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Guitar Tuner

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jamesholl
Posted 2019-04-11 10:01 AM (#547622)
Subject: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 112

Location: Bristol England
I have a neighbour who wants to learn how to play guitar.
Unfortunately I have no knowledge of the new breed of stand alone tuners i.e. the ones that can clip on the end of the headstock or wherever.
Any suggestions for the best to go for and ease of use would be much appreciated.
I would imagine most popular models would be available in England.

Cheers James.
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DanSavage
Posted 2019-04-11 10:10 AM (#547623 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
The 'best' clip-on tuner is the Peterson Strobo tuner. They cost $60 to $90 depending on where you buy them.

It's the only tuner I've got, so I have no knowledge of how the other work.
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d'ovation
Posted 2019-04-11 10:53 AM (#547624 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 846

Location: Canada
I have been using a Snark "super tight" tuner for the last five years or so that also works well for my 12 strings and ukuleles with various different tunings. They can be found on sale for around $10 and are easy to use with a display that can also be read outside in bright daylight and a clip that even works on an Adamas rosette.
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-04-11 11:01 AM (#547625 - in reply to #547623)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
In the long run the best tuner is to learn how to tune a guitar and to use a tuning fork, cheap, works always, no batteries. This will exercise your sense of hearing and the feeling for your guitar. Besides that nearly all modern chromatic clip-on tuners work well, even the cheaper ones.
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FlySig
Posted 2019-04-11 12:17 PM (#547627 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4025

Location: Utah
The one I use is no longer made. Intellitouch PT40. Big bold screen, accurate, easy to use, rechargeable battery.

There are a lot of good ones out there these days. I like the clip-on style. They need to make good contact, so I think the smaller ones might be better than the ones with longer arms. Read the reviews and pick one which gets consistently good comments.

Tuners which don't clip on are not easy to use in a noisy environment. I would avoid those even though you can get lots of extra functions on some of them such as metronome and tone generator. These style tuners have good uses but probably not for the beginner because they are not as easy to use when tuning the guitar.
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Mike S.
Posted 2019-04-11 3:15 PM (#547628 - in reply to #547627)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 563

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
Hello, Everyone,
A concert pitch A440 tuning fork will always work. No batteries required. However, you must needs to learn to listen for harmonics from your acoustic/electric (Ovation) guitar. Electric guitars and basses have all kinds of tuners available, and some models work better than others. In the past, I have also tuned to a keyboard, if one is available. I am a big fan of of the tried and true tuning fork.
Mike S.,
Ottawa, ON.,
CANADA
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Mike S.
Posted 2019-04-11 3:15 PM (#547629 - in reply to #547627)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 563

Location: Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
Hello, Everyone,
A concert pitch A440 tuning fork will always work. No batteries required. However, you must needs to learn to listen for harmonics from your acoustic/electric (Ovation) guitar. Electric guitars and basses have all kinds of tuners available, and some models work better than others. In the past, I have also tuned to a keyboard, if one is available. I am a big fan of of the tried and true tuning fork.
Mike S.,
Ottawa, ON.,
CANADA
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2019-04-12 9:43 AM (#547641 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho
I've got a bunch and the one I like best is the Snark. Nothing I've tried clips easily onto the Ovation headstock, but you can make the Snark stay on long enough to get it tuned. Then you take it off so you don't look like a dork.
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ProfessorBB
Posted 2019-04-12 2:29 PM (#547648 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881

Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains
There are also free guitar tuner apps available for downloading. They’re actually quite handy.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2019-04-12 6:50 PM (#547654 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
I use the Pro Guitar Tuner app. Free to download and it works wonderfully on my phone. It has a needle feature accurate to cents, and a dial feature accurate to split octaves. Both of those work with the built in mic. There is also tone generator for tuning by ear. it has pretty much any guitar tuning configuration you may want to use, and can also be set to tune most any other instrument. The only downshot I have found is that it can be somewhat sensitive to ambient sound when using the needle or dial mic features, so it should be used in a relatively quiet environment for the closest accuracy. The free version will have a few pop-up ads for the first week or two, but after that they seem to have completely gone away. I think the purchase version (cheap) is guaranteed to have no ads. Anyway, here is a link to the free download.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrinnovation.progu...

