Why I don't need a Peterson Tuner :)

[Larry Bressington]

I don't do ear tuning,live too noisy, i have solid tuning methods using the tuner on the dial. It has worked for years and is very accurate for ME. I would like to try those fancy tuners someday, a friend of mine had one back in 1988, but i never had a real good look at it, i would just tune up as usual, he had some temper tuning settings i think he said, where it would calculate for you?? He never did play in tune though??

[Kevin Shiflett]

Hmm, I thought a tuner was a tuner.

I use my Korg pitch black chromatic tuner that's on my Telecaster pedal board. I had my Hilton vol pedal set up with the line out that runs right to the pedal. Seems to work fine.

I always learn something new when I come over there. Never knew that some steelers use strobes. I thought those were just for guitar techs to set intonation with.

[Robert Harper]

I believe in tuners but if you can't tune by ear how do you know when you are out of tune.

I can hear my guitar when it de-tunes, but I can not tune it solely by ear. I can definitely tell when playing to CDs or YTube

[Edward Byrne]

i tune straight up using a korg pitch black, and im happy with it, and i think my guitar sounds in tune, but what a lot of guys seem to be overlooking is, no matter how accurate your tuner, if you cant place the bar correctly, by using your ears to pitch, what use is any tuner?

[Barry Blackwood]

Well said, Edward.

[Robby Springfield]

I bought the Stroboflip, not because my favorite steel players own one, but because of the simple ease of being able to program the thing for "how ever" one likes to tune. I have always tuned to one note off of a tuner...any tuner, they are all good enough, and then tuned the rest of my guitar by ear. Thats all fine in a controlled space but I do too many venues where there is no place to stage prior to playing. Problem solved in one small gadget!

[Mickey Adams]

I have three tuning forks, and they're all slightly off pitch from each other. I wonder which one is correct?

Borrow a frequency counter and measure. Remember to keep the temperature close to 70 degree F during measurement, and throw away any tuning fork that wanders more than 1Hz off pitch when temperature is varied between 60 and 80 F.

Get a peterson strobolip...Itll tell you which one is correct...

[David Rupert]

Six reasons why I don't need a Peterson tuner:

1. I am willing to futz around tuning my $2000/$4000 pedal steel guitar using a $20 tuner for an hour before the gig without success, while our guitar and bass player laugh at me from the bar (not that they know any better )

2. I'm extremely fussy about my guitar's sound, and spend $$$ on different pickups, but how precisely my guitar is tuned has absolutely no bearing on my guitar's sound.

3. I know exactly how my guitar was constructed, even who built it, and spend $$$ on improvements, but how precisely my guitar is tuned has absolutely no bearing on my guitar's sound.

4. I ignore the fact that Peterson has built the only tuner with specific features for pedal steel guitar, but instead, I buy a tuner with no such features.

5. I disregard tuners competely, knowing that my ears can do better, even though my ears are completely useless when confronted by ambient noise at a gig.

6. I look around and see no other tuner manufacturer besides Peterson supporting steel guitar in the world today, then I go ahead and buy a tuner from a company with no interest in, or knowledge whatsoever of, steel guitar. I'm a genius !

Just sayin'

John N.

I'm glad to see you on the Forum, John! Thanks for all of your help, when I purchased my 1st Peterson StroboFlip Tuner!! You really stand by your customers. In this case, Steel Players!! Even, called me...to discuss the tuner, & get me familiar with my New - Peterson StroboFlip Tuner. Amazing customer service (RARELY seen, these days!!) Thanks again, John!!

I LOVE, my Peterson StroboFlip Tuner!! The Best tuner, I've ever owned!! I use the "SWT:SE9" setting, & my steel sounds excellent!!

BTW - I Love your post, John!! You said it all!!

Take care...& thanks for making such a great product.

[Edward Byrne]

this debate could go on and on, interesting as it is, but if as pointed out 4 different strobes gave 4 different readings, that would indicate that you cant buy perfection, maybe one decent tuner is just as good as any other??? visually on a noisy, dark stage, my korg pitch black does the job for me,im sure i sound in tune, im also sure the strobe must be an excellent tuner, but i suspect it is no more than a 'boutique must have' item, i may be wrong? but, i may be right? i have been the victim of 'hype, must have' items in the past, i'll not name them items here, as they are not tuners, so are not relevant to this tuner thread, just my opinion on equipment, which will probably upset a good few strobe users, who have shelled out a lot of money for their tuner,doing what i try to do, buy the best i can, but i am entitled to my opinion, and i just wonder, out of them 4 strobe tuners that were tested, which one would read closest to my korg? ok, im being facetious now, but just trying to make a point, but im just glad that we are all in tune, as long as we place the tone bar correctly, after getting them open strings in perfect pitch,

[Shane Glover]

Mickey you crack me up !!!!

[David Rupert]

T3

[Mickey Adams]

Ye old tuning issue!!...Good reading....For a while..
The stroboflip measures frequency electronically..equates the beats per second into a readable, somewhat familiar strobing EFFECT...There is no spinning dial...(which would certainly require calibration from time to time)..
Truth is that no string delivers a consistently stable tone generation as decay occurs...and other factors of course...Remember you're striking the string near the changer...an oscillation occurs briefly as the string vibration stabilizes along its length....Now place your warm hands on your cold string for 10 seconds...Ooops...8 cents flat...10 cents?...I can tune by ear too...But its all what you're comfortable with..
For me its knowing HOW FAR away from pitch my guitar has drifted as it acclimates to another climate condition..
Then lets explore the differences in the tempering techniques...FOR ME...Key words: (FOR ME) Sometimes I tune with Es at 442.5...as Newmans original TT chart shows..But sometimes, that doest work either..As the guitar player uses a different brand of tuning device???/ maybe?....etc..
If im going to re-temper my guitar, on the fly, to say ES at "0", with music playing...how the heck am I going to do that without this marvelous invention?.Not to mention I can mute simply by closing off my TELONICS volume pedal, and the tuner output stays active!!!..I LIKE EM!