Who "trusts" their tuners?

Yestyn The Great

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I just want to know if I'm alone on this. I don't trust my tuners. I've tried several Snarks, a Lanikai, a Kala and a few others, and after tuning I never find my uke to be fully in tune. It is close but not close enough. The same applies to my violin. I now don't even carry a tuner with me. I just tune fully by ear. Dose anybody else have this problem?
 
I wouldn't go so far as to say that I think of it as a problem but, yes, I can tune more accurately by ear if the room is quiet. However, I find electronic tuners are only far enough off to bug me if I'm playing an instrument with doubled string courses (I.e. mandolin).
 
I wish that I had that problem. I can't tune by ear worth a darn. Sure, I can tell if it's out by a whole step and maybe even a half-step on a good day, but I'd be lost without my tuner. I'm sure that it will come with time, but I'm not there quite yet.
 
I have a Peterson Stroboclip, so I trust it very very much. If I use my ears, my ears tend to insist that a bit sharp on all strings equally... Is the the new in-tune. That's without having a pitch to guide me. My mind's ear just... Goes sharp a bit. :(
 
I have a Peterson Stroboclip, so I trust it very very much. If I use my ears, my ears tend to insist that a bit sharp on all strings equally... Is the the new in-tune. That's without having a pitch to guide me. My mind's ear just... Goes sharp a bit. :(

Oh, I definitely need a ref to tune the first string to! I've got a strobocllip, too, which was how I realized that my ear really is more precise than other tuners and it wasn't just wishful thinking. I.e. I can tune to "in tune" with a snark and the stroboclip will show some movement but if I tune one string with the stroboclip then I can ear tune the others and they will be in tune with the stroboclip.

Unfortunately, my stroboclip eats batteries even when it is off so I usually only fool with it when doing a setup.
 
I've had this problem for years & thought it was just me. Cello, harp (yeah, try getting 39 strings all in tune at once) and now ukulele.
I like my little Fender clip on, it is very positive to use. It's just that sometimes I do not believe what it tells me.
 
I only trust my ears for tuning. A tuner is handy for getting close, though, and can be indispensible in a loud room.
 
My favourite bit is: oh, look, the string's in tune. No, wait, it's flat. No, wait, it's in tune again. No...sharp. No...flat. Sharp! In tune! (Long pause...) ...Flat?

And this is without me adjusting the tuners at all. (Yes, I realise the sound decays. The weird bit is when the tuner jumps from sharp to flat to sharp again for no discernible reason.)
 
I wouldn't go so far as to say that I think of it as a problem but, yes, I can tune more accurately by ear if the room is quiet. However, I find electronic tuners are only far enough off to bug me if I'm playing an instrument with doubled string courses (I.e. mandolin).

No, your right, it's not a problem, it's actually just one less thing to carry around.
 
I've noticed that when the battery is starting to go out on my tuner it's accuracy can be questionable. Once I replace the battery everything is OK. Oh, I have few of the Planet Waves mini clip on tuners and I like them a lot.
 
Oh yeah if I have a pitch for one string, I'm fine. But that's after a lifetime of practice...not on uke. I kinda agree and kinda don't about when to care about pitch. I was trained up that you should always do and sound the best you can.. So yeah, I care if I'm in tune, and I prefer to play with others that are generally trying the best they can at a song and who want to be better. It doesn't mean they have to be awesome because I suck. :) But just the wanting to be better... That makes it worth being there, and makes it fun. But I also believe that there's a point where you're stressing too much and it isn't fun. It SHOULD be fun. And I think that if you don't trust your ear, that's ok. Maybe you will, maybe you won't... But tuners are pretty good nowadays. :)
 
I trust my tuners. They are consistent. When the batteries get low, the light gets dim but the tuning is the same. I tune by ear most of the time, but when I use an electronic tuner, I usually just tune up and go. If I tweak, it's for something specific (think "well tempered" as opposed to equal). I believe the cheap chromatic tuners out there are most reliable and are able to get an ukulele as in tune as possible with very little fuss.
 
We have a Kala, Kala with metrodome, Kamaka, and a Shark(sp) and find we only use the cheaper Kala. Even with new batteries they are never exactly the same and I like the sound when it's tuned to the Kala best. I can't really hear the out of tune ukes at our jams cause we either sing or all play loud -- I think it's the coffee drinks we're downing. I do hear it when folks are in different keys than the song. My first thought is always, "I'm really out of tune" rather than do I have the right key.
 
No, your right, it's not a problem, it's actually just one less thing to carry around.

The problem is that I need a reference to tune to for the first string - my absolute pitch sense is fairly poor - also, if there is a lot of noise in the room, fugetaboutit, need the tuner. :)
 
I use a snark. I trust them to get me close, but use my "ear" to tune them correctly.
 
I use a cherub Wst 500c

like others have said to get close....and I use my ears for tuning..not only for accuracy but for personal perfence in tuning...
also, for jotting down altered tuning I might like and saving them....for future reference...
 
I've noticed that when the battery is starting to go out on my tuner it's accuracy can be questionable. Once I replace the battery everything is OK. Oh, I have few of the Planet Waves mini clip on tuners and I like them a lot.
I found this place that sells inexpensive CR2032 batteries. They seem to last almost as long as the energizer Lithium's I used to buy at Wally mart for 2 for $6.97 except these are $7.39 (this includes shipping) for 50 (fifty)!!! i just ordered another 50 and it took 3 or 4 days to receive.

I tested them out by buying 10 for 2 bucks or something like that and they worked so well I ended up buying 50. I have 10+ Button Battery devices that use this 1 - 3 CR2032's each.

If someone told me these were this cheap and this good, and shipped this fast, I would not have believed them.

Here is the link

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320802570635?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
 
I use a tuner. I can tell when a uke is out of tune or in tune with my ear but my ear is obviously no where near as good as what I am reading here. But what I find funny is that you can take an instrument and it will be in tune to one player's ear but not another's.

SO do I trust my tuner? yes. Do I trust my ear? yes. Do I trust others? yes, is there perfection? no.
 
if you have a smartphone, get an app like Guitar Tuner Pro or something similar; pretty darn accurate and you'll never lose it.
 
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