Rackmount Tuners

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Any recommendations? I'd like to clean up my pedal board and have one less cable to deal with.
 
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The ones made by Korg are affordable and precise, I`ve been using them for years. I would take nothing less like Behringer etc...
 
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Thanks. I'll take a look at Korg. I've read some bad reviews on the Behringer tuner.
 

Florin

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Hi Jeff,

May I ask you why you want it rackmounted? That's for studio purpose. In live situation a pedal tuner with LEDS (like a Korg DT10) is better.
- You tune without turning your back to the audience
- the audience and your band mates don't see every single note you play, and if you are out of tune.
- Mute function

.... etc etc...

I used both of them, and I personally find the rack ones unpractical for live gigs...
 
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Hi Jeff,

May I ask you why you want it rackmounted? That's for studio purpose. In live situation a pedal tuner with LEDS (like a Korg DT10) is better.
- You tune without turning your back to the audience
- the audience and your band mates don't see every single note you play, and if you are out of tune.
- Mute function

.... etc etc...

I used both of them, and I personally find the rack ones unpractical for live gigs...
I was thinking of less clutter on my pedal board and one less cable. Tidy things up a bit. I'm currently using the Boss TU-2 which has never let me down. Never thought of the reasons you mentioned. Probably doesn't look too professional either advertising to the whole audience if I were out of tune a bit. :)
 
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May I ask you why you want it rackmounted? That's for studio purpose. In live situation a pedal tuner with LEDS (like a Korg DT10) is better.
- You tune without turning your back to the audience
- the audience and your band mates don't see every single note you play, and if you are out of tune.
- Mute function

Hm, the last time in the studio the engineer nearly cut my head off if hadn`t removed the tuner and plugged directly into the pream(p).
To me the difference of looking on the ground to look onto a tiny display or just turning around shortly for a nice and bright display is virtually inexistent -> you loose eye contact with the crowd! And my Korg tuner isn´t fast enough to get your eight notes during a nice rocksong...
My Korg DT-1000 also has a mute fuction (simple footswitch or small button on the tuner), and since after every few songs I take a step back towards the stack to get a drink, a towel and a tune I find it more practical to have the tuner right where I stand.
What I think to be the most handy feature is the rigging possibillities you have within your rack: Input on the back of the tuner from the wireless, Output on the back to Input on the back of the pream(p), so you have no nasty cables hanging around.

But, to each his own, I can understand Florins point also.
 
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Florin

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To me having the possibility to always check the tuning without turning my back is very important. But as you said... my way.

Anyway, as a wireless user myself, I did it that way - bass - wireless - rig.

And the tuner as it should be via tuner output + a 3m cable somewhere in front of you...

If you are crazy enough about your sound that you switch to rack mounted stuff, you probably don't want a tuner in the signal chain to weaken your signal.

Cheers,

Flo
 
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I'll have to throw a spanner into the works here...because I prefer to go rackmounted live :p

I'm using the X-treme head that has a dedicated tuner output that only works when the head is muted (the audience cant hear me when I tune and the audience cant see my tuning when I play).

The main reason I go rackmounted though is that I use wireless and don't use pedals. All my gizmos are in the rack for quick setup and reliability (nothing ever gets unplugged). I suppose I also (subconsiously) don't really want anything that isn't contributing to sound, going in the signal path, so even if I had pedals, I'd still want to have the tuner not in the signal chain.

I suppose I do have to turn my back on the crowd but that for me is fine. Things get pretty mental at gigs and I like to get away from the crowd to have a quick drink and a tune :p

With regards for buying a rack tuner...your limited. Peterson and Korg tuners are no longer in production and can only be got second hand. The peterson one is in myopinion overpriced (its only a tuner after all and its not appreciably more accurate than the others - maybe worth spending the money for a permenant place in an expensive studio). With the Korg ones, the 1000 and 2000 are pretty much the same apart form the 2000 having rack lights.

The only one that is actually still getting built these days is the Behringer one (which I use). The build quality is rubbish compared with the rest of the stuff in my rack but it's built "well enough" and it's a little slow on tracking the B-string but it works good enough for someone that is pretty picky.

You just need to think about why you want it in a rack, because rack mounted tuners aren't really more accurate than pedal based ones...
 

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With regards for buying a rack tuner...your limited. Peterson and Korg tuners are no longer in production and can only be got second hand. The peterson one is in myopinion overpriced (its only a tuner after all and its not appreciably more accurate than the others - maybe worth spending the money for a permenant place in an expensive studio). With the Korg ones, the 1000 and 2000 are pretty much the same apart form the 2000 having rack lights.

The only one that is actually still getting built these days is the Behringer one (which I use). The build quality is rubbish compared with the rest of the stuff in my rack but it's built "well enough" and it's a little slow on tracking the B-string but it works good enough for someone that is pretty picky.

You just need to think about why you want it in a rack, because rack mounted tuners aren't really more accurate than pedal based ones...


Peterson are still in production AFAIK, one of my friend bought one a couple of months ago, and it's listed on their website... Source?

Anyway, when it comes to tuners, IMHO and IME, if you're serious about it, Peterson is the only way to go. It actually IS appreciably more accurate than the others, unless not properly used (it does take time and comprehension to get used to). It's just spot-on.

Although I do agree that there is no difference in accuracy between a rack mounted one and a pedal.
 

Florin

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The petterson is more accurate, yes. However I don't think you really need one on stage, I mean... all you need is a quick tune from time to time, not a full setup :)

I would A/B a Behringer vs Korg tuner. If they are the same, I don't see any reason to buy the expensive Korg one instead.

I bought one when it was really expensive, 7- 8 years ago. And in one month I fried it on a stage with bad grounding... Talking about bad luck :)
 
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I would have brought a Korg if they were still easily available (mostly for the better build quality) but they are a nightmare to get hold of. You can only get them used occasionally on eBay...
 

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The Behringer won't track low notes properly and is only of some use to guitard players. Skip that one.
I'd go for a Korg DTR 1000.

If you think it's too expensive I'd go for a good pedal rather then a cheap rackmount.
Personally I use a Korg Pitchblack and it has so far been brilliant.
 

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What's your tuning routine guys? Open strings? All over the board? Harmonics? :)
 

DiMarco

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If its my own bass (which is set up properly) I ask for someone to give me an A as I am used to other people not being in tune :) from there I tune using flageolets.

On the local jamsession pub Ibanez I tune using the fifth an seventh fret as its intonation isn't all that.

When gigging for real I just tune up before hitting the stage. Once in tune it stays in tune all night.
 
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If it ain´t broke, why change it?
Was just thinking of less clutter and cables with the pedal board. With the tuner out on the X-Treme I have to turn around and hit the mute button anyway so might as well have the tuner in the rack.
 
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