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Post subject: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:20 pm
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Has anyone found a chromatic clip tuner that works on basses at low frequencies?

I have tried Fender and Snark and both fail the test on all strings. The E from open to twelve is the biggest difference, then reducing in separation to the G, which it pulls in pretty good.

I use a Korg plug in, but it would be nice to have a clamp on that was accurate, all the way across the board.

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 6:27 pm
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I trust my Boss TU-3 floor pedal tuner. My ZOOM B3 also contains a very accurate tuner. I would never trust a clip on for bass. That being said, Planet Waves has a brand new micro clip on, but I've not tried one.

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:34 pm
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This past spring Korg introduced a dedicated to bass clip on tuner designated the Korg HT-B1. I have not bought one yet. But it is on my radar. They are a few bucks more than a Snark retailing at $30.

I have had a Snark SN-2 for about 18 months. It works fine on every bass, Spanish guitar or ukulele I've tried it on. Maybe I just got lucky for once. What model Snark are you having trouble with?


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:32 pm
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linnin wrote:
I trust my Boss TU-3 floor pedal tuner. My ZOOM B3 also contains a very accurate tuner. I would never trust a clip on for bass. That being said, Planet Waves has a brand new micro clip on, but I've not tried one.


You beat me to the Punch Linin!!... :) I was going to suggest the new D'addario/ Planet Waves NS Micro tuner, at 1.25 inches it's being advertised as the best performance tuner they'll never see. I've yet to try one but I'm definitely going to check it out the next time I go to Long & McQuade.. :) I'll also be trying the Korg HT-B1 that Dave suggested.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:37 am
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Just wondering why a person would "never trust a clip on" for bass?

Tuning via clip on is based on the individual instrument's vibrations and ignores background noise so how is it that it's less effective on a bass over a guitar?

I have 4 Intellitouch tuners around, one in each case with my electrics, and for playing at home with my headphone amp I use them all the time. In gig situations with my Musicmaster basses, I use the built in tuner of my Line 6 Lowdown bass amp.

Never had any issues with the clip on so just asking.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:55 pm
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I may have posted originally without enough detail. The issues I have with these tuners are primarily during set up, primarily on the E, but to a lesser degree, dimishing in order adg. My tech uses a Snark also and our discussion led to a similar finding from him. I set up a bass, then plug in a Korg and find discrepencies.

I love the ease of use, but have not found one (have only used two) that remains reliable at lower frequencies.

By the way Kiss fan, I am up in WI this week. What is with this weather? I have to fly back to FL to cool off?

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 3:34 pm
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affprod wrote:
I may have posted originally without enough detail. The issues I have with these tuners are primarily during set up, primarily on the E, but to a lesser degree, dimishing in order adg. My tech uses a Snark also and our discussion led to a similar finding from him. I set up a bass, then plug in a Korg and find discrepencies.

I love the ease of use, but have not found one (have only used two) that remains reliable at lower frequencies.

By the way Kiss fan, I am up in WI this week. What is with this weather? I have to fly back to FL to cool off?



Like I said, mine are Intellitouch so I don't know if they are rated higher or are actually better then a Snark since I've never seen or used one of those. I always had good luck with them, but I'm not looking for discrepancies as you say.

It is nice and sticky isn't it? We consider it bad Kharma to complain about the heat since 5 months from now we'll be under a foot of snow. That type of seasonal shift is the reason why we produce and consume so much beer up in these-here parts, LOL.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 5:58 pm
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I use a Snark and where I can see some of your complaint, I think the overall convenience, outweighs the issue with the wonky tuning at low freq..

You can always use a harmonic and you have to be in the neighborhood for these tuners to work anyway, but they beat the hassle of a pedal or another tuner cord running out of the amp.

That's all.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:26 am
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I see some of the point about the SNARK and similar clip-ons. They are not incredibly tight, meaning that there is a variation of a few cents and they'll say it is in tune when it really is just close to being in tune. This is really more noticeable on a chorded guitar or ukulele so AFFPROD is right. I can see where in setup you'd want to use a real strobotuner to get it exact to less than 1 cent. But for daily tuning to mess around at home or play bass live they are fine.

The Snark SN-2 get close enough for playing around at home, but I wouldn't use one for intonating saddles during a setup. I get around this looseness by tuning up to pitch and as soon as it says green stop. If I go too far and it says it is sharp I start below pitch and come back up to green. This is an issue with most of the clip on tuners I've seen. The newer models maybe are much tighter. Snark has one they call SUPERTIGHT and charge extra to buy but it really isn't exact either. For everyday tuning the SN-2 works for a lot of different instruments. But nope, not for setups.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:39 pm
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I've just finished doing some research and neither Planet Waves nor Snark actually publishes their clip-on tuner accuracy specifications. Peterson Strobe tuners spec at 0.1 cent. That is 1/1000th of a semi-tone. Stupid close. Strobe tuners in general are super accurate but are frightfully expensive and bulky too. Some of the older ones are about the size of a breadbox. Newer electronic display ones are about the size of a typical Fluke multi-meter.

