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Tuner Question


Cabarone

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A while back I bought a Snark clip-on. Reading the instructions I saw they say it is NOT to be used on Gibsons, as it may damage the nitro finish. I took it back to GC. The salesman said he uses them on his Gibsons all the time w/out any issues. Then he said, "No wait, I left one on for a few days and it did leave a spot in the finish. He went on to say that all clip-ons could do the same thing. So I got an old-school one. My boss does woodworking as a hobby so I asked him if he could make me a stand for it. He said, "Sure, as long as you're not in a hurry." It's been over a month; I guess we have different definitions what that means...

 

Now I'm thinking: what if you put a handkerchief/napkin in between the clamps and head? What kind of tuners do y'all use?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Denver

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My guitars are old so I'm not real worried about finish wear, but I have to admit I wouldn't want to rub out my orig logos. I forgot I could still buy an 'old school' tuner, so I'll be shopping that next.

 

As far as trying to put a barrier on the clip, I guess you'd have to experiment to see what material would still transmit the tone.

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A while back I bought a Snark clip-on. Reading the instructions I saw they say it is NOT to be used on Gibsons, as it may damage the nitro finish. I took it back to GC. The salesman said he uses them on his Gibsons all the time w/out any issues. Then he said, "No wait, I left one on for a few days and it did leave a spot in the finish. He went on to say that all clip-ons could do the same thing. So I got an old-school one. My boss does woodworking as a hobby so I asked him if he could make me a stand for it. He said, "Sure, as long as you're not in a hurry." It's been over a month; I guess we have different definitions what that means...

 

Now I'm thinking: what if you put a handkerchief/napkin in between the clamps and head? What kind of tuners do y'all use?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Denver

 

I use the little dadarrio mini tuner most . It's plastic and I've never had a mark and it's on there pretty much constantly. Both on a Gibson and a Martin for prolonged times.

I have a tc helicon tuner and it started to mark a Martin guitar that I left it clamped to.

Never owned a snark ...

clip it on , tune up and take it off is the only sure fire way to be sure and safe whatever tuner you decide on .

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I have one, and 6 Gibsons,,

 

any sort of rubber or what ever that makes contact for a long time, will mar the finish, especially if it's a new guitar.

 

like BBG says, just don't leave it on. snap on, tune up, remove..

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I've got a Kliq Uber tuner. Clip on. Had it about a year. Absolutely no marks on my 3 Gibsons. But, like BBG, I tune up and then remove it.

I've read hundreds of reviews on Amazon ($25) and not seen one complaining about marks on the finish. This tuner is also used for other stringed instruments, brass, etc.

 

It should be fairly easy to find a material you could use to prevent a potential issue with the Snark. But then you'd have to figure out how to glue it and worry about the glue!

Or, you could get your boss to fashion a pair of little bootie I suppose.

I hope you find an answer. The free-standing ones never seemed to work well for me. Background noise and slipping off my knee. G'Luck !

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Nothing wrong with using a Snark. As others have said, just put it on, tune it up and take it off. I think any clip on tuner will leave a mark if you leave it on. Won't if you use it and remove it. I've used Snarks for years on my Gibsons and Martins without a bit of trouble.

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I'm too "old school" to use a clip on tuner. No, I don't still use a tuning fork but I have in the past.

 

Mine's a Snark pedal type tuner. Snark SN-10S Stage & Studio Tuner Silver. Link It's bright, clear and pretty accurate for quick stage tuning. And the letters are large enough and bright enough even for old eyes to see. I have seen people leave their clip on tuners on their guitars but I don't have any firsthand knowledge as to whether or not anything about it is good or bad for the finish. And, truthfully, I didn't know until fairly recently what they (things clipped on the headstock of the guitar) were. I've heard not to leave the guitar on a certain kind of stand for a long period of time. I'm guessing it's the same thing with those.

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I have been using Snark tenders for YEARS and TC Polytene clip tenders for a year or two now, and never have any issues with them marring the headstock on any guitar, be it a vintage nitro or poly finish, or the current "nitro" finish on Martins and Gibsons. I've accidentally left these tenders on my guitars over night and sometimes for days with no issues. You're overthinking this and worrying too much. The guitar is a tool, just like a hammer. If you don't want it to get marks from use, wear and tear just keep it in it's case and never use it, and it will stay in pristine condition.

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I'm too "old school" to use a clip on tuner. No, I don't still use a tuning fork but I have in the past.

