| Electronic tuners are practical, but not
very
accurate. If the tuner would light up only at exactly the right pitch, it would be almost
impossible to see any light at all. There would only be a short blink when the correct
pitch was passed. For that reason electronic tuners have a rather wide
interval where they
signal that the string is in tune. Typically this interval is about 6
cents wide. You may have noticed that sometimes the tuning sounds
extra good. On an instrument that intonates well the difference is very clear. There is a special
sound in the instrument that makes you don't want to quit playing. Those times occur when you
happened to tune the strings to the same spot in the area approved by the tuner.
Here are some tuners I have tested.
You might possibly get better accuracy with tuners that have a mechanical
needle. Here the accuracy depends on how well you can read the needle. I have not tested
this.
Personally I will recommend the Turbo Tuner.
This is a real strobe tuner and it reacts fast as lightning. When the light
from the LEDs rotate clockwise the note is sharp. When it rotates
counterclockwise the note is flat. The closer to the correct pitch you get,
the slower it rotates. When it stops the pitch is perfect. With this
tuner you get perfect in tune every time. Its accuracy is
± 0.02 cent. There is also a stomp version.
I also use a Peterson VS-II tuner.
This is a virtual strobe tuner, a modern version of the big, old stroboscope tuners. It has a checkered pattern that moves
down if the pitch is flat and up when the pitch is sharp. The closer to correct pitch you
come the slower the pattern moves. When the squares are still the pitch is correct. With
this tuner you get perfect tuning every time. Its accuracy is 0.1 cent.
It is not as fast as the Turbo Tuner as it has to calculate the screen
image. There is also a clip-on version and a phone-app version of the
Peterson tuners.
On some instruments, or maybe some types of strings, it is difficult to
get a clear signal to the tuner. The checkered pattern or the diods may
flicker so much that it is difficult to see in what direction they are
turning. To get as clear signal as possible, I made a tuning clip so
small that it could be put directly on the string (!) behind the nut or
the bridge bone. It gives a steady signal. |
