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Best pedal tuner?


Beedster
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I've been a long time user of the Korg DT-10 also, but recently the footswitch has started going on mine. A friend of mine warned me it would happen as he has been through about 3 or 4 switches, but I'd never heard of it happening before, and now it's started happening to mine. It's never let me down in any other way before though. Think I might just have to take the plunge on a Strobostomp! :)

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I'd stay away from the Boss personally, I've had a few Boss pedals and found them all to have a negative effect on my tone when in bypass. The Korg DT-10 also suffers from a crappy bypass so I'm led to believe. 4 great true bypass tuners are:

Ibanez LU-20: Cheap, massive display, two outputs. I've owned this and I can't fault it, I only sold it because I fancied a tuner with a strobe mode. The best value option by miles.



Korg Pitchblack: Looks awesome in a stealth kinda way, lots of different modes including strobe. My current tuner.



Sonic Research Turbo Tuner: The most expensive of the three, but is the fastest most accurate tuner there is and has a great strobe mode. If I was buying a tuner I'd probably get this.



Digitech Hardwire Tuner: Don't know much about this one but it's worth checking out.

Edited by dannybuoy
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+1 on the Boss. Been using one for nearly 6 years and its not once ever let me down. Infact my whole band(me, two guitarists) each have one and we're always perfectly in tune. I think unless you are a total tone snob with ears like a thing with VERY good ears you never notice any tone suckage of volume being stolen, I certainly have never noticed any difference and the guitarist I have been jamming with who only uses high end "Boutique" gear and who Is a total tone freak uses one.
I've had beer all over mine, its been dropped and had things drop on it, its been left in freezing band vans and been left in the boiling heat of a summers out door gig, infact it was so hot to the touch from being left in the sun that it was hard to pick it up. Its been thrown in various gear bags and boxes with a bunch of other rubbish and it still functions perfectly, all scratched and dirty b ut it does its job. If it ever does die, I'll get another one in a heart beat.

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I realise the 'tone suck' issue is very minor, it's very noticeable to me through a clean hi-fi rig or through headphones even though nobody else in the audience would notice the difference anyway. But if I'm investing in a quality bass and an amp, why introduce degradation into the signal (however slight) when there are better alternatives available for around the same price?

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[quote name='john_the_bass' post='677533' date='Dec 8 2009, 09:22 AM'][b][i]The best one is the one that the rest of the guys in your band use[/i] [/b]if you want to be 100% that you are all tuned exactly the same - hence I have a TU-2 and a Pitchblack - ok, so that may be overkill slightly, but the guys in one band all have Pitchblacks and the other band uses TU-2s. Simples!![/quote]

I agree with the above in bold italics, so long as it's a good one. I'm sure the TU-2 is fine - it has many fans, and my guitarist has used one for years and likes it. The other guitarist in my band uses the tuner in his GT-8. He's never in tune for long. That's obviously not the GT-8 tuner's fault (probably his guitar's fault - anyone know of a Fender Strat to stay in tune for long?), but it makes me wonder if it's as accurate as stand-alone tuners?

I'm really happy my DT-10, I wish I'd known about the black version when I was buying, but I've not seen any reviews claiming that the black one is a better tuner than the aluminium one . . . :)

The DT-10 tracks fast on all 5 strings, it's bright, and has a wider display than the TU-2. Personally, I prefer the DT-10 type of footswitch than the Boss-type footswitch. You know you have one or two (or more if you're lucky) bits of gear that are like your faithful family dog or your 15 year-old car that never misses a beat - that's my DT-10. I never worry about it or doubt it. IMO, trusting your tuner is important, and I do trust my DT-10.

I respectfully disagree with the "crappy bypass" comment - I've done many gigs (with and without a sound engineer), running bass -> DT-10 -> other FX -> VXL Bass Attack -> amp/PA, and never personally noticed, nor was told of, any noise issues at all with my signal.

The DT-10 is really solid - it feels like you could hit your guitarist with it and it'd still be fine, though to be fair I'm sure that's also true of the TU-2.

You probably wouldn't go wrong with either the DT-10 or the TU-2, but if I had to buy a new tuner tomorrow, it'd be the black DT-10.

[url="http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/47998_l.jpg"]http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/47998_l.jpg[/url]

IMO, anything more expensive than these two is wasting money - is it really likely that your bass will be noticeably more in tune when using a Strobostomp than a DT-10/TU-2?

DT-10 is as tough and capable as you need, again IMO.


Mark

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[quote name='dannybuoy' post='677514' date='Dec 8 2009, 09:04 AM']I realise the 'tone suck' issue is very minor, it's very noticeable to me through a clean hi-fi rig or through headphones even though nobody else in the audience would notice the difference anyway. But if I'm investing in a quality bass and an amp, why introduce degradation into the signal (however slight) when there are better alternatives available for around the same price?[/quote]

I wouldn't disagree with that, and I have got rid of a rack tuner precisely because of its negative effect on the tone.

But like Phaedrus, I've never had any problem with the Korg DT10

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[quote name='BigRedX' post='677814' date='Dec 8 2009, 01:03 PM']A tuner isn't just for tuning up on stage. If you're doing your own setups you want the best you can get.[/quote]

I agree. Also when you're playing along with a synth with strong fundamental content, you're tuning is actually noticeable. It's not like the audience are going to hear tuning issues and understand it, but they will hear what is right and what is wrong and tuning is a mathematical principle free from subjective assessment.

You are in tune, or you're not but it doesn't matter that much.

I'm usually in the latter category but every so often I regret not using a more accurate tuner.

Dan

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+1 for the Korg Pitchblack...IME it's a bit cheaper than the boss too!

[quote name='Phaedrus' post='677616' date='Dec 8 2009, 10:42 AM']anyone know of a Fender Strat to stay in tune for long?[/quote]
Bit OT, but mine does!...but I always make sure it's set up really well and don't use really light strings...I only use tens though and bend quite a bit.

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Another one for the Korgs, i currently use the DT-10 and it's very accurate and responsive. If i was looking at buying a new one i'd look at the Pitchblack but there's nowt up with mine!

The old Sabine one i had was good and pretty well built, stood up to a lot of abuse and was always accurate. Some scumbag hotel staff nicked it at a wedding gig hence the Korg, otherwise i'd still be using it today

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