casarole45
Well-known member
High, does anyone know any high spec tuners for ukulele, I'm talking really high spec luthier 0.1 cent accuracy stuff. Currently looking at a Peterson Stroboflip. Any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks
Thanks
High spec tuners
- Thread starter casarole45
- Start date
An Intelli IMT-500 is more than good enough. What percentage of inaccuracy can you hear?
John Colter.
John Colter.
Pukulele Pete
Well-known member
Is there a reason besides tuning your ukulele that you need super accuracy? I use an 20 dollar electronic tuner and it is super accurate. Buy a 20 dollar tuner and use the money you saved to buy another ukulele.
P.S. One more suggestion. Don't give your ukuleles names , and if you have to don't let anyone know.
P.S. One more suggestion. Don't give your ukuleles names , and if you have to don't let anyone know.
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thejumpingflea
Well-known member
The more perfect the tuner, the more imperfect you realize the ukulele is.
Trust me on this one, stick with a standard tuner. No ukulele has perfect intonation.
Trust me on this one, stick with a standard tuner. No ukulele has perfect intonation.
If you REALLY want an accurate tuner, they are very expensive, but Peterson makes a bench-top strobe tuner in several models from around $400 and up. They are extremely accurate and will work within your parameters. Happy tuning!
MGM
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Again why would one need that accuarte a tuner as slight finger pressure will make it run up and down like crazy and the fact that most people cannot tell anything less than 5 % off. to me usuing harmonic waves is the best way of fine tuning instruments...listening for those in octives and unisons tellyou all you need to know
OP
OP
casarole45
Well-known member
I did the old cent test and could tell the difference of 1 cent difference played at the same time.....
I know that guitars/ukes and similar instruments are impossible to get spot on tuning up the neck due to the way they are designed/having many octaves on the same instrument, I am just interested in having something that I know is accurate, what I'm using at the moment has an accuracy of 1cent which is not really enough as I think I can get that by ear, it would also be for set ups (guitars and ukes)... and I'm also kind of just interested in tuners at the moment, so was interested in peoples feedback/opinions.
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casarole45
Well-known member
Pukulele Pete
Well-known member
Just trying to be funny
I use an Intelli IMT-500 tuner because it is more accurate (and quicker) than doing it by ear. I can just about hear 6% difference, but I've been abusing my ears for 72 years with motorcycles, shot guns, model aircraft engines, power tools etc.
Whenever I try to get a soprano uke playing perfectly, I realise it is a good way to drive yourself mad. Close enough is, well, close enough. To be able to hear a difference of 1% must be more of a curse, than a blessing.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that 6% is close enough - it is NOT - hence the need for a chromatic tuner.
Anyway, diff'rent strokes, and all that.
All the best,
John Colter.
Whenever I try to get a soprano uke playing perfectly, I realise it is a good way to drive yourself mad. Close enough is, well, close enough. To be able to hear a difference of 1% must be more of a curse, than a blessing.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that 6% is close enough - it is NOT - hence the need for a chromatic tuner.
Anyway, diff'rent strokes, and all that.
All the best,
John Colter.
OP
OP
casarole45
Well-known member
Someone has stated on ebay that the IMT-900's tolerance is +/- 0.5 cent which is pretty good, can't find an official site to verify it though
OP
OP
casarole45
Well-known member
I think you may be right, trying to tune with a chromatic reader flying around in the 0.1cent accuracy would drive you loopy... and if you left the window open a breeze (temp change) could undo those hours of precise tuning =D
maybe I just want something that people will technically back up as seriously accurate, when you see a company like Peterson you know (*assume) its going to be very high end and reliable.
I don't think it even has a resolution of 0.5 cent never mind accuracy. There is a shareware PC application called ApTuner that you can download. It has a resolution of 1/100 cent I think. I don't know what it's absolute or relative accuracy might be though its probably pretty good. Yes, it's annoyingly too precise. You can see the pitch drop slightly as the volume of the note decays due to the string being stretched more at high volumes! Fortunately you can turn the resolution down to 1 cent. At 1 cent it still has more resolution than the IMT-500 and doesn't have as much "hold". If I'm relaxed, not tired or drunk and in a very quiet place I can sometimes tune more accurately by ear from a single reference pitch than with the IMT-500*. ApTuner can always beat my ears.
For all practical purposes the IMT-500 is fine.
* I hope I put enough caveats in there. My point is don't expect me to do it to order as a party trick.
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MartinLil
Well-known member
6stringconvert
Well-known member
A few years back I tried several tuners when I was into the guitar, many reputable brands. I found that most were pants - with one exception the Fender AX-12.
This has been brilliant at tuning my Yamaha electro-acoustic (either plugged in or using the mic).
When I got my uke - this is what I used - but the uke is so quite I decided to buy a clip on tuner (a FZone FT-800)
The Clip on isn't as accurate - but it is so usable. I can't tune it by ear any better (it is after all a budget uke) - but then when I play a long song like rainbow/wonderful world the uke is out of tune anyway before the end of the song.
HTH,
6sc
ps: this sounds like I'm not into the guitar anymore - which isn't true!!!
This has been brilliant at tuning my Yamaha electro-acoustic (either plugged in or using the mic).
When I got my uke - this is what I used - but the uke is so quite I decided to buy a clip on tuner (a FZone FT-800)
The Clip on isn't as accurate - but it is so usable. I can't tune it by ear any better (it is after all a budget uke) - but then when I play a long song like rainbow/wonderful world the uke is out of tune anyway before the end of the song.
HTH,
6sc
ps: this sounds like I'm not into the guitar anymore - which isn't true!!!
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Hey Dibblet, you say you have to be "relaxed, not tired or drunk, and in a very quiet place"? What are the chances of my meeting you under those circumstances?
Well, relaxed maybe.
John Colter.
Well, relaxed maybe.
John Colter.
OP
OP
casarole45
Well-known member
.... just a brief interlude.... thanks for all the input I'm glad I started this thread up I'm finding everyone's input really interesting. Keep it coming if you have anything else to add to the table... (not including a drunken dibblet after to many beers, thats not something I would like to find laying on my table in the morning
)
)
Nothing to do with your query, Casarole, but before I became interested in playing and making ukes, I used to work with a guy who was a semi-pro jazz guitarist. He had perfect pitch, and could tune his guitar accurately without reference to anything. He just took it for granted, and couldn't understand why other people couldn't do it. I saw a TV program recently in which a child musical prodigy, studying piano, demonstrated his ability to name any note just from hearing it.
Astounding.
John Colter.
Astounding.
John Colter.
Ukuleleblues
Well-known member
I think they have those type of tuners at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and maybe the Los Alamos National Laboratory.. but now that I think about it, the Los Alamos National Laboratory is old school not much better than tuning by refractional bi-directional atomic powered oscilloscope. Personally I have three of these and average the result to get a perfect tune http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Node-Node-Chromatic-Strobe-Tuner?sku=580315
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