whats the best tuner out there?

[Austin73]

Need a new tuner, as I'm fed up using my GT3 and heaven forbid Behringer Bass Vamp Pro to tune my guitar collection, I have variousr tunings dropped d, baritone, 12 string and open to contend with. Anybody got any good ideas?

Cant afford a Peterson Rack by the way

Cheers

Austin

[MartyMart]

Boss TU-15 for studio use and Boss TU-2 "pedal" one for floorboard should do it !

[Andre]

I like my Korg DT-10 a lot.
Solid as a rock, bright display and no tone sucking.

André

[Auke Haarsma]

+1 for the Korg DT-10 as a stompboxtuner. Like it a lot.

[dosmun]

Peterson Stobostomp is pretty sweet.

[remmelt]

I traded my TU-12 for the TU-2. The TU-2 is great for live and casual use, if you need more accuracy for studio or luthier use, the TU-12 or 15 will be fine.

[petemoore]

  Your ears hearing both strings [the 'comparator' string and the string to be tuned] equally and with sufficient response that the 'passing' of the wave peaks can easily be heard.
  I always say 'give me a strong open A played and allowed to sustain so I can get a good pitch comparator thing happening by ear, very often this will 'shore up' tuning after tuner tuning.
  I like the strobo-pick technology, strobe type tuning using the guitar string's light blocking feature and it's output to show +/- and zero pitch differences...haven't tried it, sure is a great idea.
  I have issues with the way tuners are used, most of the tuners [modern ones, even inexpensive ones] seem to indicate notes well enough, I have trouble with the applications.
  For instance, 'dummy' likes to rest the head of the guitar on the guitar case while using the tuner, of course the neck is stressed differently when he straps the guitar on...and the tuning of course is always off too...he won't admit much anyway, so proving the tuning is off, repeatedly isn't an effective way to introduce 'better' tuning techniques, I think smashing the tuner would improve the guitar/guitar/bass guitar tuning in our band. "I've always done it this way, and it works fine' is the innaccurate statement used to defend using only a tuner to likely inaccurately tune a band...how will you know unless you check it?...take my word for it I find strings out of tune more often than not after tuner tuning, then check it anyway.
  Most of the time tuners are misused in one way or another, and because those who use tuners swear by 'em, they often never verify the 'swear by' as a good idea.
  To verify if tuning techniques *actually work, cross tuning references should be undertaken more than once, it is critical that BOTH instruments be at a level which can be heard when one string from each is to be compared...playing one guitar louder...or having your ear 4' away and directly in front of one guitars output speaker and 15' away from the other [at an angle with obstructions], chances are that the 'crossovers' of the waves [as one strings wave 'passes' the other] can't be heard.
  Some people bang bang bang on the string to tune it, this will cause a sharp reading, so this guitar will end up tuned to a lower pitch than one where the striking of the string is allowed to settle into a steadier pitch for being tuned.
  Here's some scenarios...
  Use a tuner.
  Use a tuner and never check to see how well it actually tunes the strings in a band.
  So I just INSIST that after a tuner is used, tuning must be re-checked.
  And as it turns out...most of the time there's a string or three or at least chords that don't realy work right on a guitar or guitars...or...
  tuning is never ever re-checked after using a tuner and the band sounds about 1/2 outta tune.
  So use a heavy chorus effect on the guitar that doesn't get tuned right.
 

[Bart_PL]

+1 for Korg DT-10 I working as a guitar tech for five years and dt-10 and gaffa tape is my main tool.

[blanik]

i also use the DT-10 (80$ new, best value for the money IMHO), the strobostom look very interesting but it's somewhat expensive (>200$), my problem with the DT-10 (and strobo) it their size, they're just a tad too large for someone obsessed with small and light pedalboards like me... 

[hairyandy]

The newish Peterson Strobo-Flip is awesome.  It's all I've been using lately in my guitar tech gig and they're around $200.  The cool thing about it is that you can program in your own different tunings which sounds like it might be good for what you need Austin.  It's not very pedal board friendly however, if you want something on the floor I'd get a Strobo-Stomp or a TU2.

Andy

[m-theory]

In terms of accuracy, the Peterson VS tuners are exponentially "better" than nearly everything else on the market.  Any tuner will get you close enough for rock and roll, but you will absolutely hear the difference after tuning with the Peterson.  Chords will sound "sweeter."  Another benefit a strobe is that you can accurately set intonation.  That's not possible with anything but a strobe.  You can get "close," but not dead on. 

The Peterson is accurate to +/- 1/10th cent.  Most tuners are accurate to +/- 2-5 cents.  That may seem like picking nits, but if you consider that the +/- 5 cents could mean that one string is 10 cents off from another, it can absolutely make an audible difference, and will cause you to have to re-tune and adjust different chords. 

