Dale Morris - Posted - 10/06/2009:  14:33:45

A friend asked me my advice about getting himself an electronic tuner. I've had good results with the Intellitouch-their first model. It works well for my banjo, guitar and bass also. I did have to find the ideal spot to clip the tuner on my bass to get it to pick up the E string, though.

What about the newer Intellitouch, I believe it's called the PT 10 model, as well as all the other new clip on brands??

What's the pros and cons for the folks just buying their first tuner or up-grading to a new model?

Thanks,
Dale

George Flink - Posted - 10/06/2009:  15:16:31

The PT-10 is great. Its small, accurate and changes color from red to green when in tune along with the meter.

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 10/06/2009:  15:23:10

I've never cared for the Intellitouch. Intelli 500s dominate our jams. They are under 24 bucks off ebay, and are beautifully accurate - great for tuning in a room full of tuners.


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MitchellB - Posted - 10/06/2009:  16:06:04

I have an old Intelitouch that has never been dropped or abused, but the black plastic continues to deteriorate. First the battery’s plastic back fell apart, but the company replaced it free when it was just a few months old. Then the end began to crumble that held the clamp screw. Now it no longer has a clamping end, but I used a rubber band to semi-permanently hold it on my banjo brackets. It continued to work fine like that until it began going through batteries faster than I could afford to buy them. I wasn’t leaving it on either. I bought an Intelli 500 a couple of years ago and so far it has been doing a great job. It is still on the original battery. I have several others older tuners like Korgs that require either plugging in or using the internal mic that still work great too, but they are not as handy as a clamp on tuner to me. I’d have to vote for the Intelli 500 as the best bang for the buck.

Mitchell

Glenn Tate - Posted - 10/06/2009:  16:19:39

Ditto the Intelli 500. You can tune with others tuning around you and it won't mess up.

Intelli T500

The IntelliTouch is good if you are by yourself. Any other noise that is around messes it up. It is not as stable as the Intelli T500

IntelliTouch

"Politicians are like diapers, both should be changed regularly, for the same reason."

Glenn

XXXris - Posted - 10/06/2009:  18:15:44

korg! looks like they have dropped the price on the new ones

Ronnie - Posted - 10/06/2009:  20:42:54

My own ear or the piano usually. I will be getting an old Conn strobe tuner from a late friend's estate pretty soon.

www.bobbythompsonbanjo.com

Drivel - Posted - 10/06/2009:  21:38:46

Tune tech TT-1000 $20.99 or $22.99 on eBay

It swivels three ways has a back lit meter, and a color changing LED. It's very small.

I also have an intellitouch PT-1 in comparison the PT-1 is big hard to use, and vary awkward.

The TT-500 also looks big, and awkward in comparison. With the TT-1000's LED You just hit a string, and can see if it's green in tune, red sharp, or yellow flat instantly.


Bill

I thought there were rocks in my path, but each was a stepping-stone.

1+1+1+ Infinity =1

Morgan Monroe - Cascade, and Luxmore.

Edited by - Drivel on 10/06/2009 22:08:13

goldtopia - Posted - 10/07/2009:  00:29:18

I have two electronic tuners. I also have a piano which I find more convenient to tune from, except I cant carry the piano around with me. Maybe I should buy a crane.

Bill.O

www.bluegrassminstrels.co.uk

GerhardP - Posted - 10/07/2009:  01:20:02

The Korg AW-2G works very well for my banjos. Plus it's backlit and can be turned upside down so it sticks out less and is less obstrusive. Don't let the 'G" (for guitar) designation fool you, it's fully chromatic. The G refers to the attachment clip optimized for pegheads.

At home I use a tuning fork and my ears or the Peterson Strobosoft program, which allows me to tune extremly accurately and offers 'sweetened' tunings optimized for banjo. There is also an iPhone version available.

Gerhard

mybote - Posted - 10/07/2009:  06:04:16

My wife uses an Inellitouch clipped on to the bridge of her stand up base. It is back lit and turns itself off after a while in case you forget. I use a Korg. works great on banjo and I can clamp it on the scroll of a fiddle to tune and help me with finger position. My Korg came with two interchangable clamps.

John Allison - Posted - 10/07/2009:  06:08:29

I have used a number of different types of tuners from piano to tuning fork to pitch pipe to the chromatics and the one that I probably use more than anything else is the Intellitouch 500. Small, compact, easy to use and cheap.

Froggie
"Courage is Fear that has said its prayers.

stelling man - Posted - 10/07/2009:  07:24:44

I have three of the Intelli-500's , I keep one In each Banjo case, their the best small tuner I've ever used..

STELLING MAN

John Allison - Posted - 10/07/2009:  07:38:19

Same here Dave, I have 3: one with my Greenbrier, one with my ODE and one with my Kalamazoo.

