Does everyone use those clamp-on, plastic tuners now?

[Boston Joe]

Last time I tried one, I was in a noisy rehearsal trying to tune and the clipon tuner was responding to other sounds in the room.

Weird. I have literally never had this problem.

As far as silent tuning, there's this thing on the guitar that you can turn and it decreases the volume.

Anyway, they've never given me trouble, so I'll keep using them.

(I can see where they might be sensitive to ambient vibrations with an archtop. No such problems on my semi or any of my solids.)

[Jonah]

It was a present.. 2 in one bpx, I think D'Addario? very small ones if you put them behind the head, the audience cannot see them, especially of the head is dark colour.

But as a fact... I used them only during occasional gigs... because it is often too loud to hear.

At home or in a quiet place I tune only by ear... using inly one basic pitch for reference.
And tuning by ear is always tuning in chords intervals etc. and depends much on what I am going ti play.

And by the way in a classical group I am strictly against it and was pretty much annoyed when everyone including violinist and cellist and upright bass tuned all by tuners... I think it is terrible and absolutely wrong.

Tuners can be a helpful tool but when I saw a cello teacher putting a tuner in front of a student saying: you see this is how low your Eb actually are...

For me this is the illustration of all the bad impact these things may have.

On the other hand in teh context of music where the temperament is really equal and tun-o-matic adjusts everything to a micron, I think it can be a part of a set.. something like Mick Goodrick's world you know...

[christianm77]

Pablo Casals wouldn't have it

[Jonah]

Pablo Casals wouldn't have it

neither would Domenico Gabrielli

[FredC]

I have never used a clip-on tuner. There is a chromatic tuner on my Roland Cube 40XL that works well and as a backup, I downloaded an electronic tuner to my phone that also works well. As an added plus, it was FREE!

[BBGuitar]

I would not be without one.

I leave it on and don't give a furry rodents behind how it looks.

[Greentone]

Blessed with pretty good pitch memory, here. I hear tunes at pitch, no matter how many years since I last heard the tune. I suspect many musicians have this going on.

Some of my guitars will go sharp a bit onstage. I suspect it's a function of lighting. I can hear it and can tune to pitch. However, it's better to not subject the audience to the ordeal. I use a small, plug in electronic tuner. I have a clamp on and it would work as well.

I used to use the Korg stomp pedal--wish I still had it. With three kids who play it seems that my pedals disappear at random intervals. (Nobody wants the old, blue, plug into the wall equalizer pedal.)

[Jim Soloway]

I would not be without one.

I leave it on and don't give a furry rodents behind how it looks.

Agreed. And the quality available in clip on tuners now is spectacular. I have a Korg Sledgehammer Custom 100 and it's a great tuner ... accurate, reliable and easy to see.

[Doublea A]

I see a lot of guitarists with those clamp-on plastic tuners. Is this now a must-have item for most guitarists?

Yes.
I use the little one from D’Addario.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I would not be without one.

I leave it on and don't give a furry rodents behind how it looks.

+1.

I don't get "remove it before God sees my shame".

The ones on stalks that look like fruiting bodies look a bit silly, but I have the one that can hide behind your headstock:

[mr. beaumont]

Count me in as another believer.

I like the Snarks. I have a bunch of 'em, keep one at school, one at home, a few guitar cases have one in the pocket. They break if you drop 'em down a flight of stairs or something, but they'd all break, so I go with the cheap ones, because not only are they cheap, they work.

I do leave mine on the headstock while playing as well...I adjust it so it's behind the headstock, shields light better that way.

[sgosnell]

I think the reason guitars go sharp (or flat, but mostly sharp) is heat. We tend to tune before playing, and the strings may be cold, as well as the rest of the guitar, and as they warm up they change pitch. I don't think there is any way around it. And having a tuner in place which lets one quickly and relatively silently tune is a good thing for the audience. These days I see most pro players with a tuner on the headstock. The players in the old days didn't use them because they didn't exist. There is a name for those who reject technology. I don't want to be called a Luddite.

[AlsoRan]

I now have 3 of them and gave a couple as gifts to a family member.

I did not realize my D'Addario Clip on has a metronome, but it is only visual, not audio. So I looked around a little and found this item. It has a metronome that can get fairly loud (they claim 100db) besides having a tuner. For me, this will be the next step because it lightens my workload.

I am sure they are better brands.

Amazon.com: Artisan Metronome Tuner Clip on w/Guitar, Bass, Cello, Viola, Violin, Mandolin, Ukulele, Banjo, Piano & Chromatic Modes. Best Instrument Tuner. 8 Rhythms, Loud Audible Beats up to 100dB: 30-250 bpm: Musical Instruments

[pauln]

Never. I don't carry or use tuners for shows or rehearsals. I would never put anything on my guitar head stock (no scrunchy string dampers either). I just don't need them.

