Cheap Tuner Pedals?

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I'm thinking of buying a tuner pedal, but am on a tight budget. Not really wanting to spend more than about £30. I've seen the odd old, very battle-weary Boss TU-2 on ebay/gumtree for around that price, but most of the Boss and Korg ones that are in decent nick are in the £40-£50 range.

I've seen the likes of the Joyo JT305 (ie Pitchblack knock-off) and the Behringer Tuner that I can get new within my budget. In terms of accuracy and reliability, is there much of a difference between the likes of the Joyos vs the Boss/Korg pedals?

Any other recommendations from anyone? 

BTW - I'd want it to have 9v battery power, so the 'mini' pedals are off the menu.

ICBM

There will be no difference in the accuracy - the technology is very simple and precise and even the most basic implementation will be far more accurate than the typical +/- 1 cent you need (at most) for a stage tuner.

The Behringer pedals I've seen which are Boss knock-offs are identical in performance - I've got a FZ-2 and a SF-300 and they're indistinguishable sound-wise. I haven't seen the Joyo tuner, but I would assume same relative to the Korg.

UnclePsychosis

The snark pedal tuner is very good and costs very little. 

It looks like it's made of plastic but it's actually a metal shell. Seems pretty bomb proof to me. 

There's one here:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/183391605468

You'll probably get one cheaper than that if you try. 

pintspiller

I had a Behringer floor tuner and wasn't impressed. I got a Mooer mini tuner and liked it so much I gave the Behringer away with an overdrive I sold on ebay.

Whether the Mooer is as good as a Boss I don't know not having tried one

JezWynd

I recently went with the Peterson iPhone tuner, very reasonable price and incredibly accurate. They do an Android version too.

I've had a few Snarks, they're very handy but they break eventually, usually at the ball joint holding the tuner to the grip. Good while they last though and cheap enough to not mind buying another.

UnclePsychosis

JezWynd said:

I recently went with the Peterson iPhone tuner, very reasonable price and incredibly accurate. They do an Android version too.

I've had a few Snarks, they're very handy but they break eventually, usually at the ball joint holding the tuner to the grip. Good while they last though and cheap enough to not mind buying another.

The snark pedal is a totally different proposition to the snark clip on. 

Lestratcaster

Try and get a second hand Boss TU-3 if you can. From what I've seen of the Behringer ones they're very unreliable. My mate had one on his board and it never picked up the signal. Possibly cos he had crappy cables and played in drop b lol. But since getting a TU-2 he's had no issues. They'll last years (mine has been going for a decade) and I've never had an issue. Think I paid £55 or so for it. I know its a bit more but I'd rather that and you have reassurance you got a good reliable tuner.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Thanks for the input guys. Good to know that in terms of accuracy something cheapish should do exactly the same as a more fancy one. I guess it comes down to how much I can trust in the durability of the cheaper ones. Only one way to find out if guess... 

Lestratcaster

Are you going to be playing live or is it just for home use? Live I wouldn't take any risks with a cheap shit one, I can't be spending half the set worrying if certain things will work or have pedal board issues!!

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Bit of both, but I'm not a regular gigger by any means. Can always use my cheap little clip on thing as a back up too if needed. Gonna keep my eyes peeled for a Joyo or Snark one on eBay/Gumtree I think.

Lestratcaster

For live I'm not a fan of the clip on ones as people frequently bump my headstock so it could get damaged. Also if doing guitar changes I like the mute function on a tuner pedal.

Arjailer

I went from a Korg Pitchblack Plus (for switching between electric and acoustic guitars) to a Joyo JT305 (to save space as I didn't need the switching anymore) and there's no discernible difference. I've been totally happy with the Joyo.

clarkefan

Not sure if it's just my snark clip on, but it gives a consistently different tuning from my TU-3.  I use it when playing unplugged but when I plug in and check tuning with the TU-3 I always have to raise each string by about 3 of the gradients on the TU-3.

I'm assuming that given that the TU-3 is an industry standard then it's the correct one, and the Snark is therefore the duffer

Grunfeld

clarkefan said:

I'm assuming that given that the TU-3 is an industry standard then it's the correct one, and the Snark is therefore the duffer

Just make sure that the TU-3 is set to 440 Hz because you are able to change this.

Hold down Mode and Stream/Cent buttons at the same time:  if  it displays "0" then it's referencing at 440.

It does 336-445 so the last digit tells you what the reference pitch is.

GoldenEraGuitars

@kurtrowe2000  is selling a korg pitch black for £35

kurtrowe2000

I have a Korg Pitchblack Tuner in brushed nickel. Excellent condition and boxed. I could let you have it for £35 plus postage. 

JezWynd

UnclePsychosis said:

JezWynd said:

I recently went with the Peterson iPhone tuner, very reasonable price and incredibly accurate. They do an Android version too.

I've had a few Snarks, they're very handy but they break eventually, usually at the ball joint holding the tuner to the grip. Good while they last though and cheap enough to not mind buying another.

The snark pedal is a totally different proposition to the snark clip on. 

Yeah, the 'pedal' part of the title totally passed me by. 

Slimbert

Just be patient and keep your eyes peeled.

I picked up a brand new TU-3 for £27.50 from a guy about 5 minutes drive away. That was only a couple of months back.

The bargains are out there.

OilCityPickups

lonestar said:

@kurtrowe2000  is selling a korg pitch black for £35

I use a pitch black ... simple, bombproof and high quality.

BGG

My Polytune Mini decided to fail on me at a gig on Friday. Set to Eb for a dep gig but it was tuning me to E.
Very annoying, thinking a TU3 is on the cards now

clarkefan

Grunfeld said:

clarkefan said:

I'm assuming that given that the TU-3 is an industry standard then it's the correct one, and the Snark is therefore the duffer

Just make sure that the TU-3 is set to 440 Hz because you are able to change this.

Hold down Mode and Stream/Cent buttons at the same time:  if  it displays "0" then it's referencing at 440.

It does 336-445 so the last digit tells you what the reference pitch is.

@Grunfeld , checked and you were absolutely right, it was set to 4, reset to zero as you suggested and all is good, and Snark retrieved from bin

I've no clue how that happened, I haven't touched those controls forever, thank you