RE: [Harp-L] Digital/Electronic Chromatic Tuners

["MLeFree" <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don Z writes:
> Nate,
> I used an inexpensive no-name electronic Japanese manufactured
> chromatic tuner I bought fromn Kevin's Harps (now Best li'l
> Harphouse) for years before it finally died with passable
> results.  It had a needle that indicated cents of pitch which is
> essential for harp tuning. I saved this link for info and pricing
> on most of the currently available electronic chromatic tuners:
> (to me some of the higher end Seikos look good but I haven't tried them)
> http://store.musicbasics.com/chromtun.html

I'm glad you mentioned Seiko tuners, Zig.  Jim McBride already pointed out a
link for the inexpensive end of the range of chromatic tuners out there.  I
felt obliged to mention the Seiko line of tuners for comparison's sake.

I have the Seiko ST-1100 and I absolutely love it.  It is jam-packed with
features, including a the ability to generate the full range of precise
tones of the chromatic scale.  This has turned out to be a valuble adjunct
to its LED and analog needle displays (it has both).  It's great for
checking the tone of a reed because you can hear the beating phenomenon.
It's also been useful to me for ear training.

One thing, the ST-1000 ain't cheap.  You could probably buy 4-5 lesser
tuners for the price.  It's a Cadillac, though, and half as expensive as
strobe tuner as you suggest below.  Sieko has a line of tuners and
metronomes (yes, I love my Seiko digital metronome, too):

http://www.seiko-syd.co.jp/music/index-ad.html

> After months of shopping for a replacement, I ended up eBaying
> what I found to be a GREAT tuner: the Peterson V-SAM "virtual
> strobe tuner".  This thing is accurate to 1/1000 of a semitone.
> Yes more expensive (I think I ended up paying around $200) but
> the difference in accuracy was immediately noticeable both with
> my harps and resetting intonation on my guitars, which I was
> shocked to find was way off based on settings made with the old
> tuner.  I've talked to harp Customizer Jimmy Gordon about tuners
> and he (and presumably Joe Filisko and Richard Sleigh) use either
> Peterson or Conn strobotuners (and their highly trained ears) for
> reed tuning.
> Hope this helps!
> Zig

Thanks for the info, Zig.  Between you, Jim McBride, and me, we've pretty
much covered the bases for those shopping for chromatic tuners.

Michelle (who, believe me, has no stake whatever in any tuner manufacturer
:)