Snark Clip-On Tuner ?

Gary Hoetker · Post by **Gary Hoetker** » 8 Mar 2019 1:48 pm

A Forumite suggested this below as the location to apply the Snark.

"Stays clipped on to the RH rear leg for pedal steel." Would that be the right rear leg?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.

Thank you.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 8 Mar 2019 2:24 pm

Gary Hoetker wrote:..."Stays clipped on to the RH rear leg for pedal steel." Would that be the right rear leg?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated as well.

Yes, I'd read "RH rear" as right-hand rear. (But it would probably work anywhere on the guitar.)

As far as "other suggestions", my only one would be that you should keep in mind this tuner is not perfectly tempered for pedal steel guitar.

Tommy Mc · Post by **Tommy Mc** » 9 Mar 2019 8:15 am

Gary, for about the same price as a Snark, you can buy a Peterson Pitchgrabber clip-on pickup and use it with the (free) PitchLab app on your phone. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -on-pickup

PitchLab lets you set up a custom sweetened tuning with any offsets you choose. I clip the pickup on the right hand rear leg of the steel.

Dylan Ritter · Post by **Dylan Ritter** » 9 Mar 2019 9:17 am

Tommy,

For the Pitchgrabber, do you just clip that to a leg and it will pick up the frequencies or some other way?
Any experience with accuracy and strength of signal, seems like a nice solution but just skeptical on how reliable it could be.

Thank you,

Dylan

Jim Kennedy · Post by **Jim Kennedy** » 9 Mar 2019 9:21 am

I used an Intelletouch tuner until I got my Petersen tuner. The directions with the Intelletouch said to find the sweet spot on the head of the guitar. I did the same on my Shobud S 10. Middle of the body on the business side. I would never have thought to try it on one of the legs. Try different spots and see how it works.

Pete Bailey · Post by **Pete Bailey** » 9 Mar 2019 9:29 am

I clip my snark to the inside apron of the guitar, on the left just beneath the tuning pegs so I can glance down at it quickly. I have observed that attaching it to the instrument's frame gives a better response than clipping it to a leg.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 9 Mar 2019 10:36 am

Tommy Mc wrote:Gary, for about the same price as a Snark, you can buy a Peterson Pitchgrabber clip-on pickup and use it with the (free) PitchLab app on your phone. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -on-pickup

PitchLab lets you set up a custom sweetened tuning with any offsets you choose. I clip the pickup on the right hand rear leg of the steel.

Or get an iRig and plug the guitar into your phone with a tuner app. I prefer that Pitchlab Pro app on my Android phone as the Peterson App for Android doesn't support the sweetened tunings. It does on ios devices (it works on my iPad).

You can find them anywhere online (Amazon, Sweetwater, etc...) or even places like Guitar Center (where I got mine).

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 9 Mar 2019 10:37 am

The only guitar I use a Snark on is a 6 string.
Nothing but a Peterson for my pedal steel.

Erv

Larry Allen · Post by **Larry Allen** » 9 Mar 2019 11:03 am

Iâ€™m with Erv.....

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 9 Mar 2019 12:39 pm

I use a Snark. I clip mine to the rear apron just behind the machine head. The vibrations seem to transmit readily, even those low C6 strings.

As for accuracy, well, it gets me in the ball park - I fine-tune using my ears. They came as factory standard 76 tears ago and they're still working.

Tommy Mc · Post by **Tommy Mc** » 9 Mar 2019 1:22 pm

Dylan Ritter wrote:Tommy,

For the Pitchgrabber, do you just clip that to a leg and it will pick up the frequencies or some other way?
Any experience with accuracy and strength of signal, seems like a nice solution but just skeptical on how reliable it could be.

Thank you,

Dylan

Yes, the PitchGrabber works like a clip-on tuner. You clip it on someplace it can sense the vibrations. On my steel, the right rear leg works fine. The other end plugs into the headphone jack on your phone. Then you can use any tuning app of your choice. I like PitchLab because you can set it up with sweetened tunings.

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 9 Mar 2019 2:17 pm

That's a great tip , clipping the Snark to the back apron. Thanks Pete , never thought of doing that.
Just tried it , love it.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 9 Mar 2019 2:56 pm

I use a Snark here at home, clipped on the rear apron. It works great there.

There are buttons on the back to change the reference from 440 up and down. I have my offsets memorized. I start off with 441 and work my way down.

