Tech: Good tuner

Subject: Tech: Good tuner
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 10:48 AM

I'm looking for your recomandations for a good electronic tuner with inbuilt light, I was thinking around the £40 (50 euro) mark. Can you recomend a european site as well where I can buy it?
Thanks
Allan

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: The Barden of England
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 10:58 AM

I have an Intellitouch tuner - absolutely the best as far as I'm concerned. The best I've found so far on the net is here http://www.cheapstrings.co.uk/showproducts.asp?sectionid=9 and not the PT2 as it doesn't have the backlight. Very simple and it woks in noisy environments, with no need to plug in

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 11:30 AM

Depending on how loud the environment is, ya, the Intellitouch is a damn fine pice of tuner... Some of the venues I play it, it simply was not up to the challenge of sorting out alternate and open tunings though...   Upstairs at -Patrick O'Ryans In Windsor- it didn't have a chance... and when it was faced with DADGAD it just sorta looked at me like I'd just slapped it with a fresh fish.... I had much better luck with the -Sabine Contact Auto-Tuner- ... and well, I think they look cooler than the Intellitouch...

For my money (If yer plugging in) a good peddle turner simply cannot be beat... my -Boss TU-2- is the best money I ever spent outside of my guitars themselves... I think I mighta paid about 80-100 bucks Canadian (which I think might be close to yer price range...

And I don't care what the Elderly Music Catalogue says... the DanElecrto peddle tuner is a waste of money! It looks cool, but it doesn't work worth beans!

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 12:01 PM

Is the SABINE CONTACT AUTO TUNER...
good for tuning ...an autoharp?

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 12:23 PM

I've never tried so I'm afraid I have no opinion on tuning an autoharp....

I suspect that provided you can find surface space to stick the thing on, that it would work as well as any other...

I donno...

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Grab
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 01:08 PM

My little Korg CA-30 is perfect as far as I'm concerned - chromatic, accurate and small. I don't play gigs, so I don't need a pedal tuner like Clinton. Cost about £15-20. The Intellitouch is better if you're tuning a pure-acoustic (ie. no pickup) instrument in a noisy room, but I don't think it's as easy to see when you're getting close to being tuned correctly, and it's *significantly* more expensive! Any online music shop should do them - GAK seem a reasonable place.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 01:56 PM

Thanks everybody. I should have given more details. Yes I play gigs and my guitar does have a pick up. I dont tune between sets so I dont need a pedal. Is the Intellitouch OK in very noisy enviorenments?

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Dave4Guild
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 02:36 PM

The Intellitouch has the facility of being programmable which suggests that you can preset either a different tuning into its memory (eg DADGAD) or a different pitch (for perhaps an old flute which is tuned below modern concert pitch) which it retains in its memory until you alter it.
I've never had any problems with one in a fairly noisy situation but I don't know what it would be like in a concert with a rock-band for example where the whole guitar would be vibrating with the overall noise level!!!
Dave

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Grab
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 07:29 PM

The Intellitouch clips onto the headstock and picks up vibrations. A friend has one, and it's been in some pretty noisy pubs without getting confused.   It's chromatic so it can do any tuning. I can't remember if you can change it out of concert pitch or not (most chromatic ones you can though).

Other tuners use a microphone, which works very badly in a noisy pub. I reckon if you've got a pickup then it's more reliable to use a cable to feed the pickup straight into the tuner. Most tuners (other than clip-on ones) have a jack input.

Graham.

(PS. Just remembered that the Korg doesn't have a light, although maybe there is a backlit version. The Intellitouch definitely does.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 07:49 PM

my old Korg AT-1 has a light,is adjustable +/- A440, plays the selected tone out loud if desired.. and clips onto any metal piece of the instrument so it can use vibrations in a noisy envoronment. I'm sure variations on this setup are available.

