The Steel Guitar Forum

I have used a Boss TU-12 for years. A while back I thought I'd get fancy and bought a Peterson Stroboplus HD. I guess it's a case of teaching an old dog new tricks, but I resorted back to the TU-12.

Mark, that doesn't LOOK like a chromatic tuner.
ANY chromatic tuner will do.
Here's a cheap one
https://reverb.com/item/208787-behringe ... uner-tu300
My personal experience with clip on tuners is that some some steel guitars don't excite the body enough to drive a tuner: get a plugin tuner, or an app.

I've used both the Pitchlab and have the Cleartune on my Android phone...I liked the Pitchlab, but couldn't fully figure out how to make my own presets...I've been using the Cleartune, which I didn't think was too bad, but then I went back to my little handheld Korg tuner because I was going to be playing out and wanted to be sure...It was absolutley in tune after that!!

Thanks for the replies guys. Phone apps are out for me for 2 reasons. 1) I have no smartphone 2) My vision is limited so large readable screens, dials etc are a must.

Thanks again....MD

I agree with Erv & Jim Pitman regarding the Boss TU12 as the needle is fairly stable and I use Jeff Newman's compensated tuning. Old dog here and have been using this tuning method for a long time.

I use the Seiko SAT800...

Mark, if you have rack space, I have a Behringer rackmount tuner I haven't used in years. LED simulated needle with almost a foot of sweep, and I think the LED display of note name is nearly an inch high.

Lately I have begun asking my guitar player for a reference tone, usually an E. Then I tune both necks by ear and harmonics. It's the best we have sounded in years.

At home I tune the Es with my cheap chromatic tuner, and then tune the rest of the strings by ear. Since the C6 E is a third, I set my tuner at 338.