What makes a good guitar tuner

Monoprice is well-established in the music and tech world as having no-nonsense, reliable gear at an affordable price point. This chromatic pedal tuner can be battery or AC-powered, and the aluminum body is durable enough to be stomped on and knocked around while still small enough to fit on a pedalboard.

The display is a nice balance of big and bright, easy to read, but not overpowering in the dark. This clip-on tuner with a clear and colorful HD display also doubles as a metronome, making it the perfect tool to take along in your case.

The head swivels in all directions, easy to see the result of each note even in the dark or from odd angles. Tuning is precise and accurate, and the clip holds tight onto the headstock if you want to keep it on while playing.

It also works well with other instruments like violins and ukuleles, and is ideal for kids and beginners too. What Are the Best Guitar Tuners? Related Stories. Newswire Powered by.

Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. They do have their benefits. Obviously, you can use either clip-on or pedal tuners if you have an electro-acoustic.

But there are a few tuners out there built specifically for acoustics. These are fitted to the soundhole, where, as the name tells you, the sound is emitted.

These are discreet unlike the rather unsightly headstock tuners and offer an extremely close tuning because they are placed directly next to the sound source. It's also possible to tune with this whilst you're playing something as you don't get distracted looking up at the headstock.

Microphone or clip-on will be just fine for this application. The easier, the better. Just remember to tune up before you start playing! The easiest to use would be a pedal tuner. You can also use a clip tuner however, the background noise or low-end vibrations will probably resonate through your guitar neck, affecting accuracy. A clip-on tuner would probably be the easiest to use with your students. You can clip your guitar tuner on your headstock, tune up, and then easily pass the tuner to your students.

A microphone tuner will also do the trick. Though, it does mean you'll need the guitars amplified - if they're electric guitars of course.

It goes without saying that a recording guitarist will need a highly accurately tuned guitar in order to get the best sound. A high-quality strobe tuner or pedal tuner will do the trick.

Playing the acoustic guitar live means you'll probably want a pedal tuner to mute the signal whilst tuning. If it's just at home, then a clip-on tuner or microphone will both work fine. Bass players use the same tuners as guitar players. All of the above will apply to bassists too. This means you want a Strobe for accuracy, clip-on for ease of use or pedal tuner for live use.

You're in the wrong place OR you need a Drum Tuner OR you need your guitarist to shut up while you're tuning your drums! Well, the answer to this question is probably easier than it would be with any other pedal.

Your tuner goes first in your pedal chain. All the time. Every time. Putting other pedals before the tuner will create impedance and weaken the signal which means you might not get the most accurate reading. This is handy for purists or tone hounds who really want the most out of their setup. The courier will contact you to arrange payment of these fees. Read more. This item has been successfully added to your list. Continue Shopping.

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Do I want an electric or acoustic kit? Ultimate Guide To Guitar Tuners The humble guitar tuner is one of the most essential pieces of gear that any guitarist can own. What does a Tuner do? Types of guitar tuner There are loads of variations of tuner to choose from, all with their own positives and negatives. All tuners can be classified under the following umbrella categories: Chromatic - The most common tuner.

These can be found in microphone, clip-on and pedal formats. A chromatic tuner will allow you to tune to every note in the chromatic scale, which is all 12 notes between octaves. However, you can also switch to true-bypass mode if you would prefer. TC has covered all bases here, and this is a big selling point of the pedal. Finally, a new always-on mode lets you leave the pedal display functioning throughout your entire gig or session.

Perfect for quickly tweaking a string during songs. But Wait! The screen is very slightly smaller, and you will also lose the ability to use battery power, and the facility to power other pedals. If none of this bothers you, then the Mini is probably a good choice for the space-saving benefit.

It is also available in black as the Polytune 3 Mini Noir. Unlike a tuner pedal, you do not have to plug a clip on tuner directly into your guitar for them to function. So for that reason, a clip on guitar tuner is going to be the best option if you play mainly acoustic instruments. Although they also work great for electric guitars and basses. Although some may incorporate a small audio microphone, most modern headstock tuners will tune via vibration. This makes them ideal for use in noisy environments.

Because they tune by vibration, they pair especially well with hollow-body guitars as these instruments are all about developing and amplifying vibration. On a budget, my top pick is the excellent Snark SN5X , which you can pick up for less than the price of a pack of decent strings!

And the new models are even better than mine, having had several updates and improvements over the years. As it is a chromatic tuner the Snark SN5X can deal with non-standard tunings as well. Snark has also brightened the screen since I bought mine, so it should remain perfectly legible in all but the brightest sunlight. When tuning, red bars indicate that you are flat, yellow that you are sharp, and green that you are in tune.

To save the battery, the screen automatically shuts off after 2 minutes. The display on the Snark can also rotate degrees, so you will easily be able to read the screen no matter where you attach the unit. This also means us awkward left-handed players will have no trouble! It is made of plastic to keep costs down, but it still manages to feel robust. As I mentioned above, mine is still fighting the good fight after more than 10 years of loyal service.

The low cost and high accuracy has made them the most popular headstock guitar tuner amongst customers at the store I work at. The best of the best.

The Rolls-Royce of clip on guitar tuners…. This stunning piece of kit features 3 different tuning modes. In chromatic mode it will tune each string one at a time, just like the Snark above. In polytune mode, you can strum all strings at once and tune them all at the same same time.

Most other clip-on guitar tuners come nowhere close to this level of accuracy! This clever unit will switch between chromatic and polyphonic modes depending on how many strings you play. Use one of these modes for a quick tune-up on stage, or switch to the crazy-accurate strobe mode if you can spend a little more time to get near pitch-perfect results.

Note that while you can use chromatic and strobe modes with a bass guitar, the polyphonic mode is only compatible with 6-string guitars. The display is comprised of a whopping ultra-bright LED lights, which makes the Polytune Clip easily readable in any lighting conditions. It is by far the best display of any headstock tuner I have come across. The screen will also automatically rotate to suit the angle that you set it at, making it great for both left and right-handed players.

Other key features include premium components for a classy aesthetic and excellent durability, reference pitch selection, internal memory to retain settings, and flat and capo tuning capability. Although a clip-on or pedal tuner is generally the best option for most players, a handheld guitar tuner can be a decent choice if you also need to tune instruments other than guitar.

In addition, most of these styles of tuners will also include a metronome function, making them very handy for practice sessions. I am only going to recommend one product in this section, and that is the Korg TM This is by far the best-selling tuner of its kind at the guitar store I work at. The unit features an in-built microphone for tuning non-electric instruments, which does mean that in this scenario the TM60 is only going to work well in quieter environments.

However, if you have an electric guitar you can also plug it in for more accurate results. The backlit LCD screen is adequate in most lights, however, it should ideally be placed directly in front of you as viewing angles are not amazing.

A flip-out stand at the back helps to keep the TM60 display visible on your desktop. The handy built-in metronome has a wide tempo range of between 30 and bpm and features 3 different tempo settings and 15 rhythm variations. A metronome is such an essential tool for any musician, so this is super handy to have. Find out more about these tools in my complete guide to metronomes.

The built-in speaker should be perfectly fine for practicing in quiet environments, but a headphone output is included as well. We all have a smartphone, so why not use them to tune our guitars?

The microphone in your phone is designed to work best with your voice, so it can only recognize a limited frequency of noises.