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Tuners that do a low B


TheGreek
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I generally use a clip on tuner - mainly because of the convenience of knowing it's in a case where I can put my hands on one quickly.

Today I was tuning a 5 string Spector which I recently acquired with said tuner, piece of cheap crap wouldn't even register a note using the B string!!

I eventually gave up and rummaged around till I found my trusty [b]Boss CT-6 tuner[/b], buried in a box with loads of other bass nic-nacs. Tuned the B string in no time at all - actually took me more time plugging it into the power supply! [i]Hoo-bloody-ray...[/i].

I know I could have tuned it on the harmonics or the 7th fret but the B string was a bit "[i]wobbly[/i]" and I wanted to get it spot on.

Nice to know that there's still stuff out there you can rely on...Any other tuners which do the job properly?

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The D'Addario Eclipse is brilliant, I have two... in different colours! A yellow one for my yellow bass and a purple one for the 7 string. Tunes to B no problem. I've just managed to get it to go as far as G# below B! For pedal tuners, I've owned the Korg Pitchblack for years and have never worried about upgrading it. Built like a tank and it's display is really smooth, doesn't flicker or jump about. The TC tuner is great too though I don't own one.

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Mine's a Metro-Tuner MT-30 made by C.Giant and purchased in an ALDI bargain bin several years ago. The photo is of one identical but for the brand name.

[attachment=239339:Metro-TunerMT-30.png]

It came with a clip-on transducer on a wire. I unplugged that and I don't use it. The device itself takes an output from DI, FX OUT or the dedicated tuner output on my combo. It sits where I want it on the end of a cable. I recently found a limitation. If I am playing through the house system It would require my taking a feed back from the desk. No major crisis though, I could always rig it with a splitter cable if that was a frequent occurrence.

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[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1488306930' post='3247776']
I've found my Snark pedal copes with the low B better than any other tuner I've tried (and I've tried most of them).
[/quote]
My Snark clipon is worse than useless with a low B. TC Polytune clip is much better. Korg DT10 is great too, although it takes up a lot of space.

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[quote name='dood' timestamp='1488311592' post='3247835']
I've owned the Korg Pitchblack for years and have never worried about upgrading it. Built like a tank and it's display is really smooth, doesn't flicker or jump about.
[/quote]

+1

A great big, bright, simple display makes it dead easy to read under stage lighting, the Mute button is essential if you get as angry as I do with guitarists who tune up at gigs with their guitars going through their rigs (do you really imagine the audience actually wants to hear this?), and you can use it to power a non-battery 9V pedal which can be bloody useful under some circumstances.

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[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1488468518' post='3249226']
So there are loads out there that do...this begs the question then "[i]why don't all of them?[/i]".

I think the answer may lie in the fact the clip on tuner I was using cost less than a £5.
[/quote]

Mine was closer to five quid than ten back then. I use neither the clip on part nor the tiny microphone supplied however. Would the clip perhaps be at fault? Maybe it doesn't make a good enough mechanical contact to accurately measure the lowest frequencies.

As I mentioned, I feed the signal directly to mine. When it misbehaves sometimes it is either the battery getting weak or poor contact at the jack connectors. I carry switch cleaner in an aerosol can with my cables. If my tuner is picking up hum, a quick squirt sorts it out.

Edited by SpondonBassed
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I use a Snark clip-on, and it is sensitive to position. At the end of the headstock, it loses the B and the E, unless you press the transducer hard against the headstock, then it picks it up. Alternatiely, moving it closer to the nut works, but may get in the way when you need to get to a tuning head.

I also have a headless bass tuned BEAD, and the Snark works fine clipped onto the volume control knob.

David

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Sideways look at this: Does your tuner react to first harmonic on the 5th string? A solution and of course free.

I have one of the reverb £2 ones and an old Boss TU 12P that works on a flat lithium battery. Battery lasts literally for years and that thing will tune anything.

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