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what's a good tuner for setting intonation?


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Posted

?

 

 

I need a good tuner for doing gtr setups...until now I have been using my ear but I must have drunk too much beer last night or something

 

 

-->are those peterson strobostomps as good as the old peterson strobe tuners?

 

thx!

Posted

I use Peterson's. The ones from the last 5 years or so come with a guitar temperament preprogrammed. None are more accurate.

Posted

I use a Peterson Strobo Flip and I find it to very accurate and easy to use if a little pricey. It came with some good tips for setting intonation that I've found very useful. I don't if this is what Marshall was refering to but you can also buy Peterson software for your computer.

Posted

I've had the Boss, Korg, Peterson and several others over the years and none compare with the accuracy and/or durability of the Turbo-Tuner ST-300 by Sonic Research. A bit more expensive then most, but well worth the money.

Posted

I use a TC Electronics Polytune. It has a real nice strobe mode that is very accurate.

 

Good demo of the strobe mode here:

Posted

I long for the good ol' days of the Conn Strobotuner. We have one at the shop, but it's on its last legs and is difficult to read. Want one for my home shop. I know there's new stuff, smaller, as good, but this was the jazz, back in the day.

Posted
I use Peterson's. The ones from the last 5 years or so come with a guitar temperament preprogrammed. None are more accurate.
I use a Peterson Strobo Flip and I find it to very accurate and easy to use if a little pricey. It came with some good tips for setting intonation that I've found very useful. I don't if this is what Marshall was refering to but you can also buy Peterson software for your computer.

 

Peterson, see above.

Posted

I've had the Boss, Korg, Peterson and several others over the years and none compare with the accuracy and/or durability of the Turbo-Tuner ST-300 by Sonic Research. A bit more expensive then most, but well worth the money.

Another vote for the Turbo-Tuner. I was pleasently suprised to see not one, not two, but three Turbo-Tuners at Tom Anderson Guitarworks. Good enough for Tom, more than good enough for me.

Guest HRB853370
Posted

What about this? Real old school man, but they work.

post-2130-0-28509700-1341319826_thumb.jpg

Posted

I just use a Snark, got 3 of them on amazon for like 24$..I'm sure it is considered a cheapey though

Guest HRB853370
Posted

I just use a Snark, got 3 of them on amazon for like 24$..I'm sure it is considered a cheapey though

 

Thats a snarky comment there H fan!!

Posted

Ha

 

Thx for the feedback guys....already have a headstock tuner ( PT10 which is fantastic ) before that I just used a 440 tuning fork

 

But I need something more accurate/with an easier readout to do intonation setup which is a bit more involved than just tuning your gtr. The Turbo looks good ESP for the price but will look into the Peterson as well

Posted

Tom Anderson was one of the first builders to adopt the Buzz Feiten tuning system. He is incredibly anal about intonation and tuning in general as well as being one of the Finest builders on the planet. He could afford to use any tuner he wanted to intonate and tune his guitars - he uses the Turbo-Tuner.

Posted

According to their respective web sites:

 

Peterson flip tuner is 0.1 Cent Accuracy

Sonic Turbo tuner is ±.02 cent Accuracy

 

Setting intonation is critical to the guitars being in tune up the fingerboard. Using the Peterson tuner and TonePro locking bridge, I'm able to intonate my guitar to the 17th fret. It appears that either tuner would suffice but anything less would not yield a well intonated guitar consistently.

Posted

According to their respective web sites:

 

Peterson flip tuner is 0.1 Cent Accuracy

Sonic Turbo tuner is ±.02 cent Accuracy

 

Setting intonation is critical to the guitars being in tune up the fingerboard. Using the Peterson tuner and TonePro locking bridge, I'm able to intonate my guitar to the 17th fret. It appears that either tuner would suffice but anything less would not yield a well intonated guitar consistently.

The challenge I had with the Peterson was the latency (delay) in tracking. The tuner didn't follow my changes in tuning fast enough and I'd end up over compensating. The Turbo-Tuner is lightning fast in tracking. There used to be a video of at TGP displaying this. A guy had his guitar plugged into both the Turbo-Tuner and the Peterson and would just start playing notes. The TT would track immediately, the Peterson had a noticeable delay.

Posted

Peterson, see above.

