Acoustic Guitar Electronic Tuner ~ Which One??

[b_rad]

My electronic Seiko tuner was dropped last night and went into the trash. It sucked and I never liked it anyway. Need to get another one and do not want to pay a lot. It will only used for tuning acoustic guitars. I would like to find something where the needle on the dial is smooth and does not jerk around when your getting close to pitch.

 

What

[MaxVolume]

I have a Korg one and it's been really good. I tune my guitars and my violin with it.

[Freeman Keller]

I am very happy with my Korg CA-30. I had something else (Sabine) that had a hard time locking onto the bass strings, especially when they were tuned down. Get a chromatic tuner (one that will tune any note rather than just guitar specific notes) so you can do alternate tunings or other instruments.

 

By far the best tuner I've ever seen is my Peterson StroboFlip, but it was 200 bucks. I use it for all the funky tunings on my 12 strings and resonators, and on my last build, I did some tap tuning on the top plates with it. But the little Korg works just fine for day to day tuning.

[bsman]

 

I am very happy with my Korg CA-30.

 

 

+1

 

The CA-30 is light, handy, and I've had mine for about four years and am still on the original battery.

[JerseyGuy]

I am a big fan of the ones that clip on the peghead and rely on vibrations and not ambient noise. I keep three around (in all the rooms where I might play) and you can simply fold it and leave it on the peghead when you put the git back in the case, which is what I do with my Taylor 12. Here's the brand I have (altho I didn't buy them on ebay):

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/IMT-500-INTELLI-TUNER-GUITAR-MANDOLIN-VIOLIN-IMT500_W0QQitemZ280162222213QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64388QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Another popular brand is IntelliTouch, but it's a little bigger. A clip-on tuner is hugely helpful keeping my Taylor and Seagull 12s in tune.

[jd-drafter]

this one has worked well-smooth action - i really like the metal flake translucent blue housing. it's so rockstar... 8^)

 

http://store.musicbasics.com/t-ag6.html

 

actually i should/would like to get one of the clip on units- tuning a 12 can be awkward- especially the f# of open d- that is a real bugger-

[Queequeg]

I have the Intellitouch PT-1 which I like pretty well. Then about a year ago I ordered a

10-pack of D'addarios which they shipped with a free Planet Waves tuner. I hate to say it but I like the free PW better, although I use both and both are better than these 54 year old ears of mine.

[rjoxyz]

 

I am a big fan of the ones that clip on the peghead and rely on vibrations and not ambient noise. I keep three around (in all the rooms where I might play) and you can simply fold it and leave it on the peghead when you put the git back in the case, which is what I do with my Taylor 12. Here's the brand I have (altho I didn't buy them on ebay): http://cgi.ebay.com/IMT-500-INTELLI-TUNER-GUITAR-MANDOLIN-VIOLIN-IMT500_W0QQitemZ280162222213QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64388QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Another popular brand is IntelliTouch, but it's a little bigger. A clip-on tuner is hugely helpful keeping my Taylor and Seagull 12s in tune.

 

 

 

I have a couple of those IMT-500's and they are great. Also have a Korg and it is excellent, but ambient noise can be an issue. The clip on style sometimes has trouble getting a read on the low E, but you can play a 12th fret harmonic to get it going.

[guitarist21]

I am very happy with my Korg CA-30

 

Me too. Trusty little guy. No frills. And best of all- inexpensive.

 

 

Ellen

[melandy]

 

...Then about a year ago I ordered a 10-pack of D'addarios which they shipped with a free Planet Waves tuner. I hate to say it but I like the free PW better, although I use both and both are better than these 54 year old ears of mine.

 

 

I got one of those too. Left it in my pocket and it went through the wash and came out in pieces. Found the pieces clanking around in the dryer. Put it back together and it still worked... the trip through the wash didn't even kill the battery.

 

That said, I still use a Korg CA-30 most of the time. A friend has the black intellitouch headstock clamp-on kind (the black one is chromatic, the white one EADGBe), and swears by it.

 

-m

[happy-man]

 

I am a big fan of the ones that clip on the peghead and rely on vibrations and not ambient noise. I keep three around (in all the rooms where I might play) and you can simply fold it and leave it on the peghead when you put the git back in the case, which is what I do with my Taylor 12. Here's the brand I have (altho I didn't buy them on ebay): http://cgi.ebay.com/IMT-500-INTELLI-TUNER-GUITAR-MANDOLIN-VIOLIN-IMT500_W0QQitemZ280162222213QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64388QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Another popular brand is IntelliTouch, but it's a little bigger. A clip-on tuner is hugely helpful keeping my Taylor and Seagull 12s in tune.

 

 

Amen on the IMT-500. I've had an IntelliTouch P2. I'm too cheap to spend another $20 to get the backlit P1. That's what I used to recommend, and I still like it, but I like the IMT-500 better. It's cheaper, has a backlight, and for me has worked better (not getting lost on low notes). Now I keep my P2 on my 12 string and use the IMT for everything else. Works great for my ukulele too.

 

One caveat. I bought a second one for my daughter. On hers the buttons rattle a little with the guitar vibrations. Took me a while to figure out what the noise was. It's very subtil.

 

I bought both of mine here:

 

http://www.music44.com/X/product/IMT-500-SH

 

at the time it was the cheapest I found on the internet. shipping was low.

 

Scott O

[daklander]

I also use the IntelliTouch P1. The deal with it maybe having problems with picking up vibrations is to move the unit around on the headstock and you'll find a spot where all the strings work well. A bit of a hassle I suppose but the tuner is pretty quick and is accurate. The P1 allows you to set up custom tunings as well.

One thing to realize about the "vibration" tuners, they will not work in LOUD environments very well at all. The guitar will pick up vibrations from the loud music and cause problems with tuning just like a mic type except the background sound can be quite a bit louder than with a mic type tuner.

[happy-man]

 

I also use the IntelliTouch P1. The deal with it maybe having problems with picking up vibrations is to move the unit around on the headstock and you'll find a spot where all the strings work well. A bit of a hassle I suppose but the tuner is pretty quick and is accurate. The P1 allows you to set up custom tunings as well. One thing to realize about the "vibration" tuners, they will not work in LOUD environments very well at all. The guitar will pick up vibrations from the loud music and cause problems with tuning just like a mic type except the background sound can be quite a bit louder than with a mic type tuner.

 

 

I find that my P2 and IMT-500 work fastest with the 12th fret harmonic, especially when it's noisy, like when I'm up next at an open mic. Works better in the presence of noise with 12th fret harmonic versus open string.

 

Scott O

[DeepEnd]

I use a Wittner GT-2 that I bought on eBay for less than $5. Works great and has a real meter instead of a LCD. Has a built-in mike and an input for a cable. The only disadvantage is that it doesn't do drop-D or other alternate tunings. There's a used one on eBay right now with a "Buy It Now" of $5.99: http://cgi.ebay.com/WITTNER-GT-2-GT2-QUARTZ-GUITAR-TUNER_W0QQitemZ270177025861QQihZ017QQcategoryZ22672QQcmdZViewItem.