair and setups...so I need to use an accurate tuner or device to set intonation. Maybe one that easily hears the low B on a five string bass.
For the last several years....actually since about 2008 when the recession started that they say has now ended...but I don't believe it,,,,I have been financially embarrassed (I never was rich,,,but I'm hoping to be at some point). Times are tough and that's an understatement. So I need a good tuner that's versatile, accurate, dependable and most importantly,,,,economical.
Now I see Jim Campilongo using a headstock tuning device.......I checked a couple a those out on Sweetwater music and they are cheap...some are $13.00,,,but I don't know if they're any good or not. But they sure seem handy and everybody n his brother has one now.....so maybe I should have one too? It's not something I really need......but they are convenient....right on the headstock. But,,,,,there is also the matter of students tuning up and also my need for a device to set intonation with.
Does anyone know what kind of headstock tuner Jim Campilongo uses? Does anyone have an suggestions? Years ago I liked checking out new devices like tuners, amps, guitars, effects and all that. In my old age I have lost interest. The guitars and things I have are fine and I am satisfied with them...."Futuristic" "High Tech" don't interest me much. At my age it's really hard for me to read technical mumbo jumbo and understand it.
So forumers if you can help out with some of your knowledge and experience I will appreciate your help.
Best,
Kenneth
707-446-0487
kgharper@prodigy.net
I only have a couple guitars. Its very seldom that I play out anywhere. When students come they need to tune.......and also I do guitar repair and setups...so I need to use an accurate tuner or device to set intonation. Maybe one that easily hears the low B on a five string bass.
For the last several years....actually since about 2008 when the recession started that they say has now ended...but I don't believe it,,,,I have been financially embarrassed (I never was rich,,,but I'm hoping to be at some point). Times are tough and that's an understatement. So I need a good tuner that's versatile, accurate, dependable and most importantly,,,,economical.
Now I see Jim Campilongo using a headstock tuning device.......I checked a couple a those out on Sweetwater music and they are cheap...some are $13.00,,,but I don't know if they're any good or not. But they sure seem handy and everybody n his brother has one now.....so maybe I should have one too? It's not something I really need......but they are convenient....right on the headstock. But,,,,,there is also the matter of students tuning up and also my need for a device to set intonation with.
Does anyone know what kind of headstock tuner Jim Campilongo uses? Does anyone have an suggestions? Years ago I liked checking out new devices like tuners, amps, guitars, effects and all that. In my old age I have lost interest. The guitars and things I have are fine and I am satisfied with them...."Futuristic" "High Tech" don't interest me much. At my age it's really hard for me to read technical mumbo jumbo and understand it.
So forumers if you can help out with some of your knowledge and experience I will appreciate your help.
Best,
Kenneth
707-446-0487
kgharper@prodigy.net
Comments
I love this question and I'm interested in any other Forum members experience with electronic tuners .
The tuner on my Tele headstock I think you are referring to is the D'Addario micro tuner. It's good, but it can only attach from the underside of my Tele neck, and reading it is awkward. But it's great on my classical guitar (see below)
There was a larger tuner Planet Waves D'Addario made (see below) that I really liked too, but it's too BIG for my ultra small '59 Tele headstock. Again, it works wonderfully on other Tele's, Gibson etc. - The last time I looked I couldn't locate it on the Planet Waves D'Addario website.
So I continue to use my Peterson Strobo Stomp (see below). It reads lightening fast, no frustrating delay times that I experienced on the Boss stomp box tuner. Keep in mind, the Peterson is not a strobe tuner in reality, like the big ol' Peterson tuners you probably used in the 80's at Stars Guitars, Kenneth - but it's the same display visually. I balked at first, assuming reading the strobe was too complicated, but it took me 10 seconds to get used to it. Additionally, no matter how bright your playing environment is, the display is crystal clear. I am not certain if Peterson still makes them though. But I recommend this tuner highly. I don't think it's cheap... $150?
Worth mentioning, though not totally serving your needs - is the Peterson Phone App - though it's a whopping $9.99 ha ha! Seriously, at the time, that seemed outrageous to me, but I'm obviously spoiled by "free". All that said, it is an excellent tuner that works in conjunction with the built in mic on your smartphone, and it's saved my hide numerous times... Once, minutes before playing with the Willies on the Letterman Show my tuner battery totally died and the Peterson Phone App came to my rescue! Whew! That one time by itself, the Peterson paid $9.99 for itself.
The Peterson Phone App is what I use in the teaching room.
I hope this helped -it seems that production life for products is shorter and shorter. Every time I find something I like, "they" stop making it! But look around on the net -I bet you can find any one of the tuners I've mentioned.
All that said- I bet you can find a non headstock tuner for $20 that is good enough to set up a guitar, and to give to Andrea!
Again, I'd like to hear from other tuner users.
All the best- Jim
D'Addario micro tuner
Planet Waves D'Addario tuner
Peterson Strobo Stomp
GUITAR REPAIR
Whenever I'm in California, I have my guitar set up by Luthier Kenneth Harper. He does GREAT WORK and the most perfect setups my fingers have experienced.
Harper Manufacturing, Makers of Fine Stringed Instruments
email: twangster_1999 [at] yahoo.com
phone: 707-446-0487
7246 Browns Valley Rd
Vacaville, CA 95688
The flaws are that its looks kinda silly on your headstock and the akward shape of the thing makes it pretty common for the power button to get hit in your gig bag and the batteries die.
The plus side is that its bright and you can adjust the angle so that it is always in sight.
They are $20.
I also have a tc electronic tuner pedal which is really great if you want a pedal tuner. You can strum all six strings at once and it gives you a gross estimate of how they are doing and then you can fine tune it string by string. It adjusts to the light levels on the room and is bright and easy to see.
I never gave any thought to the fact that on Fender style 6 in line headstock there is no room to mount a tuner because the tuning keys are all on the bass side of the headstock. So it has to be at the tip of the headstock or on the treble side of the headstock on a right hand guitar. That being said,..."There is always room to reinvent the wheel".
Yeah I remember the Peterson.....I think it was called a "Strobe-O' Conn"? It was the industry standard and VERY expensive.
Hey CWilliams, Thank you for the info on the snark as well.
Thanks & best regards,
Kenneth Harper
707-446-0487
For my acoustic I have a Snark (chromatic) and a Korg GA-10 (not chromatic) that looks to be older than baseball, but it works.
As Jim stated, I end up using the tuner app on my phone more than just about anything when I'm not plugged into my board with the TU-2. I use the ClearTune app. It was free. Works well. Actually worked better before one of the auto updates, but still works well.
If I ever do replace the TU-2, it will probably be with a StroboStomp. I got used to Peterson strobe stuff when I worked for MusicMan, and I've heard great things about that pedal.
My personal favorite is the Peterson StroboClip, a little large but fits on any headstock I've tried & tunes perfect, the Petersons are the most accurate on the market.
My second favorite that I keep as a backup is the Korg Pitchclip, killer little tuner! The transducer that reads the vibrations from your guitar is in direct contact with your guitar, which may be the only headstock tuner on the market with that feature. This one is very accurate also. Snarks we sell a ton of, they're pretty accurate, but they tend to break easier than other headstock tuners.
I just got my 1st clip-on tuner, the little Reverb.com one, I paid $5.99 shipped, but now they are only $3.99 shipped!!! Seems to work fine enough... but I recently saw Jim using the D'addario one, and I'll be getting one of those as well.