 

X3 I use the "stomp box" version. It is on my pedal board, has true-bypass, and is the best pedal board tuner out there in my opinion. A true strobe tuner on your pedal board.

Posted

I have a Korg on my board but for setups I use the Peterson app in my I-pod Touch.

Very accurate. I have a Snark which is very cool but not accurate or fast enough for setting intonation. They sure are nice

for little jazz gigs and such when I don't have my board.

Posted
According to their respective web sites: Peterson flip tuner is 0.1 Cent Accuracy Sonic Turbo tuner is ±.02 cent Accuracy Setting intonation is critical to the guitars being in tune up the fingerboard. Using the Peterson tuner and TonePro locking bridge, I'm able to intonate my guitar to the 17th fret. It appears that either tuner would suffice but anything less would not yield a well intonated guitar consistently.

 

Apples and oranges accuracy vs calibration. You got to love marketing...

 

Peterson is accurate (reads) within +- 0.1 cent.

The turbo is calibrated within +- 0.02cent

Those are two different numbers with the same unit. The turbo doesn't give anywhere on their site, or in the manual, how accurate the instrument reads...

 

Peterson has preprogrammed different sweetened tunings for acoustic and electric that make them sing. I hear a difference between the Peterson tuning and my Korg (TU-12) tuning. A pleasurable difference.

 

Granted, the Peterson is slower than the turbo to lock in a frequency. Once you pass that hurdle and double the turbo's price, you'll see why it's worth it

Posted

 

Apples and oranges accuracy vs calibration. You got to love marketing...

 

Peterson is accurate (reads) within +- 0.1 cent.

The turbo is calibrated within +- 0.02cent

Those are two different numbers with the same unit. The turbo doesn't give anywhere on their site, or in the manual, how accurate the instrument reads...

 

Peterson has preprogrammed different sweetened tunings for acoustic and electric that make them sing. I hear a difference between the Peterson tuning and my Korg (TU-12) tuning. A pleasurable difference.

 

Granted, the Peterson is slower than the turbo to lock in a frequency. Once you pass that hurdle and double the turbo's price, you'll see why it's worth it

 

From the Turbo-Tuner website:

"The internal time base of each ST-122 Turbo Tuner is calibrated at the factory to +/- 1ppm (that's .0017 cents) and is guaranteed to maintain an accuracy of +/- .02 cents for the life of the product."

 

"Extreme accuracy: ±.02 cents guaranteed"

 

"Each Turbo Tuner model ST-122 is individually calibrated at the factory and is guaranteed to maintain an accuracy of ±.02 Cents at 25°C for the life of the product."

 

Granted, at that level of accuracy you're splitting hairs as I can pass gas and make my guitar so sharp/flat by a couple of cents. I've owned both the Peterson and the TT - still own the TT, fact I own two.

Posted

.

 

Sorry - I tried to edit the above post.

Allow me to clean it up.

 

I read the Turbo Tuner's site very carefully. The +-0.02 cents refers only to the calibration of the internal clock. Nowhere on their site do they reference in/out of tune indicator accuracy.

 

From the Peterson's website:

As the manufacturers of such tuners widen the band of "out of tuneness" around that ideal frequency to allow for an indicator of an "in tune" state to be triggered, the deviation from perfect tuning that they decide is "in tune" is what you are left with. This "dead band" typically gives up at about +/- 1 cent deviation and may allow several times this degree of inaccuracy before the "in tune" signal reverts to an "out-of-tune" indication.

 

The +/- 1 cent tuning deviation provided by the more reputable tuning brands may not seem like much on paper but it is a really a 2 cent window of inaccuracy you have to deal with. Multiply this margin of error across all your band mates and you will truly hear the difference but not in a good way! Less prominent tuning brands provide a standard +/- 3 to 5 cent deviation allowing for up to a 10 cent swing in accuracy!

 

All Peterson tuning products, hardware and software, offer a 1/10th of a cent tuning resolution. The highest standard that provides a visible and reproducible indication of being "in tune".

 

 

 

 

 

I very nearly went out to get a Turbo tuner 'till I realized an LED read has to have a range of frequencies to call acceptable. That's why TT doesn't reference a read accuracy in cents; it's a variable.

 

With the sweetened 6/12 string and acoustic/electric plus the Buzz Feiten tunings, I'll keep the Petersons.

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