Clip-on tuners are never that accurate.

On my Snark SN-2 I have I suspect it is something like 4 to 5 cents or maybe more on the low E string. The Snark SUPERTIGHT is advertised as being tighter but they don't say by how much. One cent better is tighter so why don't they publish the tuning accuracy specs? How much better is the SN-8? They don't say, they just say tighter. Like I said you only have to tune a 6 string guitar with a Snark SN-2 and chord it to find that you may need a tweak here or there.

The new clip on Korg HT-B1 dedicated bass tuner actually publishes specs stating plus/minus 1.0 cent. That is tighter than I suspect the Snarks are by a factor of 3 or 4 or 5.

If the Snark SN-2 was DEAD ON (which it isn't) they'd be bragging about plus/minus 0 cents which they aren't. The fact they don't tell you at all sort of bothers me. You know that they know the figure but they aren't saying. Furthermore, Snark wouldn't need a more expensive model SN-8 marketed as "SUPER TIGHT" if they were anywhere near zero. I have noticed that once you get to green on my SN-2 it stays there for what seems like about 4 cents at least on most strings. Close enough for stage tuning on an electric bass but I wouldn't do a setup with it myself or take any instrument to any tech that would use a Snark for a setup.

Snarks are convenient and they get you close, plus the battery life is excellent but there is a margin of error in all tuners. The trick is to get that margin as close to zero as possible. I do like the bright lighted display on the Snark. It is very easy to read. That is helpful. Also the SN-2 tunes about anything, just how closely to correct is the question. For bassists they get you close enough for stage use or practice at home.

I'll let you know when I get one of the new Korg HT-B1 bass tuners. Not many places are stocking them yet, at least none of the places I normally deal with have them yet. They are just out.

Here's the Korg spiel on the entire HT line and now I know that HT stands for HEAD TUNE:



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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:30 pm
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I got the Kala KC02 Clip On Tuner - kind of an impulse buy - it's ok but not that accurate. But I'm jonesing for the Peterson StroboClip!!!

http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=168

From the website: "The StroboClip™ has the 1/10 cent accuracy of all Peterson strobes and also includes new Sweetened™ Tunings and alternate temperaments for a wide variety of string and wind instruments."

Anyone use one of these?

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:46 pm
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I'm back to using a Seiko Chromatic ST-747 Tuner. A more accurate tuner.

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:08 am
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hieronymous wrote:
I got the Kala KC02 Clip On Tuner - kind of an impulse buy - it's ok but not that accurate. But I'm jonesing for the Peterson StroboClip!!!

http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=168

From the website: "The StroboClip™ has the 1/10 cent accuracy of all Peterson strobes and also includes new Sweetened™ Tunings and alternate temperaments for a wide variety of string and wind instruments."

Anyone use one of these?


These Peterson's reportedly will break at the pivot as it is plastic. The housing of the electronics is rock solid, but the pivot obviously isn't. See the 2 cracks around the screw below?

Image

This owner said they never ever tightened that screw and never took it out of the house while it lived mostly on the coffee table with the crack appearing after 1 year. This is why I didn't get one.

The Snark clip on style tuners all have this same weakness tending to break at the pivot but for only $12 to $15 if it lasts a year I'm good with that. Also the Peterson does not have a built in mic and tunes via vibration ONLY.

Reportedly the cost to repair this break on a Peterson clip on is more than the $70 a new one costs from Amazon. So it is cheaper to replace it with a new one.

Regarding the Seiko ST-747, Seiko doesn't publish any specs on their tuners either. They appear to be made by Korg as the design is so similar but not sure about that. They do look very similar though. If they are OEM by Korg then you are looking at the same accuracy as the Korg which is on par with most of the unlit lcd display tuners that have been out for a decade or more. These unlit LCD tuners are maybe more accurate than a Snark but i prefer lighted displays.

Not publishing tuning accuracy specs is not exclusive to Snark. Fender doesn't publish them either.


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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:03 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
These Peterson's reportedly will break at the pivot as it is plastic. The housing of the electronics is rock solid, but the pivot obviously isn't. See the 2 cracks around the screw below?

Image

This owner said they never ever tightened that screw and never took it out of the house while it lived mostly on the coffee table with the crack appearing after 1 year. This is why I didn't get one.

Thanks for the heads-up! Still interested but I will hold off - hopefully they will come out with a new stronger design! I have the strobo-flip but it would be nice to have a clip-on.

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Post subject: Re: Tuning a Fender bass
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:14 pm
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I have this circular thing that's metal on one side, black plastic on the other, with a bunch of openings on the edge that you blow into. I'd use an electronic tuner(for possible future stage), but my bass stays in tune for days at a time.


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