For those of you who...

[guitlouie]

do your own set-ups, I pose this question....What kind/type tuner do you use?  I have a good ear, and can tune to pitch fairly accurately, but I own a Boss TU-2 pedal type tuner for gigs (just in case the beer is flowing too freely).  What I'm thinking though as I get into setting up my own guitars, is that I need something to keep at home that is extremely accurate.  My buddy swears by the Boss TU 12 he has had for years, but I've been looking at all these new "strobe" type tuners that Peterson is putting out, neat little gizmos, those, but I wonder at their claims of accuracy???  Anyone have any experience with these, and are they worth their rather lofty price tags??? As always thank you in advance...

 

[CD]

How "in tune" can you be. I've never really got how one tuner is better than another. If you're out of tune you can tell (hopefully). If the tuner you have is working for you I'd stick with it. For a couple years I've just tuned to a note from my shitty keyboard.

 

[Alfang]

as long as you have a tuner that accurate to 1 cent you should be ok, I think where the better tuners are better is in there ability to determine the average spot at which your string is vibrating, as a string vibrates, there is usually another overlying frequency running up and down the string, this is why you see your readout changing as you try to tune.

I have never used a strobe tuner, but I have always heard they are the best because the characteristics of the display, shows you best where your tuned.  ie you dont have a chip doing math calculations with other frequencies screwing up the math

 

[guitlouie]

Yeah, between my ear and my stompbox tuner, I can tune to pitch and to the various open tunings I use, but what I am looking at the petersons for is setting up my guitars, ie setting the intonation, and getting the thing in tune to my playing style.  I'm sure you guys understand the idea of tuning to either the attack, or the decay of a note.  Well I tend to have a heavy pick attack, and so have my guitars setup accordingly.  I just think that getting the intonation as close to perfect during setup leads to better tuning stability and these Peterson tuners claim to be accurate to within 1/10 of a cent???!!!  Sounds like the perfect setup tuner to me.  And Alfang, I have heard that the nature of the display makes it easier to tune to the attack, or decay as you see fit.  I just don't know anyone who has one.  The guy that was doing my setups has an ancient strobe tuner that looks like it came from a museum, and he swears by it.  Oh, well, maybe I'll be the guinea pig and let you guys know what I think....

 

[ibob74]

Food for thought; http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=74

 

[Alfang]

I would trust the ancient strobe tuner big time, was built by engineers who actually had to think, rather than all the new computer related idiots.

 

[guitlouie]

Wow, ibob, 80$, compared to the 200$ for the pedal model...Eureka....I think you have found it.  Thanks, bud.

 

[-CB-]

Got a cheapie Korg tuner.  Works great with LEDS only.

Thing to remember is ... notes sound true on first pluck, and always decay flat.  Its the nature of the physics of it.  So it you pluck pluck pluck and watch the tuner, you're good to go.  If you let the note ring out... you're gonna be flat.

 

[willyk]

Boss TU 80 works for me. It has guitar/bass/chromatic selections, led's for sharp and flat and a LCD "needle" readout. Cheap as shit and a snack for setups

 

[Alfang]

Got a cheapie Korg tuner.  Works great with LEDS only.

Thing to remember is ... notes sound true on first pluck, and always decay flat.  Its the nature of the physics of it.   So it you pluck pluck pluck and watch the tuner, you're good to go.  If you let the note ring out... you're gonna be flat.

CB  I got a cheap seiko tuner , it works well. 

I dont agree with the Decay of the note however, I am thinking that is a result of the electronics in the tuner taking a second to measure and reach and average of the frequency.  I always wait till the indicator becomes steady to determine where I am actually tuned.

The frequency of the string is determined by 3 things, the tension of the string, the stings weight, and the length. And those things dont change when you pluck the string. 

But as usual, I have an open mind, and only you could provide a good argument to change my mind, But I doubt it

And secondly, it the note takes, how long to decay?  If your playing slow long held notes, wouldn't you tune so that the notes will decay into tune?  I know the Amplitude decays, But I don't think the frequency does.

 

[bpmorton777]

from what i remember about string synthesis is that the attack of the note is slightly sharp and then settles into its true pitch.

whenever i tune up, i let the note settle in for a sec then tune to that.

Brian

 

[WarmothRules]

yeah they recommend using the neck pickup then turn your volume knob up just to the point where it registers then pluck light and wait till it goes "flat" or rings out even.

 

[-CB-]

Got a cheapie Korg tuner.  Works great with LEDS only.

Thing to remember is ... notes sound true on first pluck, and always decay flat.  Its the nature of the physics of it.  So it you pluck pluck pluck and watch the tuner, you're good to go.  If you let the note ring out... you're gonna be flat.

CB  I got a cheap seiko tuner , it works well. 

I dont agree with the Decay of the note however, I am thinking that is a result of the electronics

Alfie, get a good tuner, and you'll see!~

Seriously, its the way a plucked string behaves.  They always decay flat.  Its the laws of physics.  What you stated about the length, tension, mass... etc is true for a "ringing out" note.  When the string is first plucked... it is always sharper than the decayed note.  A strobe tuner will show this.  Tuner instruction manuals describe this.  Its not a new thing under the sun.

 

[Sinner]

That a note is sharp on the the pluck, then flat on the decay is true but the real tone you should tune with is the decay not the initial sharp pluck. If you want to take it a step further, try hitting your low E really hard, what happens? It goes very sharp. Then settles to the true pitch. Then again if all you play are quick, staccato riffs and notes and never, ever let anything sustain then your method might be a good idea.

Why don't you explain the law of physics behind your method you keep mentioning so us novices can understand what you are talking about?

The guy who mentioned using the neck pickup is correct, you will get a better read from it. The other thing I do is not use a pick to sound the string, I'll get the string to sound very lightly, just enough to get a read, with my finger so as to prevent it from going sharp.

Speaking of set-ups though, I bought a Peterson VS-1 for doing that. It's so much more accurate, you don't know until you have used one.

 

[-CB-]

I dunno, must tuner instructions tell you to repeatedly pluck the string when determining correct tuning... and not to let it ring out.  I suppose if you played lots of long long sustaining stuff..... On my tuner you can see it go flat over the course of ... well its not instantly, but maybe a second or a second and a half

 

[jackthehack]

I use an old Korg with meter + flat - OK - sharp LEDs that has a bass setting as well; can't remember how long ago I bought it, more than 10 years I think, still running off the batteries that came with it, amazingly....

 

[-CB-]

my old korg does about a battery per six months

 

[guitlouie]

Thanks Sinner for the thumbs on the Peterson VS, I'm thinking it is going to be in my future.  I think the whole tune to the attack, tune to the decay argument may be something of a personal preference, based on playing style.  Oh yeah,  I love that I can plug my Boss pedal tuner into the wall, I haven't bought a battery for it since I've owned it!!!!