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Leo Condie
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 07:52 PM

as far as i'm concerned the intellitouch is a fantastic wee thing, but i have heard that at really loud gigs it falls apart. fine for acoustic, though

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Jul 03 - 07:56 PM

After umpteen years of using a 440=A tuning fork and sorting the rest out by ear, difficulty in tuning in noisy environments led me to pop for an electronic tuner (boy, do I wish I'd had one of these a thousand years ago when I first started!!). I wound up getting two: one Intellitouch (about $45.00 American), and the other a Qwik-Tune for about $20.00 (I got the chromatic, but they do make one for guitar only: E A D G B--a bit cheaper). I got the Intellitouch from Elderly Instruments and the Qwik-Tune from activemusician.com. Elderly had the one for guitar only, but not the chromatic.

Both the Intellitouch and the Qwik-Tune are dead on and easy to use. The Intellitouch clamps onto the headstock and is good for those noisy enviroments I mentioned, but the Qwik-Tune gives you a needle-type gauge complete with red and green LEDs that make it very easy to read, and it has a chomatic "pitch pipe" (electronic tones). Neat and inexpensive, but not as good in a boiler factory as the Intellitouch, so I use it at home.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 07:45 PM

The intellitouch sounds very good but the -Sabine Contact Auto-Tuner- sounds even better. I cant see from the web pages how you attach it and I cant find a web site in Europe that sells em.
Thanks everybody.

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 08:09 PM

Actually, the Sabine Contact Auto-Tuner was the first one I tried, and I didn't find it to be all that accurate. But that might have just been the one I got. Other people seem to like them just fine.

There is a piece of fairly strong adhesive on the back, and you stick it to your guitar where you can see the LEDs (usually on the soundboard on the bass side of the fingerboard). The first time I removed it, I thought it would take a big chunk of the finish, if not a piece of the soundboard itself, off with it, but it didn't. Made me kinda nervous.

But, as I say, lots of people like them and there are a lot of them out there.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 08:21 PM

I dont think that they are well known in Europe, Don. I had another look and I still cant find a European site for them.

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Banjer
Date: 19 Jul 03 - 08:40 PM

This page should show you a Sabine bistributor close to anywhere you are in the world


Sabine Tuners

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Jul 03 - 12:31 PM

It's not really an adhesive... o.k... well, it is, but it's an adhesive like a post-it-note is an adhesive... It goes on and off really easily... eventually the sticky pad will get dirty, then it's a matter if cleaning it off with a damn clean cloth... and once it dries there ya are again... good as new!

Good hunting!

:-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Allan Dennehy
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 12:37 PM

Heres an update of what I did. Bought the Sabine and its not for everybody, in my opinion. Sometimes it picks up the bass notes and sometimes it doesnt. The display is so tiny that it can be difficult to see the different colours. After a month Im starting to get better at using it but I always keep a "real" tuner in the case as well. I bought A Fender AG6 tuner for peanuts at the same time and it is fantastic. Its got the backlight and the needle is incredibly stable. I have never seen a tuner close to this price range that is so good. I dont know if they are going out of stock but they are very hard to find on the net in Europe anyway. Buy one now! Thanks everybody.
Al

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Vixen
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 12:42 PM

Just an added bit of info...

I dropped my intellitouch...the tuner held up fine, still works, but the clamp came apart and I lost the insides.

I sent an email to the folks at Intellitouch, and, Lo and Behold! they sent me, NEXT DAY AND FREE OF CHARGE, a new clamp assembly to attach to my tuner.

I like the tuner--it works great for everything I need it for.
I was utterly amazed at the company's service policy!

FWIW,

V

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 01:13 PM

Allan

If ya don' tlike the sabine, PM me, and let me know what ya want for it! I'll give it a good home!

:-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Mark Clark
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:13 PM

I haven't seen the Fender AG6 but there's a Fender AG6 on eBay for the next 6 days.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: C-flat
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:17 PM

I like the intellitouch tuner for it's ease and convenience but, for some reason, mine doesn't seem to recognise the high E string. I can ping away on it but it just comes up blank everytime.
Maybe I've got a dud?

