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Peterson tuner.....wow.


bobby b

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Up until a few days ago my Snark tuner was my 'go to' tuner for all my instruments. Well, during a visit to my luthier, I noticed the tuner she uses for all setups/intonation etc.. is a Peterson Strobe unit.

The model was a 'Strobo-Flip' , I looked it up on the thought that I wouldn't mind having a really good unit here at home......well at over $200 and apparently discontinued...? I dropped that idea pretty quick, but I also discovered the Peterson 'Strobo-Clip' , which is a clip on headstock type tuner.

The 'Strobo-clip', while not cheap....was still reasonably affordable ( $70 CDN ). As always ,my good pals at L&M had no problem with me 'buying to try' and I could return it if not happy.

 

After a brief period of adjusting to using the strobe, I have to say this thing rocks!!

I particularly love the 'sweetened' tuning presets that come with it. I have tuned my HB using the 'sweetened' Acoustic Guitar setting and man oh man what a difference....all chords sound great now ..... the difference is significant.

 

I also have a ton of ukes..... yes I'll admit it....ukes are another love of mine. I have Tenor, concert and soprano ukes. I tuned them using the 'sweetened' uke preset and def notice a difference there too!!

 

Amazing little device indeed.......who'd of thunk it.... I sure didn't. Just for kicks I retuned my HB using the Snark and, yes while technically 'in-tune' some chords still felt a little 'off'.

I guess the Peterson 'sweetened' tunings take into account the temperament of the guitar strings across the board and adjusts accordingly.....whatever it is doing it sure makes a difference to me. Needless to say.... I'm keeping it!

 

Happy happy happy .....joy joy joy.

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Heck, I use an E tuning fork and normally would not think of paying for a tuner what a Peterson runs. But I did end up with one because it was one of the few tuners you could use with the (Buzzy) Feiten tuning system that electric guitars like my Suhr came with. But they are really nice tuners.

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Heck, I use an E tuning fork and normally would not think of paying for a tuner what a Peterson runs. But I did end up with one because it was one of the few tuners you could use with the (Buzzy) Feiten tuning system that electric guitars like my Suhr came with. But they are really nice tuners.

 

 

Yeah, alot of times I just tune by ear, get the low A or E and then tune up by ear using the 5th and 4th fret + open string method. Then after a few strums I still find myself 'tweaking' the tuning a wee bit, same thing when I use the Snark. However, after using the Peterson I feel no need to 'tweak' at all, it 'pre-tweaked' for me.. :)

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I have a Peterson Strobostomp2 (the pedal version of the Stroboflip) on my electric pedalboard and love it. The sweetened tunings really do make a difference. I have a Planet Waves headstock tuner for now, but I'm looking to pick up another Peterson pedal tuner for the acoustic board.

 

Didn't know they made a clip on version: I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

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The difference can be between a cent or two... really minute changes, it would make no odds (nor likely be heard) in a band scenario, most noticeable when playing solo and strumming....

 

ex: some times a G chord can sound great but the B7 in open chord position can seem a bit harsh, or vice versa... on tuner-correct tuning a open chord Dm can sometimes spike on the F note on the e string, sweetened tuning is just perfect tuning slightly adjusted to get the best balance tuning, nothing more....

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its making sense and i think i've actually noticed it but put it down to me not hearing corrctly / playing correctly .

 

if you know how this works then surely planet waves, or intellitouch, snark etc must know too , which begs the question why dont they all make tuners like peterson ?

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yeah , not a single bad word about them apart from the low E not registering easily , but i get that with intellitouch , just harmonics at the 12th fret fixes that

60 quid for the clip on one

i like the idea of what theyre doing but i dont think i'll fork out the readies for the privilage , if my tuner busts i'll be giving them a proper look over

anyone else own one of these jobbies ?

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I'll play the Luddite Devil's Advocate here! So essentially 60 quid for a tuner which gets you a fraction out of tune? I think that my ears are already adapted to 'sweetened' tunings. Which now explains why I do sometimes need to retune if I change key. I suspect that anybody who likes this tuner also has similarly developed ears. I love the idea that technology is this sophisticated and is moving towards natural preferences rather than harsh, digital scientificity. But it's a lot of wonga to reproduce what essentially the ears are already supposed to be doing when you tune sans tuner. If they're not already hearing the sweetened effect and leading you to adjust your tuning accordingly, then I don't really see how the tuner will work so nicely for those of you who have one. And if your ears do hear the effect, why do you need the tuner to tell you that you've achieved it?

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Heck, I use an E tuning fork and normally would not think of paying for a tuner what a Peterson runs. But I did end up with one because it was one of the few tuners you could use with the (Buzzy) Feiten tuning system that electric guitars like my Suhr came with. But they are really nice tuners.

