Top Best Guitar/Bass/Ukulele/Instrument Tuners 2020
Tuners in General
When making a decision about any piece of gear, you will always need to ask, "What am I going to use this for? AND Where will I use this?"
Let's start with, what are your current objectives?
* To learn to play guitar (Convenience, Price, Ease of use)
* To play as a performer (Readability, Size, Quickness)
* To play as a studio musician (Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy)
Let's start with, what are your current objectives?
* To learn to play guitar (Convenience, Price, Ease of use)
* To play as a performer (Readability, Size, Quickness)
* To play as a studio musician (Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy)
First, A Little History
Strobe tuners were invented in 1936 by the Conn Company and dubbed
Stroboconn
Studio and orchestral musicians have been using strobe tuner as a standard since the 1950's.
While being highly accurate, they were large and extremely expensive.
While being highly accurate, they were large and extremely expensive.
Obviously, as you graduate in ability and extend into more endeavors you will end up collecting many tuners for the different activities you may do. Like any other art-form, the tools matter less than the content. That being said, any process is a whole hell of a lot easier with the right tools. Tried and true musicians gravitate to what works best for them.
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All musicians are not the same and do not have the same goals or outlooks, so when getting advice from them in Youtube videos or even these wonderful websites, we have bias toward our TASTES and are sharing our OPINIONS. Even with all this input, the list of products can seem to be the same with little personal investment in the information shared. Know that we use and believe in the products promoted in our articles and endeavor to share practical nuances from our experiences.
There have always been issues with displays on most tuners not being able to represent the software's accuracy (see left). Strobe tuner displays, on the other hand, allow you to see the fractions of a percent your instrument is out of tune (see below).
You may be asking yourself if that high degree of accuracy is that important. The answer is, only if your going to play with other musicians, record yourself, or develop your ear's tonal recognition.
Achieving correct pitch easily and cheaply is doable with a Snark, but you will want to graduate to something better at some point. Snarks aren't able to display accurate pitch but can show general pitch. Tuning up with the best tool at your disposal will become a priority when it does. |
This list of the top 3 tuners on the market should be helpful.
#1
Peterson Strobe Tuners are the very best tuners on the market if your looking for the most accurate measurement of the pitch of your instruments.
The Strobo HD Plus Tuner can be upgraded to have the same metronome software as the Bodybeat Sync and has a vibrating bullet jack built-in separate from the headphone jack. This way, you have one machine that can do both tuning and keep time. The Strobo HD Plus does not sync-up with the Bodybeat Sync.
#2
TC Electronics
While these tuners have the ability to measure your pitch as accurately as the Peterson, the display is slightly less capable of represent that accuracy. The reason this tuner ranks so high is that the Polytune can tune all six strings at the same time.
Monophonic = One sound at a time
Polyphonic = Multiple sounds at once.
The Polytune line is fantastic for beginners, casual players, or quick in-performance check
Monophonic = One sound at a time
Polyphonic = Multiple sounds at once.
The Polytune line is fantastic for beginners, casual players, or quick in-performance check
With both the stomp box and clip-on versions your covered for both electric and acoustic. The Polytune 3 also has the ability to switch between true bypass and buffer modes, which has to do with signal degradation when using long cables.
#3
Snark Clip-on
The only model I truly recommend would be the SN6 Ukulele Tuner. Most of the other models had issues in various weird ways. For example, the colorful ones' paint can rub off or get sticky if left in a hot place, or the model has extra features that kill the battery. My SN6 has been put through the ringer for years and still is going strong, the rest of the models have perished or were lost to the world. That's pretty much it, I mean...it tunes, and should be the bare minimum in tuning.
Most of the other tuning products on the market tend to be disappointing in some way or another. I won't call any particular product out for their shortcomings because I am sure there are musicians out there that swear by these products. I definitely recommend trying these options I've mentioned and comparing the usability to the other leading tuners on the market. Try your friends tuners. Go to a guitar retailer and try as many as you can. Come to your own conclusions. Tell us what you've found and what you think. Using the links to order your new tuner online will save you a lot of money versus paying for the overhead at a brick and mortar.