It doesn't work well if the band is playing. It picks up pitches from other instruments.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 10 Mar 2019 12:56 am

u guys use tuners ?

Paul Pearson · Post by **Paul Pearson** » 10 Mar 2019 4:57 am

I have always used my cord tuner for the E note and tune by ear from their my wife bought me a Peterson tuner for Christmas and I still can't find anything that's sounds in tune yet guess it's TRUE cant teach an old dog new tricks ha ha

Eric Philippsen · Post by **Eric Philippsen** » 10 Mar 2019 8:32 am

I respect those who use a SNARK tuner due to budgetary concerns. I get that.

If and when one is able to upgrade, remember that a Peterson is accurate to within 1/10 of one percent. That's incredible. It's my understanding that other tuners are often not as accurate, often to a much, much worse degree.

The only "bad" thing to using a Peterson is that it trains your ear to be very conscious of how in-tune you are.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 10 Mar 2019 1:12 pm

I love my Peterson Stroboplus HD.
I got along with a Boss for years and the Peterson is a great improvement. I really appreciate the tempered tunings available on it. I used to have to carry a chart along when using the Boss.

Erv

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 10 Mar 2019 3:25 pm

I agree with Erv that the Peterson is a great tuner. However, when I change strings, I use a Snark to tune the string up to the ball park pitch.

Paul Pearson · Post by **Paul Pearson** » 10 Mar 2019 4:27 pm

Many years ago Buddy Emmons had a tuning course out that he tuned by harmonic with chimes and ibex done that for years my wife gave me the Peterson strobe plus hd I've tried several settings still can't get that sweetness I have from tuning my ear love the tuner especially in noisy conditions. What am I doing wrong any help would be appreciated

Barry Coker · Post by **Barry Coker** » 10 Mar 2019 5:27 pm

Paul there have been many discussions here on the forum about the use of the Peterson tuner's. A search on them will probably answer all your questions.

Good Luck
Barry

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 10 Mar 2019 5:50 pm

remember that a Peterson is accurate to within 1/10 of one percent.

That's great ... until the a/c comes on and cools the strings, or the warmth of your hands warms the strings, you're playing an outside gig and the sun goes down, etc.

Then, all bets are off.

For that matter, once the bar hits the strings, all bets are off.

$30 tuners work great.

As for accuracy, well, it gets me in the ball park - I fine-tune using my ears. They came as factory standard 76 years ago and they're still working.

I love it!

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 11 Mar 2019 5:34 am

I remember the days of tuning with a pitch pipe. Also using a tuning fork. An A pitched fork you would strike and place the end on your guitar, I can't remember if it was on the pickup or body. The vibrations would transfer to the pickup and amplifier. After tuning string 6 with the B pedal down to the tuning fork, you would then tune with harmonics, or by ear. Pain in the butt. ðŸ¤¯

Thankfully, tuners came into the picture.

For those that tune by ear, do you only play at home, or do you also play gigs? Tuning by ear in clubs is nearly impossible when there is loud music playing. I was once reprimanded at a club that had a DJ playing songs during breaks, when I was going over a new song. Even though the soundman kills the on stage mic's when the band is not playing, they didn't want any noise coming from the stage. I can, and do minor adjustments at home, tune by ear.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 11 Mar 2019 6:41 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:I remember the days of tuning with a pitch pipe. Also using a tuning fork.

[/quote

I used a fork for many years.

For those that tune by ear, do you only play at home, or do you also play gigs? Tuning by ear in clubs is nearly impossible when there is loud music playing. I was once reprimanded at a club that had a DJ playing songs during breaks, when I was going over a new song. Even though the soundman kills the on stage mic's when the band is not playing, they didn't want any noise coming from the stage. I can, and do minor adjustments at home, tune by ear.
I always used my ears, and my secret was that I tuned "with" something rather than "despite" something. To elaborate, when and if there was music playing, I'd tune by (while) playing along with that music. That way, I wasn't plunking away at G#, E, and B notes when the song playing was in G. One other "advantage" is that I always played guitars that were very stable with their tuning.

Bob Russell · Post by **Bob Russell** » 12 Mar 2019 9:02 pm

I use a Snark clip-on clipped to the left rear leg and it works well for getting the steel "close enough" in noisy situations. The rest I do by ear anyway.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Snark Clip-On Tuner ?

Snark Clip-On Tuner ?

Re: Snark Clip-On Tuner ?

Snark

Tuner

Shark tuner