 

Mine's a Snark pedal type tuner. Snark SN-10S Stage & Studio Tuner Silver. Link It's bright, clear and pretty accurate for quick stage tuning. And the letters are large enough and bright enough even for old eyes to see. I have seen people leave their clip on tuners on their guitars but I don't have any firsthand knowledge as to whether or not anything about it is good or bad for the finish. And, truthfully, I didn't know until fairly recently what they (things clipped on the headstock of the guitar) were. I've heard not to leave the guitar on a certain kind of stand for a long period of time. I'm guessing it's the same thing with those.

 

So you plug your acoustic guitar into a pedal tuner every time to tune it?! How's this work when your at a jam, or go to a bussed house to play or around a campfire when you're camping?!

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I'm too "old school" to use a clip on tuner. No, I don't still use a tuning fork but I have in the past.

 

Mine's a Snark pedal type tuner. Snark SN-10S Stage & Studio Tuner Silver. Link It's bright, clear and pretty accurate for quick stage tuning. And the letters are large enough and bright enough even for old eyes to see. I have seen people leave their clip on tuners on their guitars but I don't have any firsthand knowledge as to whether or not anything about it is good or bad for the finish. And, truthfully, I didn't know until fairly recently what they (things clipped on the headstock of the guitar) were. I've heard not to leave the guitar on a certain kind of stand for a long period of time. I'm guessing it's the same thing with those.

 

Hi Michael,

 

it is the same as what a stand will do.. that's why most of us wrap stands that would interact with nitro with strips of cotton.

 

Nitro finish takes a while to fully cure, and the reaction will happen with just about anything rubber, or vinyl. My older les pauls (95, 02) don't seem to be effected by a clip on tuner as the nitro has long since fully cured.

 

My J200, bought last march, yep.. I left my snark on there for a few days, and I noticed there was a slight blem left on the head stock. 95% of it, just buffed out with a few passes of virtuoso, but a small remnant of that is still there. it's not very obvious and I don't loose any sleep over it, it gets played every day,, eventually --- s--t happens. But (maybe I'm OCD for this) but I don't leave any of these clip on tuners attached. No harm will come from that being on for a few minutes when tuning. Just remove it when yer done.

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So you plug your acoustic guitar into a pedal tuner every time to tune it?! How's this work when your at a jam, or go to a bussed house to play or around a campfire when you're camping?!

 

It may be generational type thing, but I look at the tuner as a way to tune quietly. I well remember tuning up in front of people before pedal tuners were normal, and it was annoying. I hope that when guitar players today are not in front of people for money they can still tune their guitars using their ears.

 

rct

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It may be generational type thing, but I look at the tuner as a way to tune quietly. I well remember tuning up in front of people before pedal tuners were normal, and it was annoying. I hope that when guitar players today are not in front of people for money they can still tune their guitars using their ears.

 

rct

 

you radical bastid you...

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I use Snarks on my guitars, including a Martin and a Gibson with nitro finishes. I normally put it on when I pick up the guitar and leave it on until I'm done for that particular session. But, sometimes I forget and case up the guitar with the Snark attached and don't catch it for a day or two. I've never seen any marks.

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I have used the Snark, D'Addario and Peterson Stroboclip tuners on my Gibsons with no problems for years. But I don't leave them on the guitar unless I'm actually tuning. They're ugly. ;)

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Likewise; I wouldn't use any clip-on tuner on a guitar whose finish I cared about. Here are three options I use that I think are better:

1. A TC Electronics PolyTune pedal; absolutely the best such device available IMHO (and that of many others). Biggest downside: it needs to be in a signal chain, or for everyone else to be quiet.

2. The TC Electronics PolyTune App on my iPhone (I believe it's also available for Android phones as well). A great app; works essentially as well as the pedal, but can't easily be in your signal chain, so it does need quiet.

3. An old-fashioned tuning fork (solid metal, shaped sorta like a very elongated "Y", sounds one note, usually "A"). Tap it against a piece of wood other than your guitar and touch the single end against your bridge, beside the string pegs (where there's no finish). You'll get a beautiful, resonant "A"; tune the 7th fret harmonic of your D string to this. Now use your ears to tune the other strings.

 

In all seriousness, I use all of these, and #3 is my favorite. The more you use your ears with intention, the better they get, and you'll be able to hear very quickly when a string is going a bit out of tune and make pretty decent corrections on the fly. Conversely, the less you use your ears, the less they'll be able to help you. With reasonably good ears, you can even use method #3 when there's a fair bit of ambient noise around.