If your guitar is set up and intonated properly, the Peterson will end your need to tune and re-tune.  It's as close to perfection as is needed for guitar, and worth every penny.  It's one of my favorite guitar-related purchases of all time, and one that I've never regretted for a moment.

In the end, it really comes down to your own personal taste and threshold of budget for the tool.  If you've got the $200, you won't find a better tuner than the VS.  If you're not that concerned about "best," and just want a decent tuner, there are numerous choices, any one of which are pretty much as accurate as the next.  At that point, it becomes a matter of features...do you want an analog needle, LEDs, a combination, fully chromatic, etc.?

[MarcoMike]

This starts to sound good for the mojo page...
I mean, do we really need 1/1000 precision on the frequency of a string?
so what about bending a bit a string while playng a chord? or for instance when you play an F, some strings are "double pushed" by your first finger and say the middle one... isn't it more strained then it is supposed to be? -> higher note?
I usually tune my instruments just before playing (with the cheapest tuner I found at the shop) and never re-check it (ok, sometimes that G string...   ) I just don't feel the need for more precision.

[MicFarlow77]

I alway's thought one's ears were the best tuners...... 

[Austin73]

crikey bit of a hornets nest here now lol, do like the look of the flip tuner maybe i should save up, I don't gig just bedroom now but I still need something good. I nearly boughyt a behringer rack but the reviews were awful, thanks for all your input so far. My main problem is my baritone yamaha which I'm trying to get to grips with. Its just a real pain to tune as it should be down to A!

But please keep the inputs coming

Aus

[slacker]

Boss TU2, it's chromatic so it will handle whatever tunings you want and if you do ever start gigging it makes a nice buffer/mute box for the end of your pedal chain and being Boss it's practically bomb proof.

[Andre]

What about this one :



André

[newbie builder]

Love my Dt-10

[m-theory]

I mean, do we really need 1/1000 precision on the frequency of a string?

Only for setting intonation.  Otherwise, any of the current crop of tuners will suffice, as long as you're ok with re-tuning and fudging between chords.  The real significance of using such an accurate tuner is in the fact that, despite what one who's never used one might believe, it truly does make a difference.  I used to be a non-believer myself, but have changed my opinion 180 degrees by hearing the difference firsthand. 

so what about bending a bit a string while playng a chord? or for instance when you play an F, some strings are "double pushed" by your first finger and say the middle one... isn't it more strained then it is supposed to be? -> higher note?

So, you're suggesting that a tuner that's 50 times more accurate than another would not be capable of making those chords ring truer?  Isn't your example just another argument FOR accuracy, rather than against it? 

It's a fact that the guitar is an imperfect instrument, in terms of being able to play in perfect tune all across the fretboard, but I argue that this further stresses the importance of initial tuning accuracy.  If the instrument is bound by physics to be inherently difficult to tune, it only stands to reason that the closer you can bring open strings truly in tune, the more in tune the entire fretboard will be.  Certainly, using a tuner that is only 1/50th as accurate as a strobe isn't going to get you closer to "perfect" tuning, any more than playing with improper nut, saddle, and intonation adjustments will.  Those are all things that affect tuning in subtle ways, and you can definitely get by with those things a bit out of whack, but I guarantee that the guitar will tune easier and stay in tune across the fretboard better with all of those things in line than out. 

Like I said, pretty much anything on the market these days will get you close.  Hell, I can get frighteningly close just by my ear and string tension feel alone, but that doesn't mean that option is necessarily the "best," or the one that I'd wish to go with.  You get what you can afford and can justify within your own mindset.  If you can't find a way to justify a $200 tuner, don't.  Whatever you buy will work, but not quite as well.  To some, that matters, to others, not.  It's a personal preference thing, because, like I said, any of the current crop of available tuners will tune a guitar reasonably well. 

I will say this, though, based upon my own experience.  If you ever have a chance to spend a couple of weeks with a strobe, you'll never want to go back to anything else again.  It's fairly dramatic, especially when you begin to realize that you no longer have to tune, re-tune, re-tune again, and then find compromises between chords anyway.  You tune it once, and it's good to go.  That's a pretty nice luxury.  Subtle, but nice. 

[RaceDriver205]

Ive got one of these:

Its the best and cheapest electronic tuner Ive ever bought. Its a strobe tuner, it seems very accurate, and its the fastest method of tuning ive ever used. Buy one! Its awesome!

[The Tone God]

My tuner of choice because I'm DIY.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=52811.msg409638#msg409638

Andrew