Clip-On Tuners?

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winky dinglehoffer
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Clip-On Tuners?

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:00 am

I'm not that thrilled with the clip-on I use at the moment--some cheapie I got a few years back from an online retailer. There are times when it struggles to discern a note, & it's especially weak on bass. I'm not convinced it's terribly accurate either.
So....does anybody have a clip-on they love? The TC Electronic Uni Tune looks kind of intriguing, as does the Peterson Stroboclip. But if there's something cheaper that performs really well, I'd certainly be down with that.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by kslight » Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:11 am

I’ve got a Planet Waves “Steinberger” clip on that is fine as a tuner but eats through coin batteries, not recommended unless you absolutely need something really discrete.

I got a couple Monoprice Clip On tuners which work just as well, have a color screen, and are USB rechargeable...but honestly I’ve never had to recharge them since the first time i charged them... Slightly less discrete and I think they were two for $12 or something when I bought them.

As I enthusiastically recommend that, I go to search for it on monoprice and it’s no longer there.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by digitaldrummer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:41 am

I have a few of the cheapos from Reverb.com - https://reverb.com/item/204704-reverb-clip-on-tuner
the battery will wear out very quickly, but so far replacement batteries seem to be lasting longer. not sure how accurate they are. there always seems to be some discrepancy even from tuner to tuner. The Snarks I have in the studio seem to be better. Batteries last a bit longer and seem to be slightly more accurate? (but not proven in any scientific manner)
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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by drumsound » Mon Jul 27, 2020 12:39 pm

My buddy who works for a large online retailer suggests the TC models. I need to get one.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by Scodiddly » Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:14 pm

I have a Stroboclip, and really liked it. Up until the clip broke. But it was really good for accuracy, much better than the usual $15-20 suspects.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:01 pm

Scodiddly wrote:
Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:14 pm
I have a Stroboclip, and really liked it. Up until the clip broke. But it was really good for accuracy, much better than the usual $15-20 suspects.
Have you tried contacting Peterson about this? Back before they went digital, their customer service used to be pretty good. I don't know if that still holds true anymore though.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by Colorblind » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:38 pm

+1 on the Snarks. I’ve got a basic $20 one that is surprisingly good. It has to be on vibration sensor mode though, rather than the internal mic which I haven’t had great luck with.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by vvv » Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:52 pm

+1 on the Snarks.
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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by Scodiddly » Tue Jul 28, 2020 5:10 pm

winky dinglehoffer wrote:
Mon Jul 27, 2020 4:01 pm
Scodiddly wrote:
Mon Jul 27, 2020 3:14 pm
I have a Stroboclip, and really liked it. Up until the clip broke. But it was really good for accuracy, much better than the usual $15-20 suspects.
Have you tried contacting Peterson about this? Back before they went digital, their customer service used to be pretty good. I don't know if that still holds true anymore though.
I probably should. It's been sitting here on my desk, in a baggie, for several years now. Hoping to build a better clamp, I guess.

I ponied up the $10 for the iOS Strobo software, and it sucks. I did hassle tech support about it, sent them recordings of notes it got wrong, got a little cable to test with for free, etc. But it never improved.

These days I have another $10 app, the "AP Tuner". Way way way better. Can even tune pianos, and I do. Though if you really want to spend money on iOS apps, piano-tuner specific software is the way to go. The "cheap but still pro" option Tunelab is about $400, but the king is CyberTuner for a cool $999 *plus* in-app purchases.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by kslight » Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:12 pm

I don’t use tuner apps much but Polytune works well for me, and was free at the time.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by losthighway » Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:31 pm

Yeah, I'd say a Snark or a smartphone app is great for just hanging out and strumming. I prefer a pedal or rack unit for recording, but I don't have evidence they're actually more accurate. More of a trust issue really.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:02 pm

I'll probably end up with a Snark if the Unitune doesn't come back into stock soon. I don't have an App Phone or an App Pad so the virtual stuff is out of the question for me.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by drumsound » Wed Jul 29, 2020 12:09 pm

losthighway wrote:
Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:31 pm
Yeah, I'd say a Snark or a smartphone app is great for just hanging out and strumming. I prefer a pedal or rack unit for recording, but I don't have evidence they're actually more accurate. More of a trust issue really.
I worked with a guitar player last week, who has super sensitive ears, trained jazz arranger. He says the Peterson strobe app on his iPhone is the best tuner he's ever used.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by markjazzbassist » Wed Jul 29, 2020 3:43 pm

not trying to poo poo, but by design clip on tuners are not accurate. a pedal strobe will be accurate enough to do instrument setups and intonation. a clip on tuner is only good for one stage "close enough" tuning. if at all possible go to a pedal tuner. just compare specs on tuner accuracy and you will see what i'm saying.

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Re: Clip-On Tuners?

Post by joninc » Wed Jul 29, 2020 5:55 pm

i use the snarks a lot for acoustic instruments that don't have pickups (guitar/banjo/mando/upright) and have never had any conflicts with tuning.
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