As a beginner, before learning chords that will get you on your way to actually play, and for players whose been playing for quite some time now. The initial thing they must always do, is to check first their instrument if it is in tune. Developing an ear for music to know subtle changes in pitch is essential, however this also takes practice for the skill to develop in time, just like muscle memory of the fingers towards the fretboard.
So already having that in mind, a guitar/instrument tuner is needed for the task, to use as a tool in keeping the instrument at the right pitch especially if fresh strings has been placed and also in helping out gain the said ear skill.
Clip-on Tuners: This type of tuner is commonly used for acoustic and electric instruments as well, on this case for guitar or bass. It is small, light and handy, easily fits in the gig bag to bring along or use it around the house. They are mostly affordable to buy, and as accurate as the handheld tuner.
Handheld Tuners: If you find a clip-on tuner flimsy or not road worthy to carry along travels, handheld tuners is a great alternative. They are a little bit expensive and heavy than a clip-on, but they are much rugged with a shape to fit easily on a pocket and bag without worrying a clip to break. Another value to get from this type of tuners, is some models has a metronome which is a great tool yet its use is often taken for granted as good rhythm tool in establishing tempo, among the other features included.
Pedal Tuners: Depending on the brand and model, Pedal tuners can be expensive and inexpensive. The standard size is the same with a regular or a small size effects stompbox as well as its weight. The practical use of a stomp tuners is to relay it to a chain or include in a pedalboard along with the effects pedals. Electric guitars/basses are better tuned with pedal tuners, more importantly during on stage, because it mute the out-put signal when engage, so the audience and your band-mates won’t hear you tuning up. This is also comes handy if you need to switch instruments.
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Tascam TC-1S Solar Powered Tuner
- Chromatic tuner to carry anywhere with your instrument and other gears
- Detection displayed is in bar graph and available in different colors
- Built-in microphone, 1/4 in-put jack for bass and electric guitar tuning and nylon strap with clip
- Display modes are available, in fine pitch for 1-cent accuracy and through strobe tuning animation
- The tuner can be calibrated to an external source such as a piano or other hard-to-tune instrument
This tuner is still battery operated using solar cell to charge it up for about 25 minutes or with a USB for fast charging. It is the first of its kind that can be constantly use for six hours and when on standby mode as per the manufacturer can last for seven years.
The Tascam TC-1S tuner is small and handheld with a shock proof silicon cover available in different colors to choose from. It has an LCD display, built-in microphone, 1/4 in-put jack for bass and electric guitar tuning and nylon strap with clip.
Detection displayed is in bar graph. The display modes are available, in fine pitch for 1-cent accuracy and through strobe tuning animation. The tuner can be calibrated to an external source such as a piano or other hard-to-tune instrument.
Snark SN-8 Clip-On Super Tight All Instrument Tuner
- Chromatic clip-on tuner for all instrument
- Provides a solid stay-put clip-on direct connection to your instrument for precise tuning
- Power saving mode that dims after 5 seconds of no sound detection, and when no notes are detected for 2 minutes, the tuner will automatically shut off to conserve battery life
- Other features includes clamp rubber gripping jaws fitting any contours, CR2032 Lithium 3 volt battery, tap tempo metronome, pitch calibration, and a transpose for tuning guitars using capo
The Snark SN-8 Clip-On Tuner is the latest model in the line which can be use for guitars, bass, and violin, ukulele etc. It has vivid color display to the frequency lines and display can be rotated 360 degrees to make it easy to read.
This chromatic tuner provides a solid stay-put clip-on direct connection to your instrument for precise tuning with a power saving mode that dims after 5 seconds of no sound detection, and If totally no notes are detected for 2 minutes, the tuner will automatically shut off to conserve battery life.
Other features includes clamp rubber gripping jaws fitting any contours, CR2032 Lithium 3 volt battery, tap tempo metronome, pitch calibration, and a transpose for tuning guitars using capo.
Korg Sledgehammer Clip-On Tuner
- Chromatic clip-on tuner for guitar and bass
- Clip-on for convenient tuning, easy to use and very light weight
- High-contrast color LCD display ensures clear visibility and precise tuning
- Shuttle switch to go from guitar to swap on bass mode of tuning
- Can easily fit on a gig bag, carry it in your pocket or leave it clip-on to your instrument
The Sledgehammer is a new line of guitar and bass tuners joining KORG’s family of tuners. Now in particular, the Korg SHG1 presented here and the Korg SHPRO Sledgehammer Pro with a different type of display are both clip-on chromatic tuners for convenient tuning, easy to use and very light weight.
For features, new on this series is the shuttle switch to go from guitar to swap on bass mode of tuning. Also the tuner has tubular-shaped body that is easy operated with just using one hand, and shows a high-brightness, high-contrast color LCD display to ensure clear visibility.
The clip-on mechanism is sturdy that grip strongly to the headstock of the instrument to read well every sound and absorb vibration coming from the guitar or bass. Also you can calibrate the tuning hertz starting from the regular 440 which is the standard tuning.
Kliq MetroPitch For All Instrument
- 3-in-1 but small handheld tuner for guitar, bass, violin, ukulele and other instruments
- Combining tuner, metronome and tone generator all together
- Provides fast, accurate and with various tuning modes
- Tap tempo metronome boast a range of 30-250 beats per minute with assortment of rhythm patterns
- The controls and intuitive JOG Dial will let you dial in your desired tempo quickly and easily
- Includes 2 AAA batteries and a carry punch to safely store the unit
The device is 3-in-1 but small. Combining tuner, metronome and tone generator all together. The fast accurate tuner has a wide range of tuning modes, transposition settings, and pitch calibration to cover all instruments.
Its tap tempo metronome boast a range of 30-250 beats per minute with assortment of rhythm patterns to follow helping to improve timing and accuracy in a variety of musical styles. Not to forget, the JOG Dial let’s you dial in your desired tempo quickly and easily, that also allows swift pitch selection in the Tone Generator, among many other functions.
Aside from the features just mention. The KLIQ MetroPitch comes with a carry punch to safely store the unit and another safety net is the 3-Year Warranty, just in case it breaks or stops working. They will replace it or return your money back 100% no questions asked.
TC Electronic PolyTune Pedal And Clip-On Tuners
- TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini
- Mini tuner with polyphonic, chromatic and strobe tuning for
- Fast accurate tuning and ultra-compact to fit on a small pedalboard
- Super bright 109-LED display and an ambient light detector to be clear in any condition
- Polyphonic tuning allows you to tune all your strings at once
- Lightning-fast chromatic tuner offers 0.5 cent accuracy
- TC Electronic PolyTune Clip
- State of the art clip-on tuner for guitar, bass and can support other string instruments
- Super-bright 108-LED matrix provides a high accuracy display in all viewing conditions
- Adaptive screen automatically switches orientation for left and right hand viewing
- Monopoly feature automatically switches between polyphonic and monophonic tuning modes
PolyTune by TC Electronic is considered the iphone of tuners. Their tuning devices has a revolutionary design that are dressed to impress starting from the PolyTune clip-on, PolyTune Plug-in program, and last but not the least models of Pedal tuners.
PolyTune pedals is for pros and amateurs alike. The popular features that made the tuners impressive are the multiple tuning modes that includes a polyphonic, chromatic, ultra-precise strobe mode and alternate tunings pristine to the chain.
The original PolyTune launch back in 2010 is great referring to its performance, but it is big like the other pedals and bulky for a small the pedalboard. Realizing that size does matter, in this case it needs to be small, they introduce the PolyTune 2 Mini that now can fit virtually to any size of pedalboard.
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