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: GUEST,Arne Langsetmo
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:34 PM

If you're trying to tune an autoharp, it's always
handy to have a couple of pieces of long thin strips of
felt cloth. You can weave them in the other strings and
damp them as you tune each string. This cuts down on
resonances from them, which can throw a tuner off
(you'll know if the tuner's getting fooled if it tends
to jump back and forth a bit, or shift as the note dies
out).

Cheers,

                           -- Arne Langsetmo

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:38 PM

C-Flat... try putting it somewhere else on the headstock...   All stick-on tuners can be placement particular sometimes...

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: C-flat
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:48 PM

Thanks Clinton, I'll try that!

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: C-flat
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:50 PM

Instant result! Thanks again Clinton!

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 04:55 PM

NP C-flat...

That was why I returned the Intellitouch tuner I was road-testing... The venues I was playing in were so loud that I had to move it so that it was nearly on top of each strings peg head as I wnted to tune 'em...

Easier for me was a Boss TU-2 peddle tuner...

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: C-flat
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 05:19 PM

I use a pedal tuner too but it's part of my stage set-up and I like to tune up before I go on, hence the handy intellitouch.
It's officially back out of retirement!

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 04 Sep 03 - 11:32 PM

I had the same problem with a (borrowed) IntelliTouch on the high E: it would say, "You're sharp...no, you're flat...no, I mean sharp...no, you're really flat". I'll try using a different position on the headstock, Clinton, thanks. My Korg, which was "OK", was stolen along with my guitar. I'm going to try out different tuners before I get a new one. (I broke down and bought a new guitar.)

I'm with Don: in a quiet room I prefer tuning by ear. (John Knowles taught me how to tune each string to the A string, which you first tune with a tuning fork.) And people with REALLY good ears can't stand the sound of a guitar that's been tuned with an electronic tuner. But those people are pretty rare!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: C-flat
Date: 05 Sep 03 - 02:51 AM

"You're sharp...no, you're flat...no, I mean sharp...no, you're really flat".

I have the same problem with my ears!
I get nicely tuned, play a G chord.........sweet, then play an A chord..........the B string sounds flat!

It's the compromise we have to accept with our tuning system unless you have "Fret wave" on your guitar. (It's a way of fixing the anomoly by using "wavy" frets on the 1st and 2nd)

As I'm not the only guitarist in my band it's even more neccessary to use tuners. At least we're both "out" together!

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: mooman
Date: 05 Sep 03 - 06:08 AM

I've used my Intellitouch on my acoustic in the presence of humungously loud bass guitar and other instruments with DADGAD (my "standard" tuning) without problems except on the lowest bass string. Here, if you use the 12th fret harmonic, it works fine also.

I tend to think the pros of the Intellitouch greatly outweigh the cons and it is chromatic and programmable with a backlight.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Tech: Good tuner
From: GUEST,Strollin Johnny
Date: 05 Sep 03 - 09:06 AM

C-Flat, your problem would be solved by using Tempered Tuning. I've rattled on about this before so I'm sorry if I'm a bore, but it's a method of getting the 'best average' tuning so that moving around the fretboard causes the least disturbance to overall tuning (sorry if that sounds Greek, I know what I mean!). It's been on Mudcat before and there was a link to a good site. Needs a good ear though - not easy in a noisy pub or if the disco's blasting out!

I also use an Intellitouch and I have the same problem with the low 'E' as Mark has on the high 'E'. It happens on both my Martin and my Lowden and moving the tuner around doesn't help. But if I get five in tune with the tuner I reckon I can manage one by ear OK!

But I reckon the Intellitouch is a good as they get - it's pretty accurate and, being chromatic and programmable, you can do anything with it. I had a little semi-circular stick-on tuner - pretty accurate but it kept un-sticking and putting dents in me top as it fell. It's in Tuner Heaven now.

Johnny