Clip-on Tuners (not the things that hold the strings)

jehicks87

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So, before I get into it: by tuners I am not meaning the tuners that you use to turn the strings and increase/decrease string tension.

I mean the tuners we use to make sure our strings are in fact, in tune.

So, does anybody have any experience with clip-on tuners? How well do they work? anything you have to be mindful of when using them?
 
mines amazing. i have a barcus barry clip on tuner that i bought at rudys music in new york. i have used it everyday for a year and the battery still hasn't died. here is a link
 
they are awesome and once you get one you will wonder how you went so long without one.
 
I bought an Intelli IMT-500 after I thought I lost the trusty Yamaha tuner (one of those electronic box-looking ones) that came with my first guitar. The Intelli has worked very well for me.

It's considerably light (so I don't have to un-clip it from the headstock all the time, but I do anyway), and as far as I can tell, it's very accurate. The best advantage to having a clip-on is that you can tune your instrument well even when there's a lot of ambient noise, since it picks up the vibrations through the wood.

I played my ukulele at a friend's graduation party recently, and since the strings were still settling, I had to frequently re-tune amidst a bunch of voices and clattering glasses. The clip-on did the job perfectly. I could keep playing into the night without worrying about using my incompetent ears to tune up because I could power on the LED display :).

For something pretty inexpensive, a clip-on is a great buy. I can't think of anything you'd have to worry about other than maybe finding batteries for it, since it probably will use a smaller battery (like the three-volts), rather than the standard AA or AAAs. (And even that's not a big deal.)
 
Yep - they changed the world. Inexpensive, very accurate, and incredibly convenient.

I was a purist about tuners for many years. Only top quality, studio caliber, professional tuners for me. These little guys are a quarter of the price, easily a quarter of the size, work in more situations (no pick-up with tons of room noise and music), and are nearly as accurate.

Now I keep one in each case, one in my bag, and one in my glovebox. I still use the big ones in the home studio, but only because I have them.

Some brands are better than others, but for the most part they are all pretty much the same.
 
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There was a recent thread on this...

...but I bought an IMT-500 3 years ago and I still use it today.

I recently bought a couple of IMT-600's at Amazon that seem a little quicker at about $15-$16.

FWIW... the Barcus Berry tuners look identical to the IMT tuners, and so do the Tune Tech.

John
 
I love mine. There is no down side that I can see. The only caution I would advise would be to turn off the lighted display when performing. I recently watched a uke orchestra perform, and the back-lit tuners on several headstocks were quite distracting....
 
thanks for the help guys! I was looking at a "blue wave", but for half the price I'm gong with the Intelli. I don't like the display as much, but hey... 15 bucks is 15 bucks.
 
I have a crafter clip-on tuner... AWESOME! It's a guitar tuner and has guitar and bass pre-sets but also has a chromatic setting so you can tune anything with strings (except maybe a piano or harp?) :p

They're cheap and you can also change the pitch on them. They have a flat setting for tuning with a capo (I think the newer ones actually have it as the capo function rather than the flat?) They have a microphone function too, just incase for some reason you can't clip it onto your instrument... And they do the whole light up orange for flat/sharp and green for spot on trick!

They have my mark of approval anyway!...
 
Some brands are better than others, but for the most part they are all pretty much the same.[/FONT]

which are better than others?

Depends on the application - and the headstock in question. Some I have are fine all around, others are better on my thinner ukes. One seems to only work on my Fluke, odd as that sounds. They are cheap enough to try a few brands over time for what you need.
 
Aloha Jake,
Get yourself an digital chromatic clip on tuner..Mines is a Cherub WST-550C
It works by vibrations going up the neck, rather not like the old box models
which rely on sound and you need a quiet place with no ambient noise.
Once you get one of these, You'' wonder how you got by without one.
The digital ones work by octaves and are deadly accurate and fast..
like a military strike....this allows you to tune your uke however you want...
It really is sooo convienient too.. I hope this helps...let me know....
Mines cost $35.00..well worth way over the money, for Sure...you get what you pay for!!
Take Care and Keep Safe, and "Keep Strumming them strings"
Ukuleles are foreva's..Uke On!!! MM Stan...
 
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thanks for the help guys! I was looking at a "blue wave", but for half the price I'm gong with the Intelli. I don't like the display as much, but hey... 15 bucks is 15 bucks.

Previous discussion at: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?30841-Let-s-Talk-Tuners

I have the Intelli IMT-501 ("upgraded" version of Intelli IMT-500 whatever that means. Maybe improvement of battery life?) and it works great on uke. The Intelli IMT-500 is also same as F-ZONE FT-800 and a host of identical tuners.

I also have Tune Tech One Touch. Doesn't work on ukulele. I also have The PT10 Intellitouch 'Mini'. Doesn't work on ukulele.

Funny, but the last two are supposed to be "newer" and have better displays, but they don't work as well as the Intelli IMT-501.
 
i have three tuners. one's not a clip on but i use it primarily for my bassoon. one day, i'll get a clip on attachment because they work great even on a bassoon. with that one (korg), i have to be in a quiet room or playing louder than anything else for it to pick up my instrument. the first clip on tuner i bought i don't remember the brand. i'll have to look at it when i get home. it's a guitar specific tuner and has a chromatic mode so it works great, but the screw that holds the tuner to the clip comes loose from swiveling and is annoying. it has a led lit screen that changes color when you're in tune (i think most do now). i keep that one in my tenor case. the one i'm using the most right now is a kala. that is ukulele specific and by far the easiest tuner i've ever used. that one is in my eleuke case, but i use it on my soprano as well.

my wife laughed when i bought both of my clip on tuners. she thinks it's funny that i need a tuner at all (she has a perfect ear). i can tell when the strings are out of tune from each other, but i doubt i'll ever be able to have a perfect ear like hers. luckily, my kids have perfect ears!
 
I got the Kala and it has two Uke modes!
We've got a couple of these and it's the one I grab the most often, it will tune C, D, and chromatic and seems pretty accurate.

I have the Eno ET-3000 they sell in the UU store and really like it. :)

I also got one of these from the UU store and really like it, it has both a mic function and clip on and seems to be less easily confused than the Kala's we have. But it's a bit bigger and not quite as convenient as the Kala, but it seems a bit more accurate.
I also just got an Intelli with a uke I just bought but it's not a clip on and haven't really tried it much yet, but it seems pretty accurate although you have to be in a quiet place or it gets confused.
 
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