The Steel Guitar Forum

On my Sho Bud pro 2, I can tune all my open strings, then my pedals, using a Korg WT-12, but when I try and tune the knee levers the needle jumps around and will not tune. anyone have any ideas?

Do you hear the note moving around?
Have you tried striking the 12th fret harmonic? Is this all levers?
Is the Pro 2 a nylon nut guitar (sorry, I don't remember which is which) or barrel? If nuts, they might have stripped.

yes I can hear the tone and you can hear it in and out with the lever, yes it is nylon nuts, they will loosen and tighten up none of them are stripped, I can tune close by ear but it is not perfect.

This sounds strange.
Are the stops solid?
Are you holding the lever against the stops?
It's bizarre that some changes are solid and some not

I am beginning to think it may be my tuner, it is only about 32 years old and I thank you very much for info, I think the new Peterson tuners are coming out this month or next.

If you run a smartphone, Cleartune. It is the best 3 dollars I have ever spent.
But if you hear the notes not holding still, there is a problem.

Check fingers for grooves and dirt...How old are the strings?

I doubt very seriously that it is your tuner. It has no way to distinguish between levers and pedals. Since it is only the knee levers, I would suspect that you are not keeping the lever pressed tight against the stop and allowing the lever move slightly affecting what you see on the tuner. The same holds true for the nylon tuners. The chance of all the tuners for knee lever changes stripping or loosening up at the same time, but none of tuners for pedal is probably slim to none.