Froggie
"Courage is Fear that has said its prayers.

steve davis - Posted - 10/07/2009:  08:26:54

Try and find a used Korg DT2 .

dlaustin - Posted - 10/07/2009:  09:02:14

Hi Dale,

I have had a Sabine Zoid Z-1000 for a couple of months and really like it. It's $29.95 at Janet David. Here is a link to the page: http://www.janetdavismusic.com/sabi..._z-1000.html

I had tried the Intellitouch, but my eyesight's not that great and I had a hard time reading it. Plus, it was difficult for me to get the tuning just right with those pesky >>> <<< arrows. I like the needle and the Green "In Tune" background on the Zoid Z-1000. It is much easier for me to use.

David

Psalm 150

Drivel - Posted - 10/07/2009:  10:31:51

By the way the Tune tech TT-1000 is the upgrade of the Intelli 500, or as it is now sold the Tune Tech TT-500. I don't think the 1000 was made before the company changed it's name.

Bill

I thought there were rocks in my path, but each was a stepping-stone.

1+1+1+ Infinity =1

Morgan Monroe - Cascade, and Luxmore.

Edited by - Drivel on 10/07/2009 10:59:23

Herr_grepper - Posted - 10/07/2009:  19:29:55

Got tired of messing with the inaccurate toys and now use a Peterson Strobo-Flip. Extremely accurate and much less tuning than with the black diamonds. Played a 90 minute set last Sunday and my jo stayed tuned for the whole set.

Tom

--"Who knows...the way things are going all our banjos may soon be pre-war"--

http://www.simonpurebluegrass.com/

El Dobro - Posted - 10/07/2009:  19:54:29

quote:

---

Originally posted by steve davis

Try and find a used Korg DT2 .

---

erstokke - Posted - 10/08/2009:  02:51:59

I have tried several electronic tuners.

The Intelli 500 (also some different names now) - Works OK, but it is slow even with new batteries. And the buttons rattle.

PT 10 - there is another thread with people having problems with this one.

Planet Waves Peghead tuner - Very nice compact design, switches color when in tune. But unfortunately it is not precice. My banjo is still out of tune after tuning with this one - not to mention mandolin for which it is completely useless.

Korg AW2G - My new favorite. If you still think the old Intelli is good, you should try the new Korg. It is lightening fast compared to the Intelli, the buttons doesnt rattle and it is precise. It picks up notes even when not attached to the banjo - that might be a problem in noisy environments. But I have not noticed any problem with 2 other persons tuning their instruments at the same time (and yes, I use it in piezo mode, not mic mode).


My banjo is pre-war. Pre the next war
Jan Erik from Norway

banjoken - Posted - 10/08/2009:  04:27:41

In a quiet room the aw2 seems to pick up notes if you are not playing the banjo, as did the aw1. When you are tuning though it only picks up the vibrations of the instrument. Thing that it does effect is the 20 minutes shutoff function. Everytime that needle moves the timer restarts. That was my biggest complaint with the aw1. 20 minutes is way too long. The battery on the aw1 did not last long if you did not turn off the battery after each use. I got used to doing this with the aw2 and I am still on my original battery from the beginning of May.

I have not used the aw1 since getting the aw2. The light is SO nice. Plus the battery that the aw2 uses is available everywhere and it is much cheaper.

Eastbaygeorge - Posted - 10/08/2009:  10:39:51

I've had my original Intellitouch since they first came out maybe 10 years ago? It still works fine. I changed batteries a couple of times. Still clamps on. I really like it. I had a friend whose Intellitouch started acting weird. I sent it to the company and they replaced it for $7 handling fee, which I thought was pretty reasonable. I really like that you can see the backlit screen in a dark night at a festival jam.

Eastbay George

Chris Quinn - Posted - 10/08/2009:  10:49:52

I find the Intellis to be inconsistent from one to another; I have had a few and currently own two. For the last year, I have used a Peterson Strobe tuner with an isolation clip. It works on mandolin, guitar and banjo equally well and is very, very accurate! The Peterson is expensive, but this is my job. It's the right tool for my work.

Chris Quinn
www.foggyhogtownboys.com

Brian T - Posted - 10/08/2009:  12:52:33

We have two Korg CA-30 electronic tuners, and they MATCH eachother. Excellent but very sensitive to background string tuning sound.

We do not know where we are going.
Nor do most of us care.
For us, it is enough that we are on our way.
Le Matelot

steve davis - Posted - 10/08/2009:  13:13:24

We have a rack mounted Korg in our band equipment,but I haven't used it yet...I guess it's accurate.

Hedge Hog - Posted - 10/08/2009:  13:53:47

I use a Korg CA-30 with a plug in mic/pickup, background noise issues go away. The cord is sorta a pain in the ... well it can be troublesome. ....and cats love to chew the cord

MJM
___________________________________________________________________________
I love the snap of a finger pick comming off a string.

- open the window and let the angels in ............

- Side burns a little long,
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goldtopia - Posted - 10/10/2009:  00:20:04

I have two electronic tuners. I find it much quicker to tune from a piano and more accurate and there is no battery to run out, except I cant carry the piano around with me. Anyone got a crane for sale.

Bill.O

www.bluegrassminstrels.co.uk