Electronic Guitar Tuners. Technology hype or the best way to tune up your instrument?

Instrument tuners have officially taken place of the pitch pipe and other natural tuning methods in the world of stringed instruments today.  This is especially true in the world of  the guitar.  When I grew up, my first lessons were how to hold and tune the instrument.  While this is still a common first step for students today, the process of naturally tuning the instrument to a piano or another instrument or with a pitch pipe has been replaced with a less manual process.  In steps the electronic instrument tuner in the place of the pitch pipe and ear training.

The electronic tuner works by either a mic input, direct instrument input, or by measurement of sonic vibration.  Some tuners stand alone and are sized much like a deck of cards.  Others are designed to "clip-on" to the head-stock of your instrument to give a more hands free experience.  Popular stage tuners can line up on a guitarist's pedal board and as of late it is becoming popular to use a mobile based application to use your cell phone as a mic input style tuner.  The most popular with students as of late has been the clip-on tuner because of its ease of use in virtually any environment.

The clip-on tuner is a popular tuning device because they are small in size but extremely maneuverable and inconspicuous.  Higher quality tuners will read the signal digitally, while others will read an analog signal.  It has been noted that digital tuners are more accurate and more stable than analog tuners.  A bright LED display is another feature you want to look for when comparing instrument tuners.  Some have full color displays making it easy to tune at a glance.  Most clip-on tuners use a CR2032 button style battery.  These batteries are compact, lightweight and an efficient tuner will not drain it very quickly.

In the testing of many electronic instrument tuners, I found that a few different tuners proved to be flexible, accurate, and fun to use.

The SNARK SN-5 Guitar, Bass, and Violin Tuner.  This is a clip-on tuner that is stylish, and easy to use.  I tested the SNARK SN-5 in a quiet studio environment, on a loud stage, and on a guitar, a bass, a violin, and an ukulele.  This tuner has a high sensitivity vibration sensor that combines with a frequency of notes range tailored to the instrument.  The Snark SN-5 is a great choice for any level musician from practicing novice to the performing professional.

The Qwik Tune GP-1 Guitar Professor Tuner, Pitch Pipe, and Chord Finder.  This tuner is about the size of a deck of cards and has both a mic input and 1/4" instrument cable input.  This tuner will teach you over 250 different chords while also training the ear with a pitch pipe, and it is a highly accurate desktop guitar tuner.  With easily switchable modes, this may prove to be a great learning tool for the beginning guitarist.

The Pitch Pocket HST Digital Clip-On Tuner.  This little head stock tuner features 4 select-able tuning modes; chromatic, guitar, bass, and violin.  I found this tuner to be accurate in any environment and with all four instruments, the guitar, ukulele, bass, and violin.  This tuner operates as a clip-on tuner, but is balanced enough and has a strong enough mic input to be used as a free standing desktop tuner too.  The 360 degree rotating display along with the bright full color LED display proved this one to be my favorite of the three noted here.

I hope this little test helps you choose the best way to tune your instrument.  I have found that these three above examples worked well and made a real technological advance while maintaining the quality of training your ear as well.  Happy strumming!

DBZ Guitars by Dean B. Zelinsky - Product Spotlight from Ultratone Guitars

All DBZ Guitars feature innovation and cutting edge design on every turn.  From the Imperial and Royale that have ultra thin body edge sculpting to even the foundry metal medallion headstock logos that promote sustain, each and every point of hardware, electronics, tone woods, and design were carefully chosen to produce guitars that deliver the performance required and desired by their players.  Add custom wound pickups, coil taps, soft V shaped necks, genuine Floyd Rose Tremolos, Babicz Bridges on the basses, and EMG pickup options, well then you have a guitar that is not only unique, but also far superior in quality than competing guitar lines in the same or even higher price ranges.


In their first year of operation, master designer Dean B. Zelinsky (DBZ) won "Best In Show" for the entire collection at the industry NAMM show event.  This award was bestowed upon DBZ Guitars by the attending retailers.  This award also demonstrates DBZ Gutiars' commitment to quality and stands as proof that there is always a need for a quality guitar.


In 2011, DBZ released guitars in left-handed and seven string options, as well as the introduction of a line of 4 and 5 string basses built on the Imperial ultra-thin body style.


In 2012, DBZ Guitars released new LT lines in both the single cutaway Bolero and the double cutaway Barchetta.  The LT lines allow these guitars to reach the price range of the more budget minded guitarist without compromising quality.  The LT lines from DBZ feature custom wound humbucker pickups, soft v shaped necks, ebonized fretboards, coil taps, Grover tuners, graphite nuts, and the DBZ signature TOM bridge and stop bar tailpieces.  These guitars have a street price of $299.00 and blow the doors off the competitors in its price range.


DBZ Guitars are designed in America and the maker features both USA built and Korean hand crafted models.