What is the purpose for super accurate tuners?

Happy Thanksgiving 2.0!! (We had ours in Canada earlier haha)

So I have a snark tuner that I usually just use to check that the strings are in tune before playing, and then again if something sounds off. But I've seen more accurate/sensitive ones and I was wondering how people usually use these? I'm.not sure my own ears would notice if something was like a cent or two off (and whether I would bother to fix it every time lol) but maybe I just need to do more ear training :)

I'm not as concerned with accuracy as with speed and ease of use. I have some cheap tuners that can't settle on a note, so they're a waste of time. Snark, and other quality tuners, swing to the center quickly as I turn the tuners. Is my tuning 100% accurate or only 99.6%? As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter.
 
As demonstrated by this thread, like everything else tuning is different for everyone. Some just want to get their ukes tuned up and play. Others turn it into a ritual. I've gone down that road and back myself. Watching some of the people in my strum groups, I think they use it as a Zen thing to get their head into it before we start playing. But I think I've finally settled somewhere in the middle. I mean, you're not there to tune, eventually you're going to have to play.
 
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After reading the recent (quite heated) thread on intonation, I'd be afraid of what the strobe tuner would tell me about my instrument. From what I gathered from that discussion, intonation is as much art as science and there are compromises to be made when building an instrument which, I'm thinking would be all the more apparent with a strobe tuner!

Now, someone obsessive, might use that information and tune each string at a different fret to achieve the ultimate compromise. :p
 
"Now, someone obsessive, might use that information and tune each string at a different fret to achieve the ultimate compromise."

But would they be able to discern the difference by ear - and if not, what is the point?

John Colter
 
The more accurate the better.
 
Problem is you have to use more time and effort than necessary on the tuning if "overdoing" it. I'm quite demanding, but seriously you get it right enough I'd guess with any electronic tuner. If you like the outfit, you are ok.

Of course I still tune every day I play, even if the same strings have been there since purchase a couple of years ago. Telling just so it doesn't look I'm taking this lightly...
 
The problem with strobe tuners is this: We always want tune from down to up. Of course this is more a trouble with wound strings like in guitar, or low G uke and the nut lubrication. When we finally get the display not moving left or right, we might have turned winders somewhat down. So they are frustrating to use, especially my UniTune display.

The standard needle display is about 2 cents accurate only, which is enough.

Some folks here have bought a tuning fork, which we all should have as a hobby or interest ;)
Someone sayed here having bought tuning forks supposed to be A 440 Hz and then not. Good tuning forks are just right in that frequency they are specified to be, in room temperature, something like 22 Celcius.
Tuning fork works better on guitar in my opinion. Best way I could do on guitar is to compare 5th and 7th fret string harmonics of the bass E and A strings to first E string open after relative tuning, and then the octaves, to avoid cumulative error.

Just it never will be as accurate as using an electronic tuner. But yes get a tuning fork, I recommend that to everybody. The experience gives much more appreciation to our electronic tuners.
 
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This is the best clip-on tuner that I have used:

TC Electronic UniTune Clip-on Tuner

It's twice the price of a Snark, but way more accurate.

I can tune to the green lights quickly and accurately, or I can fine tune as needed. The red lights kind of fade into the green as the pitch gets closer, so it's easy to see how close each note is to being on the money. That way I can "temper" a string to compromise the tuning a bit on ukuleles that have less than perfect intonation (which is most of 'em, haha).

I've hated Snark tuners ever since they switched from the little dots to the bars on their display.
 
In my case, I am the weak link in the tuning process and not the tuner. I have a Snark which I've had for about 4 years and basically if my string is one or two clicks to either side of center, that's good enough for me. So a Peterson tuner would just be a lot of wasted money for me. I might still get a Peterson eventually just because this is my hobby and I want to accessorize. However it would be illogical. And I think in my heart of hearts I do believe that the whole uber-accuracy is just marketing. I consider it to be on the same level as people buying super high definition television sets that have egregiously astronomical frame rates when anything over 14 FPS is not observable by the naked eye. It is like a person's self-worth is equated to his or her television's resolution and frame rate.
 
Yes that sort of is ripock.

Regarding tuning forks when you people want go old style. You should not buy ones with round rods. They are mostly just cheap crap. A good tuning fork needs have a rectangular cross section if it is supposed be any good.

Steedy, I use also the color display with some red, in compromises on C and E strings. My ukuleles are not perfect, or their strings.
 
In my case, I am the weak link in the tuning process and not the tuner. I have a Snark which I've had for about 4 years and basically if my string is one or two clicks to either side of center, that's good enough for me. So a Peterson tuner would just be a lot of wasted money for me. I might still get a Peterson eventually just because this is my hobby and I want to accessorize. However it would be illogical. And I think in my heart of hearts I do believe that the whole uber-accuracy is just marketing. I consider it to be on the same level as people buying super high definition television sets that have egregiously astronomical frame rates when anything over 14 FPS is not observable by the naked eye. It is like a person's self-worth is equated to his or her television's resolution and frame rate.

