Strobe or needle tuner ?

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

I am wondering,,what is your opinion on a strobe and a needle tuner. Do you think one is more accurate or precise than the other.

I have used one brand or another, of needle tuners over the years,,but not a strobe tuner.

I am thinking of trying a strobe tuner & just wondering before I plunk down the $$

Brett Lanier · From: Hermitage, TN

You can get the peterson strobosoft app for an iphone or itouch if you have one of them. It only costs 10 dollars, and the only downside is that you can't store presets (yet). I'm not sure how much it would cost for a pc or macbook, but it's worth looking into.

Butch Pytko · From: Orlando, Florida, USA

Richard,

A very good question, & what a question it is! I really can't give you an answer on the ACCURACY part, as I feel the needle tuners I've used thru the years were just as accurate as the Strobostomp 2 I'm now using. Back in the early 80's I started out with the large Korg tuner, then in the 90's I got the updated new design Korg, & later for the last several years, up to recently getting the Strobostomp 2, I was using the Boss TU-12. The TU-12 was a fine needle tuner.

What I can tell you is the new found advantages I've discovered by going to the strobe. First, the Strobostomp 2, has built-in preset readings for E9 & C6, or you can program your own presets. Second, with the large screen, I chose to place it on the floor so I can easily tune-up while seated at the steel. Also, I installed a tuner-out jack in my volume pedal so I can leave it on to touch-up my tuning on-the-fly. But, the third biggest point I'd like to make, as far as looking at the needle tuner vs the strobe tuner is--you can look at the strobe tuner screen from much farther away, than you can with the needle screen. For years I had to put the needle tuners on my lap--close up--in order to see the small calibration marks to make an accurate tuning. With the strobe, all you have to do is stop the moving strobe & you're in tune--no small calibration marks to worry about--can tune from far away, but still make a very accurate tune-up.

The Peterson line of strobe tuners are more expensive than others, but I think well worth it. Peterson has a great reputation of quality & accuracy, too. There are a few other brands around that are cheaper & I've heard good things about them, so it's worth it to check into them as well.

Good luck!
Butch

Dickie Whitley · Posted 19 Sep 2010 12:11 pm

Richard,

I vote for peterson strobes, then again, I'm a little biased as I have two of them. Just my 2 cents.

David Ball · From: North Carolina High Country

I've had strobe type tuners for years--mainly an old Conn to use in the shop when setting instruments up, and I have a Peterson Stroboflip that I use for that purpose now. I bought the Peterson Strobe app for the iPhone and it works well, but my "go-to" tuner now is the iPhone "Cleartune" app. It's fast, accurate and cheap. It doesn't have the presets that the Stroboflip has, but if you're using something like the Newman tuning chart, it works great. The "needle" locks right in and is a lot easier to read than many of the newer tuners. Plus it's only four bucks...

Dave

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Hay thanks guys for all the Info.

Yes I do have problems with see,ing the little needles on the tuners I have now, so it sounds like the strobe would be great Smile

I have always wondered about the pre-sets to sweeten the E9th tuning. Im not quite sure exactly what these pre-sets do ? Is it a pre-set for JT & ET tuning ?

Ray McCarthy · From: New Hampshire, USA

The "sweetened" E-9th tunings on the StroboFlip are very close to pure JI and are based on Jeff Newman's tuning method, which is based in turn on LLoyd Green's tuning, so I've heard. But you can also set the tuner to "straight up" ET if you prefer.

Olli Haavisto · From: Jarvenpaa,Finland

David, the Cleartune has a provision for editing for instance the equal temperament and save it by name. I`ve done this for the steel and the dobro.
Only problem at this time is that the edited and saved temperament dissappear if you close the app. An update will soon fix this says Brad from Cleartune.
BTW The amazing PolyTune is now available for the iPhone ! For guitar it`s great: strum the 6 open strings and it tells you which ones are out of tune and in which direction....
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Olli Haavisto
Finland

Thom Ferman · From: Las Vegas, NV, USA

Richard, I compared the StroboStomp 2 to the Korg PitchBlack Plus and ended up going with the Korg. The Korg has presets for sweetened tuning, dual inputs (great for swapping between PSG and 6 string), a big bright alpha note display and a no-nonsense tuning indicator. Also, they're almost $100 less than the StroboStomps. I paid $104 for a new one shipped from Recording Services and Supply in Kansas. Also Korg is running a $20 rebate until the end of the year. My 2 cents! (miserable joke, I know)
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Thom Ferman
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Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Thanks Thom,,I will check the Korg out Smile

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

Another vote for the Peterson. Look at the published accuracy. There is nothing on the market that has accuracy of the Peterson.

I don't use the built in steel programs. I have my own, which are a modified Jeff Newman with the E's referenced to "zero" (440).

Buck Grantham R.I.P. · From: Denham Springs, LA. USA

The Peterson stroboflip is the most accurate and very easy to use . I have 4 needle tuners and every one give me diffrent readings. It takes me less than 2 minutes to tune my E-9th neck knees a nd all with the Flip. As you can see I am very satisfyed with it. Buck Grantham. All of this is just what I think---- you buy what you like the best....... Smile

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Music to light up your life

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Well I bought a Peterson Strobe today at Sam Ash.
Read the O&M plugged in & tuned up with the sweetened E9th tuning pre-sets.

I am very pleased with the Peterson Very Happy

I can easly read the strobe from a distance & it id dead on the sweetened pre-sets,,no tweaking,,perfect.

After tuning with the Peterson, I checked my tuning against my needle tuners readings,,some of the readings were off the way the needle tuner read out.

Dont think I ever tuned up right to my ears using the needle tuner, before Sad

There are some good needle tuners out there,I know, but the Peterson beats all I have ever tried.

So thanks to all for your opinions Smile

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steelguitarguy.com

Bill Howard · From: Indiana, USA

I had a Korg chromatic tuner in the 80's at the time the biggie of tuners,you were supposed to tune one string 440.1 another 439.8 and so on it always sounded out of tune no matter WHAT I done, Late 80's or early 90's Sabine came out with the little wedge tuner,I had an 1100 first then they came out with a Pro serieds called a 1500,Troubles over for tuning,I will put my Sabine up against ANYTHING,I tune pulls with it toally accurate,i have a Blind friend who is a Piano Tuner,He agree's with me about a Sabine being accurate,Sabines are accurate period, and inexpensive also, Sorry Gold Plated Strobofips,with a 5000.00 rack system,a Platinum buddy emmons model and to think one of my ALL time favorite steel rides was played on a JUNK Sho Bud played by Ralph Mooney ONE knee lever!!,then ask the question, Are you SURE Hank done it this away?

Mark Lavelle · From: San Mateo, CA

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