your ideal tuner for steel

Ian S. Cameron · Post by **Ian S. Cameron** » 1 Apr 2013 7:56 am

Okay guys, I'm looking at getting a good quality tuner that will last me for years. What would you recommend?

Michael Hummel · Post by **Michael Hummel** » 1 Apr 2013 8:07 am

Oh boy, you are going to get several "must-have" recommendations

I have the Turbo Tuner ST-122A and I think it is absolutely wonderful. There are lots of guys with various types of Peterson tuners and the new model looks pretty good. There are lots of threads on here discussing tuners.

Mike

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 1 Apr 2013 8:17 am

Being a cheap bastard with a smartphone, I spent $3.00 on Cleartune and $17.00 (including shipping) on a Petersen adapter.
Supports custom offsets (not hard to program) and available on Android and Apple (don't know about Windows, not gonna give Mickeyslop my money)

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 1 Apr 2013 8:32 am

I have tried some of the smart phone tuners and computer tuners, but I still end up back at my Korg Orchestra Tuner.Sensitivity being the main issue. Not mine the instrument.

Gary Reed · Post by **Gary Reed** » 1 Apr 2013 8:33 am

Lane,
I've got it on the iPad too.
I've compared it to the Peterson Flip and it's dead on.
Just set the phone on the guitar and tune up. no attachments needed.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 1 Apr 2013 8:46 am

Niels, given that most of us are not within 1 cent on regular intonation, and the people we play with are not that perfectly in tune, I think the incredible sensitivity is probably surplus to requirements, as the British would say. In much the same manner as most of us have no need of a stopwatch accurate to a thousandth of a second.

Niels Andrews · Post by **Niels Andrews** » 1 Apr 2013 8:53 am

My issue is not so much the degree of accuracy as the stability of the indication. I leave my Korg plugged in to my expression pedal and I am not affected by ambient noise. I would probably have better results using an adapter through, ambient noise is a killer on my iphone 5.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 1 Apr 2013 9:17 am

Totally! The 17 dollars is absolutely worth it, and the app doesn't quite work without it on stage. Clear tune has 3 different settings for the amount of needle damping; I like the medium setting, myself

Chuck Blake · Post by **Chuck Blake** » 1 Apr 2013 10:02 am

My TCW

....my playing is for less accurate than an expensive tuner but I find my Korg tuner plugged directly into the guitar or pedal begins to jump around as the note decays.

At what point is the Korg or any tuner accurate? I find the steel guitar similar to the dobro in that as the note decays so goes the tuner.

Any thoughts? Sorry, not intending to hi-jack thread.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 1 Apr 2013 10:36 am

Exactly. As the note decays, the tuner has problems picking it up. And it tries to compare overtones.

Ian S. Cameron · Post by **Ian S. Cameron** » 1 Apr 2013 10:37 am

the thread has been hijacked, everyone remain calm

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 1 Apr 2013 11:09 am

http://www.youtube.com/user/PetersonTuners

http://www.petersontuners.com/index.cfm?category=197&scID=77

Jeff Scott Brown · Post by **Jeff Scott Brown** » 1 Apr 2013 1:04 pm

Michael Hummel wrote: I have the Turbo Tuner ST-122A and I think it is absolutely wonderful.

I second that.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 2 Apr 2013 2:13 am

I have an ST122a. Gave it to my wife (she also plays steel and guitar). I moved on to the new Peterson. I like the computer programming and bigger and more stable display.

I had to reprogram my ST11a because of changes that are not in the basic Newman E9th settings. I had to do that with the Peterson too but it was a breeze doing it on the computer.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 2 Apr 2013 5:10 am

I also use the Turbo Tuner ST-122A on stage. It's my favorite stomp box tuner. Accurate and stable. No problems at all.

The tuners in iPads and smartphones are often better than stand alone tuners. An iPad has substantially more processing power the a standard stomp box. My favorite tuner app is clear tune.

Jeff Scott Brown · Post by **Jeff Scott Brown** » 2 Apr 2013 5:13 am

Bob Hoffnar wrote:I also use the Turbo Tuner ST-122A on stage. It's my favorite stomp box tuner.

Is there a stomp box version of ST-122A?

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 2 Apr 2013 5:55 am

I tried the St-122A for a week. Great tuner but the readout stability, display size and USB port functions of the new Peterson HD not to mention the approx $50 lower price trumps the 122A.

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/StroboPlusHD ... lusHD.html

I also have the android smart phone tuner and it works quite well and might be the most economical solution.

Greg

Rick Barnhart · Post by **Rick Barnhart** » 2 Apr 2013 6:01 am

Bob Hoffnar wrote:The tuners in iPads and smartphones are often better than stand alone tuners. An iPad has substantially more processing power the a standard stomp box. My favorite tuner app is clear tune.

Plus one on the Clear Tune app. It's easy to program my presets. And because it's in my iPhone...it's always with me.

John Roche · Post by **John Roche** » 2 Apr 2013 6:18 am

I have Cleartune on my android phone ,works great. I made up a cable to connect to the steel , I am well pleased with it....

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 2 Apr 2013 7:45 am

oops... The one I use is the ST200 stomp box one.
http://www.turbo-tuner.com/pages/slides05.htm

Henry Matthews · Post by **Henry Matthews** » 2 Apr 2013 7:52 am

I'm with Lane, the $3.99 Cleartune app on my Iphone is dead on, easy to use, does E9th and C6th once I programmed the tempers in. I also like the Peterson Flip which I use at our Opry.

Where do these adaptors plug into Iphone someone?
The headphone jack or the charging jack on bottom?

Rick Barnhart · Post by **Rick Barnhart** » 2 Apr 2013 8:29 am

Henry, the Peterson adapter plugs into the stereo headphone jack, and works extremely well.

Keith DeLong · Post by **Keith DeLong** » 2 Apr 2013 11:04 am

I tried to download the Cleartune tuner on my Android phone, everything was going great until they asked me for a promo code. Couldn't find one anywhere-can anyone help me with this?

Mule Ferguson · Post by **Mule Ferguson** » 2 Apr 2013 12:08 pm

Cleartune and Peterson Istrobosoft work well for me
Mule

Brett Lanier · Post by **Brett Lanier** » 2 Apr 2013 12:11 pm

A tuning fork! But I ain't Jim Loessberg,, so I go with a peterson stroboflip.