Haha, yeah I was equating it to buying a Ferrari when all you do is sit in traffic day after day. Sure, if you live next door to a racetrack, go for it!
 
Are there anyone else not clipping on? As I'm playing alone the clip is not necessary. And I prefer not to put anything "extra" on my uke. So I'm using Pocket Ukulele Tuner (pro) on my smartphone. Don't think I will need anything else, it's excellent.
 
Are there anyone else not clipping on? As I'm playing alone the clip is not necessary. And I prefer not to put anything "extra" on my uke. So I'm using Pocket Ukulele Tuner (pro) on my smartphone. Don't think I will need anything else, it's excellent.

I don't clip on.
I check my tuning once before a gig, then - if something goes out I always know it, and do a bit of relative tuning to make it right again.
I don't clip on for the same reason I don't use GPS for getting around in my car - I don't want to lose my innate senses by sub-contracting out to a device. If I had the tuner clipped on I'd be constantly referring to it and that would distract me.
I am not technology averse, I just like to use devices as aids and keep my wits about me.
 
Mic tuners on tablets or phones can be good too. Not so good with other noise. It is just so much a guessing game.

Your uke might have some acoustic fundamental frequency, that totally blows away the string frequency for that note.

So it is a compromise and better clip on for tuning. Take it off after and then check with your smart app.
 
I think the tuner can help to get you in the ballpark but it still helps to use your ears to tweak if needed. I know some think it is overkill, but there are plenty of folks with great sensitivity and awareness to pitch variances. I could compare it to people with really refined palates who can taste minute differences in wine. Some may be a natural skill and a lot comes from training the ears.

There are tuners that are more accurate the the generic or Snarks. I have found that some of the Korg tuners are better than most. They have been in the tuner business for ages.
 
I think the tuner can help to get you in the ballpark but it still helps to use your ears to tweak if needed. I know some think it is overkill, but there are plenty of folks with great sensitivity and awareness to pitch variances. I could compare it to people with really refined palates who can taste minute differences in wine. Some may be a natural skill and a lot comes from training the ears.

There are tuners that are more accurate the the generic or Snarks. I have found that some of the Korg tuners are better than most. They have been in the tuner business for ages.

It does not matter much how long they have been in 'business'. Korg was my first electronic tuner. A plug to a tuner with an electric and alternative was the mic that broke down. What with the wafering needle display, but it surely was the first ones as electric tuners go. So as a history worth to mention. Darn bother with a 9 volt battery lol.

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What I learned from Korg micro six tuner was, I could learn how to compensate my guitar tuning with just a fork. Those times I was a poor young guy, found not so much cash to buy new battery. Strings too were costly for me. Just I don't recommend anyone these days to avoid electronic tuners. They are cheap these days.
 
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Tuners are ok to get you in the ball park. I always tune a uke to itself as ofttimes, although individual strings may ring true, when fingering chords, it can sound off.
 
Tuners are ok to get you in the ball park. I always tune a uke to itself as ofttimes, although individual strings may ring true, when fingering chords, it can sound off.

What do you mean tune a uke to itself? Like tune one string and then use it as reference to tune the others?
 
Tuners are ok to get you in the ball park. I always tune a uke to itself as ofttimes, although individual strings may ring true, when fingering chords, it can sound off.

Great point, Barry. I play mostly solo outings. So as long as I know that my "general range" is pretty close to the "A=440" mark, all I really care about at that point is making sure the uke is "in tune with itself". (Obviously, we don't want to unintentionally go out there with the uke tuned way, way low or way, way high.) And like you, I frequently "tweak as needed" during an outing; I may have a couple of "pet chords" that I'll strum as a "spot check", knowing from past experience that if those two chords sound right (precise) to my ear, then I'm going to be good "over-all". I still think of tuning as a little song entitled "My Dog Has Fleas" (from 1st string to 4th string). I have come to realize over the years that we all have different "gifts" when it comes to music. Personally, my "chops" are just kinda "decent", but nothing that'll be specifically mentioned in my obituary. On the other hand, I was blessed with a pretty good ear (literally, as I'm deaf on my left side, but "righty" is really good!). I sometimes take for granted my ability to grab a guitar or a uke and have it cranked into tune (with itself) within maybe 15 seconds without the aid of a tuning device. On the other hand, I recall once when a rural gentleman was telling me that he had an acoustic guitar and was learning how to play, and he said, "Yeah, I take it to a guy in town every week and have him tune it for me." It was then that I realized, we're all different, we're all strong on some things, weaker on others, and we don't cut each other up-- we just try to help each other out. That's one of the things I love about this Forum!
 
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