Wanting a good tuner for intonating...

[soldierkahn]

Im tired of not being able to intonate my own guitars super accurately by only having an onboard tuner to use. Ive read that strobe tuners provide extremely accurate tuning but i was wondering if a $200 tuner is really necessary or if there is something a little more wallet friendly. Ive already got the Ibanez Edge Accessories EJK1000 for intonating the saddles, so if you guys could suggest a decent tuner that would be great.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Grab a used Peterson Strobe tuner. You can find Flip and Stomp models for relatively cheap, <$100.

If you want something new, Sonic Research is great. I love my Turbo Tuner.

I've used $3k+ pro bench tuners and the cheaper Peterson units and the Sonic Research can hang with them.

 

[soldierkahn]

Grab a used Peterson Strobe tuner. You can find Flip and Stomp models for relatively cheap, <$100.

If you want something new, Sonic Research is great. I love my Turbo Tuner.

I've used $3k+ pro bench tuners and the cheaper Peterson units and the Sonic Research can hang with them.

Thanks so much Max, i really appreciate it!

 

[soldierkahn]

Grab a used Peterson Strobe tuner. You can find Flip and Stomp models for relatively cheap, <$100.

If you want something new, Sonic Research is great. I love my Turbo Tuner.

I've used $3k+ pro bench tuners and the cheaper Peterson units and the Sonic Research can hang with them.

would this Peterson be okay? It says its 0.1 +/- level of accuracy, but its a clip on. Still good?

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acc...ip-hd-clip-on-tuner/j55208000000000#addtolist

 

[Edika]

I recently got the Korg pitchblack custom which is quite cheap in comparison with the other strobe +/- 0.1 cent accuracy but for intonation I used the half strobe setting. When I used the full strobe it just never seemed to settle and started giving me a headache lol.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

would this Peterson be okay? It says its 0.1 +/- level of accuracy, but its a clip on. Still good?

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acc...ip-hd-clip-on-tuner/j55208000000000#addtolist

I haven't really dabbled in clip-on tuners too much. I have a few of the Planet Waves NS models, but use them strictly for quick tune ups and not setups, I have a Turbo for that.

When it comes to quality tuners, while accuracy is very important, so is the tuner's "tracking" or how quickly the tuner processes and displays the pitch. Better tuners track accurately in damn-near real time and don't "bounce" around.

In 2019, just about anything is going to have a high degree of accuracy, but it's the tracking that's going to separate the better tuners from the rest.

When doing setup work, making extra fine adjustments, you're going to want a tuner that reads quickly, otherwise the process can get frustrating.

Perhaps look at getting a high quality tuner as an investment. Unless you try to beat it up they'll last just about forever. I still have a Peterson Strobe that's almost 20 years old.

If you want my personal opinion on what to get, grab a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner. While not the coolest looking or most feature filled, at $130 it's my absolute favorite tuner. It's accurate, tracks beautifully and smoothly and is built like a tank.

 

[BearOnGuitar]

I can also highly recommend the Peterson Stompclassic. It's very accurate and it also tracks low tunings very well.

 

[elkoki]

I use the Guitar Rig 5 tuner. It seems to be way more accurate than any clip on or pedal tuner i've used so far. and it's pretty much free...

 

[Humbuck]

Peterson strobostomp. It will get you there. Mine has paid for itself many times from doing set ups with it.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I've never used a Peterson, but the strobe function on my Polytune 2 and 3 are super accurate they're fairly cheap, too

 

[NoodleFace]

Anything with a quality strobe is what you want .Peterson is the standard but honestly you can buy anything up like a $2000 strobe tuner. My father has one from the 70s (I want to say it's Peterson) and it's really insane how accurate it is.

I wouldn't use a clip on for intonation

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Grab a used Peterson Strobe tuner. You can find Flip and Stomp models for relatively cheap, <$100.

If you want something new, Sonic Research is great. I love my Turbo Tuner.

I've used $3k+ pro bench tuners and the cheaper Peterson units and the Sonic Research can hang with them.

Here to agree with the Turbo Tuner. Seriously couldn't find any replacement for my ST-300 mini. When I had my AX8 and even with my current Helix with the updated strobe tuner, I still can't ditch the ST-300. It's super quick, super accurate and I use it both for setups and my main board.

Don't some of the older Peterson Strobe stomp and flip tuners have issues with the screens dying? I read some hit or miss things that made me avoid them in favor for the ST300.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Here to agree with the Turbo Tuner. Seriously couldn't find any replacement for my ST-300 mini. When I had my AX8 and even with my current Helix with the updated strobe tuner, I still can't ditch the ST-300. It's super quick, super accurate and I use it both for setups and my main board.

Don't some of the older Peterson Strobe stomp and flip tuners have issues with the screens dying? I read some hit or miss things that made me avoid them in favor for the ST300.

The hinge on some of the Flips wears over time making it easy to either pull the ribbon connector for the screen out or damaging the cable.

The Stomps suffered from about what you'd expect putting that type of display right next to a footswitch.

If taken care of both work fine, and are the cheapest options as far as legitimate Peterson Strobe tuners go. I had a flip for years until, due to my own carelessness, broke during a move.

 

[soldierkahn]

wow, okay. it seems rather spot on to go with a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner or something from Peterson. Is the one below the one you are tlaking about @MaxOfMetal ?

https://www.turbo-tuner.com/

 

[MaxOfMetal]

wow, okay. it seems rather spot on to go with a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner or something from Peterson. Is the one below the one you are tlaking about @MaxOfMetal ?

https://www.turbo-tuner.com/

Yep, that's it.

I have an ST122 which is an older model, and the "regular size" ST300. Both are great.

 

[soldierkahn]

Yep, that's it.

I have an ST122 which is an older model, and the "regular size" ST300. Both are great.

sweet, thanks Max!

 

[MerlinTKD]

Peterson also makes the iStroboSoft app for iOS/Android that is phenomenal! I use it all the time and it's tracking and pitch accuracy are top notch (and I'm old enough to have used old school strobe tuners that you plugged a mic into!). It uses the internal mic by default, but I find i get best results with an adapter cable (headphone or lightning/USB), since I'm not fighting ambient sound.

 

[BearOnGuitar]

Tried the iStroboSoft app once and it didn't perform as well as my stomp classic especially with bass guitar. I didn't like it that much actually. However that was quite a few years ago and it might have improved in the meantime.

 

[ixlramp]

I have a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner ST-122 which is an old discontinued non-stompbox model with a plastic casing, excellent tuner.

"The LED ring on the Turbo Tuner is a true stroboscope. The LEDs are driven directly by the analog input signal and electronically strobed, showing the actual stroboscopic effect between the input signal and internally generated frequency reference. This gives instant response and extreme accuracy."

An analog-driven-LED strobe tuner is by far the best configuration, a traditional mechanical strobe light plus spinning disc thing is expensive, complex and harsh on the eyes.
What concerns me about Peterson's LCD screen displays is that it seems they might not be a direct analog-driven display but some kind of digitally processed and generated display.