A guide to guitar tuners
(This is the beginning of a series of posts about effects. I’m going to take you through the entire chain, post by post, and give you a breakdown of each effect, how it works, and some different options out there. Because I am “just one man”, this won’t be a comprehensive buyers’ guide. Consider it more my general impressions / recommendations based on my experience using each type of effect.)
All that to say, I’m going to start with one of the most important yet least talked about tools in a guitarists’ arsenal: the humble guitar tuner. There are, believe it or not, a broad range of guitar tuning products out there. I’m going to try to touch a little bit on most all of them. So here goes nothing.
THE OPTIONS
In a pinch? This $4 pitch pipe might bail you out...
Analog tuning devices: these are very inexpensive devices like pitch pipes and tuning forks which provide you with either a starting note from which to tune your guitar one tone for each string. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend solely relying on a pitch pipe, it wouldn’t hurt to have one laying around if you don’t have a piano or other reliable source for a pitch. If the batteries die on your guitar tuner, you’ll need something, right?
This Korg tuner will set you back about $20
“Budget” guitar tuners: ranging in price from about $10 to about $35, these are probably the starting point for most people. They provide most of the functionality of a professional tuner, but are made with inexpensive parts. While you can definitely get a workable tuner in this category, it’s definitely a case of “you get what you pay for”. If you can spring for a “professional” tuner, by all means do so!
Some tuners will be “chromatic” tuners which will recognize any note you play and help you tune to the nearest pitch. Other tuners are “guitar” tuners only, which will only allow you to tune to the 6 notes corresponding to the strings of a guitar. Try to get the chromatic option if you can help it. They are much more versatile. Another handy option to look for would be a built in microphone AND a 1/4″ input jack. You can record acoustic if needed OR plug into the line input. Again, more versatile.
Boss tuners are built like tanks
“Professional” guitar tuners: these tuners run between $50 and $200. Most all tuners in this range can switch between “guitar” and “chromatic” modes, and many give you options to tune to “open” tunings or tune your guitar down one or more half steps. Tuners in this price range will be more ruggedly built, so this is the option I would recommend.
Petersen strobe tuner
“High end” strobe tuners. These range from $75 on up to thousands of dollars. Guitar makers and technicians swear by strobe tuners. They recognize all of the subtle frequencies in each note you play. While they provide exceptional accuracy, there is a learning curve at play, and can tend to be a bit confusing to many. For this reason, I wouldn’t recommend them for new guitarists. That said, they are an invaluable tool for recording situations where you want to get your guitar IN TUNE.
THE VERDICT
OK, now that I’ve given you a breakdown, what would I recommend? For live situations involving electric guitar, you can’t go wrong with the Boss TU-2. This is pretty much industry standard for guitarists using a pedal board. For studio applications, I’m a big fan of the Seiko ST-1100. It does a great job of locking on the note, making it easier to tune. The Boss TU-15 is also great, but I’ve had some issues in the past with the jack shorting out. Still a solid option…
Boss TU 12
If you enjoyed this post you might like these:
- Acquiring a guitar: your questions answered
- Stomp this! A guide to guitar effects
- Guitar for the absolute beginner: jerks in music stores and why I suck at golf
- The Mark Lee Special Edition PRS Guitar
- Guitar for the Absolute Beginner: How to play guitar in 30 days
