Blue Snark

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My one and only ever ukulele student showed up yesterday with an old blue Snark tuner that says Guitar and Bass on it that her dad gave her. The battery is dead. I'm not at all familiar with Snark tuners, but I believe that maybe it is specific to the instrument. Is that true? Is there a chromatic setting that she can use? The only tuner I have ever used is my Eno T-33, which came as part of the package with my first uke. They are cheap on ebay, and if this Snark isn't going to work I might just get her an Eno for not much more than a new battery.
 
Snarks are great. I don't know hers, but I've had one that I've used for years. Mine says "Guitar, bass, violin" on it too, but I use mine for my Ukes and banjos. The battery is #CR2032 - plus side up.

Hope this'll help. :eek:ld:
 
Should work fine! Well worth the cost of a battery!!! :shaka:
 
Don't buy your Snark (or other tuner batteries) battery from a music or camera store. I get mine, 3 for $1.25 at The Dollarama store. I have a few Snarks, red and blue. I like the display on the red ones better, but they're both Chromatic. I haven't seen an instrument specific one.
 
Don't buy your Snark (or other tuner batteries) battery from a music or camera store. I get mine, 3 for $1.25 at The Dollarama store. I have a few Snarks, red and blue. I like the display on the red ones better, but they're both Chromatic. I haven't seen an instrument specific one.

Snarks are great, I have a few, worth a new battery for sure. They do make a uke specific model but what if you want to tune to B or Bb or heaven forbid have a baritone. Stay with the all purpose one
 
Mine's black. I wonder why they're different colors and say different instruments if they're chromatic.

I pay over 5 bucks a piece for mine at a Mall kiosk. I guess they saw me comin'. :eek:ld:
 
I, and I suspect most musicians, have always bought the tuner, taken it out of the box and thrown away the box and instructions without reading them. A few weeks back a student bought a Snark and asked me to help her figure out how to use it. When she left, I looked at the instructions she'd left and was surprised at the first paragraph:

"We recommend that you remove the Snark tuner from your instrument as soon as you finish tuning. Please be aware that any lacquer type finishcan be adversely affected if the rubber pad of the tuner is left in contact with the instrument for a period of time. . ." Now I have a reason for removing the tuner while playing other than the fact that it's ugly looking.
 
I, and I suspect most musicians, have always bought the tuner, taken it out of the box and thrown away the box and instructions without reading them. A few weeks back a student bought a Snark and asked me to help her figure out how to use it. When she left, I looked at the instructions she'd left and was surprised at the first paragraph:

"We recommend that you remove the Snark tuner from your instrument as soon as you finish tuning. Please be aware that any lacquer type finishcan be adversely affected if the rubber pad of the tuner is left in contact with the instrument for a period of time. . ." Now I have a reason for removing the tuner while playing other than the fact that it's ugly looking.

I couldn't agree more, Jim. I dunno why people buy expensive ukes, and then hang that ugly thing off the end. :eek:ld:
 
I couldn't agree more, Jim. I dunno why people buy expensive ukes, and then hang that ugly thing off the end. :eek:ld:

It's a matter of personal taste. I use Planet Waves mini tuners. They are unobtrusive and I leave them on my ukes. On the larger ones, they fit under the headstock and are pretty much out of sight.

I have had a couple of Snarks. They're excellent tuners built the ball joint has broken on one. I have it held in place with some electrical tape. They're not all that sturdy, I found but they work better than anything on a banjo uke.
 
I have a red snark and it has a switch to set it to either chromatic or vibration.
 
The Snark Hz tuner is better. Finds pitch quickly, is smaller, and has a sturdier ball joint.
 
I have a red snark and it has a switch to set it to either chromatic or vibration.

I think that switch is for Mic or Vibration. If set for Mic, it will pick up sound waves from the air. I use this setting for tuning hammered dulcimer or Autoharp. When you turn it to the vibration setting, it has to be clipped to the instrument to pick up the vibrations. Mine doesn't have a switch for chromatic. It's always chromatic. Mine says "All instrument tuner" in white letters on the back.
My wife's Snark has a metronome feature that mine lacks.
Snark!!!MG.jpg
 
Snarks are great, I have a few, worth a new battery for sure. They do make a uke specific model but what if you want to tune to B or Bb or heaven forbid have a baritone. Stay with the all purpose one
I warned her about people like you at the first lesson. :)

"We recommend that you remove the Snark tuner from your instrument as soon as you finish tuning. Please be aware that any lacquer type finishcan be adversely affected if the rubber pad of the tuner is left in contact with the instrument for a period of time. . ." Now I have a reason for removing the tuner while playing other than the fact that it's ugly looking.

I couldn't agree more, Jim. I dunno why people buy expensive ukes, and then hang that ugly thing off the end. :eek:ld:

Interestingly, at first I would keep my ukulele out on a stand and I would leave the tuner on it all the time. But then I started playing with others outside of my house more and more, so I would just leave my ukulele in the case most of the time where it was ready to go. So I got in the habit of pulling it out of the case, tuning it up, and throwing the tuner back in the case. Actually, once my strings settle in I find that I don't tune it every time I pick it up to play it anymore, like I did in the early days.

But we will get a battery and see if we can get her tuner working. She is using an app on her phone, and it must be working for her as she shows up and her uke is usually pretty close. But she likes to use my clip on tuner when she is here.
 
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How long do all those batteries in the package last? :eek:ld:

Long enough! I buy a package each of them for tuners and for my car remote maybe once a year. I have five tuners and probably get about a year's life out of each battery one in the tuner.
 
The only tuner I have ever used is my Eno T-33, which came as part of the package with my first uke. They are cheap on ebay, and if this Snark isn't going to work I might just get her an Eno for not much more than a new battery.

I've had a few problems with the Snark I bought. The ball joint has worn down and the top pops off plus the rubber pad has come loose. I have an old Eno tuner that I'm using instead now and it works fine - I actually think it's pretty decent for the money.
 
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