Edited by Love O Fair 2019-04-12 6:58 PM
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numbfingers
Posted 2019-04-15 8:25 PM (#547708 - in reply to #547641)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1110

Location: NW Washington State
Mark in Boise - 2019-04-12 9:43 AM
Nothing I've tried clips easily onto the Ovation headstock, but you can make the Snark stay on long enough to get it tuned. Then you take it off so you don't look like a dork.


Mark, you're still going to look like a dork.

Sorry, it was just too easy.

Snark super-tight works for me on Country Artist and Deacon.

-Steve W.
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nerdydave
Posted 2019-04-15 10:57 PM (#547710 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
August 2011
Posts: 887

Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah
Another good one for your phone is Guitar Tuna. Also free and has the needle. Just curious as to what is the point of buying one when these are out there for free? And they are always with you unless you are the type who leaves your phone at home!
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2019-04-16 11:09 AM (#547718 - in reply to #547708)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho
numbfingers - 2019-04-15 7:25 PM

Mark in Boise - 2019-04-12 9:43 AM
Nothing I've tried clips easily onto the Ovation headstock, but you can make the Snark stay on long enough to get it tuned. Then you take it off so you don't look like a dork.


Mark, you're still going to look like a dork.

Sorry, it was just too easy.

Snark super-tight works for me on Country Artist and Deacon.

-Steve W.

So true. When I was at Damon's with my daughter once, fumbling with all his fabulous toys, my daughter said my jeans look like grandpa pants. She wasn't married at the time or I would have bugged her about our lack of grandkids.
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FlySig
Posted 2019-04-16 11:13 AM (#547719 - in reply to #547710)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4025

Location: Utah
nerdydave - 2019-04-15 9:57 PM
Just curious as to what is the point of buying one when these are out there for free?


So the NSA doesn't know when you tune your guitar or if you are using a suspicious alternate tuning?

To be serious though for a moment, at the weekly ensemble rehearsal the people who use their phones usually have difficulty because the rest of us jerks are doodling away impatiently, which confuses their phone. Also, they have to play the notes a bit loudly, which annoys the rest of us jerks, so we doodle even louder.

For just home use (or when the rest of the group aren't jerks while you're tuning), a phone app would probably work just fine, and if it is free there is nothing lost if it doesn't.

I like a tuner pedal when I'm plugged in with a guitar without a built in tuner.
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Love O Fair
Posted 2019-04-16 1:45 PM (#547726 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
@FlySig - >>>For just home use (or when the rest of the group aren't jerks while you're tuning)<<<

I have found that even the sound of a table fan can somewhat confuse the phone tuners.. but when it's quiet it works well, and comes in handy when in a pinch without a 'real' tuner.
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TAFKAR
Posted 2019-04-16 9:22 PM (#547733 - in reply to #547625)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985

Location: Sydney, Australia

DetlefMichel,

 

By the time I get the guitar in tune doing it that way, my practice time is over.



Edited by TAFKAR 2019-04-16 9:24 PM
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-04-17 4:29 AM (#547736 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
TAFKAR:
It´s much easier than you think. Try my tuning but take your time with practise, it may take a couple of days or weeks until you can handle it freely.

1. Do you know what a flageolet tone is? If not: just touch the string slightly with your finger right above ..the 5th fret and play firmly the string. Right when you fell the vibration on your finger let the string loose and you hear a tone that is exactly 2 octaves higher than the string itself. (on the 12th fret it´s one octave and on the 7th fret it´s the quinte, it´s all just physics). You must listen calmly and closely but you will hear it. better with the time.
2.Now let´s first go to the A string. If you play the flageolet above the 5th fret you should have the 2nd octave of the A string which is supposed to be exactly 440 hz and this is the frequency of an A tuning fork. If these tone are slightly different you will hear a "wave" or a beat note, if the tone s are right you will hear only one tone. If you now tune the string the waves will get longer ist the tone gets more precise and shorter if the tone gets wrong. If the wave is about 1 second long you are only 1hz(which is one vibration per second) wrong, now if it´s 2 seconds long 1/2 hz you see you can tune very very precise.
NOw if you have this string right you may play the 5th flageolet on the low E and the 7th on th A string which again should be identical, if not, you will hear the waves.
YOu can repeat this with the A-D and the D-G strings.
Then you play the 7th flageolet on the low E string and this should be exactly the tone of the B string. Continue tuning until the waves are gone and then use the 7th flageolet on th A string and this should be the note of the high E string.
Sounds confusing the first time but with a little practise you are faster and more precise than any tuner you can buy. A side effect is that your sense of hearing will increase in quality and with the time you will hear if the plain strings are in tune or not be hearing the waves with the strings played.