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Finishes change over time. Old finishes are pretty well no problem -- newer ones not so much. Since all of our 100+ guitars are more than 50 years old, we don't worry about it.

 

Let's pick,

 

-Tom

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Well, well, well. So I made a mental note to take the little, inconspicuous D'Addario mini tuner off of the Hummingbird this weekend just to have a look; it's been on there for maybe three weeks-

 

c6i8CzY.jpg

 

A couple of "D" shaped marks above the S and the U. I mean "O". The mini tuner is so small, you can leave it on with the display to the back, and no one knows you care about tuning.

 

Virtuoso polish or cleaner didn't get it out, microfine wet sanding could do the job, if so inclined. Currently not so inclined, though. So- yes, new guitar; take it off when done tuning.

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I'm too "old school" to use a clip on tuner. No, I don't still use a tuning fork but I have in the past.

 

Mine's a Snark pedal type tuner. Snark SN-10S Stage & Studio Tuner Silver. Link It's bright, clear and pretty accurate for quick stage tuning. And the letters are large enough and bright enough even for old eyes to see. I have seen people leave their clip on tuners on their guitars but I don't have any firsthand knowledge as to whether or not anything about it is good or bad for the finish. And, truthfully, I didn't know until fairly recently what they (things clipped on the headstock of the guitar) were. I've heard not to leave the guitar on a certain kind of stand for a long period of time. I'm guessing it's the same thing with those.

Hey! I like my tuning fork😄😎

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Likewise; I wouldn't use any clip-on tuner on a guitar whose finish I cared about. Here are three options I use that I think are better:

1. A TC Electronics PolyTune pedal; absolutely the best such device available IMHO (and that of many others). Biggest downside: it needs to be in a signal chain, or for everyone else to be quiet.

2. The TC Electronics PolyTune App on my iPhone (I believe it's also available for Android phones as well). A great app; works essentially as well as the pedal, but can't easily be in your signal chain, so it does need quiet.

3. An old-fashioned tuning fork (solid metal, shaped sorta like a very elongated "Y", sounds one note, usually "A"). Tap it against a piece of wood other than your guitar and touch the single end against your bridge, beside the string pegs (where there's no finish). You'll get a beautiful, resonant "A"; tune the 7th fret harmonic of your D string to this. Now use your ears to tune the other strings.

 

In all seriousness, I use all of these, and #3 is my favorite. The more you use your ears with intention, the better they get, and you'll be able to hear very quickly when a string is going a bit out of tune and make pretty decent corrections on the fly. Conversely, the less you use your ears, the less they'll be able to help you. With reasonably good ears, you can even use method #3 when there's a fair bit of ambient noise around.

Yep! Another hint from an old 'forker' 😱: it's best to tap your fork against your knee rather than hitting it on a wood object - too much impact can put your fork out of tune!

OK, OK, I know how this sounds if you have an inclination toward double entendre, but it's meant as a serious comment....

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I have a tuning spork. I can tune my guitar - and when I'm done, I can eat applesauce and pork chops.

 

When our hair was huge permed and 4 colors and the president was an actor, two of us could use mine to snort...oh, nevermind.

 

rct

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Well, well, well. So I made a mental note to take the little, inconspicuous D'Addario mini tuner off of the Hummingbird this weekend just to have a look; it's been on there for maybe three weeks-

 

c6i8CzY.jpg

 

A couple of "D" shaped marks above the S and the U. I mean "O". The mini tuner is so small, you can leave it on with the display to the back, and no one knows you care about tuning.

 

Virtuoso polish or cleaner didn't get it out, microfine wet sanding could do the job, if so inclined. Currently not so inclined, though. So- yes, new guitar; take it off when done tuning.

 

I've used that little tuner in your picture. I'd think it's more prone to leaving a mark compared to a TC Polytune, and even a Snark. With the tuner you have you have to squeeze/clamp that thing on, and you could clamp it on rather snug if you're so inclined, making it more prone to mark up your headstock. I've left Snarks and TC Polytunes on new Gibsons and relatively new Martins for days if not longer, and still have never had either one of them leave a mark. I have a black TC Polytene clamped onto my J45TV as I type this and it's been on there since yesterday, and I'm too lazy to get up and take it off.

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