 

 

For years, I used an "A" (440!)tuning fork, which I used to whack against my head to activate. Got a bit tired of the lumps eventually, and now use a little Korg tuner. Since I don't play out, I don't need a clip-on. Where were those when I was younger and could have used them?

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For years, I used an "A" (440!)tuning fork, which I used to whack against my head to activate. Got a bit tired of the lumps eventually, and now use a little Korg tuner. Since I don't play out, I don't need a clip-on. Where were those when I was younger and could have used them?

 

they are i think just the best thing ever invented !

and mojorule , sometimes its hard to do what you suggest , not easy to tune by ear in a busy environment , not so bad if you are so good that an audience will sit and listen to even you tuning a guitar , or you're home alone

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...the Peterson 'sweetened' tunings take into account the temperament of the guitar strings across the board and adjusts accordingly.....whatever it is doing it sure makes a difference to me. Needless to say.... I'm keeping it!

 

Happy happy happy .....joy joy joy.

 

I just had a look at the Peterson website video on the clip-on tuner Here

 

Not wanting to sound negative but what the hell is "Sweetened tuning? Sounds like a bunch of marketing speak to me. A tuner is a tuner right? How the hell can a tuner adjust to each individual guitar? Is it a robot?

 

:unsure:

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I currently have a TC Electronic polytune which works pretty nice, however I would look at the petersons if the need arose, could be a nice birthday gift and that time will be approaching in a couple of months. You never know....

 

..You dropping us a hint here PM???

 

[biggrin]

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I just had a look at the Peterson website video on the clip-on tuner Here

 

Not wanting to sound negative but what the hell is "Sweetened tuning? Sounds like a bunch of marketing speak to me. A tuner is a tuner right? How the hell can a tuner adjust to each individual guitar? Is it a robot?

 

:unsure:

 

 

Believe me I was half expecting to return this thing.

Heres the thing... right outta the box it is essentially the same as the Snark. With both the Snark and the Peterson clipped on I tuned up as normal with both, then selected the Acoustic (sweetened) preset. Now , the peterson is accurate to 1/1000 of a semitone !! As I adjusted the tuning to the sweetened preset, the snark still read 'in tune' even though I had actually tweaked the tuning ever so slightly, herein lies the advantage..... the peterson adjusts things ever so slightly ( prob just a few thousandths of a semitone ) but to great affect.

 

I have been playing and tuning guitars for 35+ years now and have say that this is a first..... ya gotta try it to see.......I mean hear.

 

Cheers

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ParlourMan wrote:

sweetened usually refers to the G and B strings being technically a cent or two out of 'perfect' tuning, but makes the instrument sound 'sweeter' when strummed, sometimes perfect tuning can sound a little less 'sweet' than the 'sweetened' tuning.

+1

the original analog Peterson strobe tuner was invented to stop the quarreling within the orchestra as to who was out of tune.. saved time and lives. About ten years ago when I learned that they had successfully migrated the technology to digital I got one, finally the G & B stopped fighting. I use a Snark for quick reference but when I want fine tuning I always use a Peterson. amen

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I have the clip on Peterson and the iPhone APP version of the Peterson tuners. The iPhone APP version is just plain wonderful. It is easy to use, has the sweetened tunings as well as adjustments for Capo and non 440. The clip on tuner is frustrating. I find it difficult to "cage" and when I do get it caged, the resulting tuning sounds horrible so I end up going back to the iPhone APP.

 

IMG_0020.png

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so , fine for solo performance , but wouldnt that mess up the pianist or bassist or whoever ?

Pianos by their very nature are tuned out of tune, so to speak, equal temperament, so that they sound in tune in all keys. Sort of sweetened.

Brad

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I have the clip on Peterson and the iPhone APP version of the Peterson tuners. The iPhone APP version is just plain wonderful. It is easy to use, has the sweetened tunings as well as adjustments for Capo and non 440. The clip on tuner is frustrating. I find it difficult to "cage" and when I do get it caged, the resulting tuning sounds horrible so I end up going back to the iPhone APP.

 

Hi drathbun - are you sure your version of the iPhone app has the sweetened tunings? I don't see that setting on mine. Always frustrated me since I have the pedal version.

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I have the clip on Peterson and the iPhone APP version of the Peterson tuners. The iPhone APP version is just plain wonderful. It is easy to use, has the sweetened tunings as well as adjustments for Capo and non 440. The clip on tuner is frustrating. I find it difficult to "cage" and when I do get it caged, the resulting tuning sounds horrible so I end up going back to the iPhone APP.

 

Hi drathbun - are you sure your version of the iPhone app has the sweetened tunings? I don't see that setting on mine. Always frustrated me since I have the pedal version.

 

Yeah, my bad. The iStroboSoft tuners (iPad, iPhone, iPod) do NOT have the sweetened tunings. All the others do.

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