I am not against tuners per se, but the only use I have for them is fine setup intonation after string changes. I've had a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner (true optical strobe pedal) for many years that is still 5 times more accurate than even Peterson's current flagship $4550 bench top strobe.

[DRS]

Guys who think those tuners look funny . . . on this forum . . .
I could see it if this was the "Back Up Musicians for World Famous Pop Stars" forum.

[Alter]

Also used to have a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner on a pedalboard, but these days my boards are smaller, so most of the time its headstock clipons for gigs and a phone app for rehearsals and home. Most of the time my guitars don't go out of tune mid set, but sometimes, bending, temperature, etc, you have to check. And i don't like to make an audience listen through that..

[pingu]

Count me in as another believer.

I like the Snarks. I have a bunch of 'em, keep one at school, one at home, a few guitar cases have one in the pocket. They break if you drop 'em down a flight of stairs or something, but they'd all break, so I go with the cheap ones, because not only are they cheap, they work.

I do leave mine on the headstock while playing as well...I adjust it so it's behind the headstock, shields light better that way.

Me too , a few snarks , the HZ is best for me

They are also quite handy to use as an emergency
peg for making a lead sheet stay put in a crosswind ...

Love em ....

[KirkP]

I still have an old Intellituner, but I keep seveal Snark tuners around the house and in my gear bag. The Snark display dims long before the battery is dead, so I buy batteries in 5 or 10 packs. I consider the Snarks only adequate for preliminary tuning. My final tuning is by ear.

[John A.]

I still have an old Intellituner, but I keep seveal Snark tuners around the house and in my gear bag. The Snark display dims long before the battery is dead, so I buy batteries in 5 or 10 packs. I consider the Snarks only adequate for preliminary tuning. My final tuning is by ear.

I have an old Intellitouch, a couple of Snarks, and a Korg PC2 that uses little LED dots. The Snarks are by far the best of the three -- they detect the pitch fastest, settle down fastest, are easiest to read, and offer the most flexibility with positions and angles. I thought the Intellitouch was good, until I got the Snark (which I lost, and then complained about the Intellitouch until I got another Snark, lather, rinse repeat ... the world is a perverse place). The Korg sucks - difficult read, responds poorly, difficult to angle into position. Somebody recommended it to me; can't imagine why. Anybody wants it, come get it.

To those of you who are able to tune quickly and non-annoyingly on a bandstand, and who do not need to tune at all thereafter, huzzahs and kudos. I am an inferior being, who owns inferior guitars and must therefore tune early and often. I find clip-ons way easier to see, and deal with than pedals or the old style plastic things you kept in your guitar case. Unfortunately, clip-ons also way easier to lose, but I wish them happiness in their new lives with the other sock.

John

[LtKojak]

I don't.

[KirkP]

I’ll always suspected that tuning seems to be a little easier with Snarks because they are not as precise as some other tuners. In other words, they will indicate you are in tune when a more precise tuner might tell you you’re still a bit off. Try tuning with both a Snark and a more precise tuner attached at the same time and you may see what I mean. The Snark is usually good enough for playing in bands where slight tuning errors aren’t that noticeable, but for small groups or solo I’ve got to finish the tuning by ear.

[neatomic]

try the snark hz..very tight tuning response..and has frequency tuning capability...little quirky sometimes, but good tight tuning..you could even do some quick intonation work with it...not a turbo tuner pedal..but 1/10th the $$$$

part of the snark charm is knowing how to read them...you want to hit the note and be exactly on point..not ramp up or down..takes a coupla seconds more effort, but worth it



cheers

[Fretsruss]

I have a clip on (Peterson) and use it when I don't have my pedal board with me which has a Peterson Strobostomp 2.

The clip on is pretty accurate however, the low E string tracking can get lost with other noise.

That said, I'm with a lot of other folk here in that I won't have it on while I'm playing. I'm also not a fan of obvious "out loud" tuning when playing live. Much prefer the pedal option.

Hendrix was before my time, not by much, but it always seems to me that the energy in the room was at an all time high when he walked out on the stage and then the oxygen was sucked out of the room when he started to tune up for a couple of minutes!!

[Little Jay]

Yup, at the start of the gig I tune up with it - except for when there's an acoustic piano, then I tune up to that (those sometimes aren't 440). After that I usually don't need it anymore - my 68 year old lady mostly stays in tune the whole gig with her .012 TI Swings (.013 high E), so I usually remove it after tuning (and I do bends!)

[vernon]

+1 for the Peterson Strobe clip on tuner ~ excellent!