Fell free to ask me if something was misunderstanding, it´s not easy for me to explain all this in english.

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alpep
Posted 2019-04-17 11:56 AM (#547748 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581

Location: NJ
So many tuners
So little time
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Tom The Piddler
Posted 2019-04-23 11:45 AM (#547811 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: RE: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
March 2019
Posts: 26

Location: Cass County, Texas
-
DetlefMichel,

I thought a "flageolet" is a woodwind instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. I always knew this technique as a "harmonic". Or a least from my studies and practices.

Flageolet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flageolet

String Harmonic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_harmonic

What I have learned, like you, is that a tuning fork is a great way to really tuneup. Another location for the A-440 Hz note is the fretted "A" at 5th fret on the 1st string (little E). Or you can achieve a similar effect by plucking the A string and applying the A-440 tuning fork. Here you would be comparing 440 Hz verses 110 Hz. You will achieve the same as you posted: "If these tone are slightly different you will hear a "wave" or a beat note, if the tone s are right you will hear only one tone. If you now tune the string the waves will get longer ist the tone gets more precise and shorter if the tone gets wrong."

DetlefMichel, I did not know about the "A" string 5th fret harmonic was at 440 Hz until your post, which lead me to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_harmonic I have always considered this harmonic was a D. Now I know better. So much still to learn.

Thanks for your informative and useful post,

Edited by Tom The Piddler 2019-04-23 12:06 PM
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Weaser P
Posted 2019-04-23 12:50 PM (#547812 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: RE: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5327

Location: Cicero, NY
"Flageolet"?

Over 19 years hanging around these parts and I'm still learning things that I don't understand...

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Tom The Piddler
Posted 2019-04-23 2:37 PM (#547813 - in reply to #547812)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
March 2019
Posts: 26

Location: Cass County, Texas
-
DetlefMichel,

I should have asked for your clarification before I posted.

It appears I misrepresented your post. I understood what you were describing, but the word "flageolet" did not fit with any musical term I have known. Hope this helps in my, and maybe others, understanding.

Hope you can clarify this for us "english only" posters.

DetlefMichel, in the meanwhile, here is what I have found related to our above posts:

1st:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_harmonic, using wikipedia language translation.

Deutsch = "Flageolettton"

English = "String Harmonic"


2nd:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flageolet, using wikipedia language translation.

Deutsch = "Flageolett"

English = "Flageolet"


What an interesting world we live in. In English, one has to ask "what is difference between lead and lead?"

In hoping no harm was done,


Edited by Tom The Piddler 2019-04-23 2:40 PM
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Koenig Kurt
Posted 2019-04-28 5:31 AM (#547858 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 846

Location: Munich, Germany
Perfect explanation by Detlef!

Since I tune most of my guitars in D# I made it easier for me with buying a tuning fork in 415,3hz.

Best regards,
Kurt
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-04-30 6:08 AM (#548866 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Flageolett, harmonics...ha,ha, sorry for all this chaos, I thought this was quite international like octave or allegro....but in fact both terms seelmed to me wrong in a way. I f you are talking about harmonics you really are talking about overtones, these have to do with the oscillation of strings (or air columns) on precisely definite points of the wavelength. But now I found out that harmonics (which in german does mean the harmony or beauty of several notes that are played together...) really is the correct english technical term for overtones...AND the term for what we call "Harmonielehre" which means the science of the harmony of tones.How confusing. Next time I will use the LEO translator BEFORE I make a post;-)
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2019-04-30 9:40 AM (#548867 - in reply to #547622)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho
Detlef,
As I've said to many people who claim they don't speak English very well, "Your English is better than my German." I've never found a German who proved me wrong. Last time I was in Germany I complimented someone on his English and asked where he was from. "California".
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TAFKAR
Posted 2019-04-30 10:03 PM (#548869 - in reply to #547736)
Subject: Re: Guitar Tuner



Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985

Location: Sydney, Australia

DetlefMichel - ... Continue tuning until the waves are gone ...

 

And therein lies the problem. They change, I tune more, they increase, back the other way, decrease, then increase again, back the other way ... repeat ad nausem ... And then my practice period is over.

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