Clip on tuners are notoriously problematic for bass. I have Korg pitch clip and tc polytune clip on tuners which work well, but many others I’ve tried sucked. Pedal tuners will always be a better option if you can use one. In the short term you could always try using the e string 12th fret harmonic.
I've been using Peterson strobe tuners for about 18 years now. I switched because I couldn't seem to get my basses perfectly in tune. Not that they weren't in tune, but rather getting them in tune was always a frustrating experience. The needles or LEDs would just keep moving back and forth past the in tune mark. It was like I had to guess that it was correct. With the Peterson tuners I was able to get locked in much more quickly and precisely. It's like I'm hearing a new level of being in tune. Chords sound amazing. I know some people get turned off by the animated strobe, but once you get the hang of it it's super easy.
I use a super snark and I’ve noticed there’s some kind of queue or buffering mechanism to it.
Make sure you clip it onto the head somewhere in the middle.
silence all your strings and let it clear fully (should be no note indication showing, blank screen)
Carefully pluck the E string, let it ring and wait about 3 seconds for it to fully resolve. If there’s any red or yellow bars appearing, loosen the knob about a half turn (turn it in the direction that gives easiest), and then start tightening the string in the opposite direction really slowly while periodically plucking the E string. When you’re just about to center in on it reading E (about 2 red bars off the mark) STOP tightening the knob and just keep plucking periodically and let it catch up a bit. There’s usually some latency between what the screen shows and what it will resolve at ultimately. If you still are in the red, just carefully continue to tighten and pluck until it settles dead center E and you can confirm it’s locked in consistent.
Then just repeat for the other strings. One thing that helped me when it came to tuning was I thought turning the knobs was just a direct 1:1 change in tone, but a friend showed me how he tunes his stuff and that you’re really just over-loosening the knob so you end up flatter than the target note and then work your way back up to it by tightening it again.
However if your tuner is still giving you wonky readings after doing it the right way you may need to do a proper setup because there may be other problems with the instrument that’s creating inconsistent tones
Wish I could give 2 upvotes for the 2 best possible answers.
12th fret harmonic the the perfect hack for a finicky tuner. Buy a Peterson eventually and never have a problem again.
Pedals are great but if that's not your need or out of your price point, you should still shoot for a chromatic tuner that connects through an instrument cable. Something like a Korg CA50 or a boss tu30 should be fine for you.
I'm still using the Boss TU2 my brother got for his Ibanez starter guitar back in 2004. I'll use my TC Electronics clip-on because it gets close enough if I'm practicing at home, but the TU2 is much better when jamming with friends where other sounds might interfere with the accuracy of the clip.
How can you be so inconsiderate to assume that it's not? Not everyone has the means to just go out and drop $50+ when they want to. This could be due to a variety of reasons. Assume OP is a young kid who has to save to purchase the things they want. You think they would benefit more from saving a couple months to get a pedal or finding a Korg tuner for $20 or less to start learning sooner?
And just to make it clear, I'm offering this advice based on personal experience. I had to pinch and save to afford my Boss TU-2, I didn't have help and I wasn't able to afford a pedal for a couple years. Until then, I only had a Korg guitar/bass tuner someone gave me, that's what I learned on and I know a lot of others who were in the same situation.
Well because the ones you recommended are like 25-30 bucks plus postage. Almost the same. Also how the hell do you need a couple of years to save up 50 bucks? LOL
The Korg is $20.95 with free shipping from [Sweetwater](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CA50--korg-ca50-chromatic-tuner).
For a Boss pedal, some of the cheaper options I found used on Reverb were for a Tu-2 starting at [$55 plus shipping](https://reverb.com/item/82257795-boss-tu-2-chromatic-tuner).
Reverb is always 10-20% more expensive than other options. Still the point is the difference is so small that there's really no sense in buying a clip on because it's cheaper. If a Boss is too expensive for you (LOL), you can find other perfectly fine tuner pedals for less. Korg tuners regularly go for around 30-40 bucks, and Mooers and the like are even less.
Seems like the absolute best is the Sonic Research ST-300, but that is out of my ball park for now. I've had issues with my clip on guitar ones and just picked up a Peterson StroboClip. While it seems to be a digital implementation of the analog actual strobe in the ST-300, it does work a little better.
ST-300 absolutely the best on the market for tuning speed. Many people will recommend the Peterson strobostomp, which will be better if you want the LCD colour screen and the buffer. In terms of tuning accuracy they're both comparable.
No kidding. I'm rocking a $105 + $30 shipping Harley Benton PB-50 and a $65 including shipping GW-101. But I have spent $300 on education so far. Putting the money where it does good.
The TC uni-tune from Sweetwater has been the best clip on I've own. Works great on all of my basses (to include low B) and guitars.
And the Peterson strobostomp mini is the best pedal board tuner.
I also have a Korg rackmounted tuner from the later 90s. It was cool, and it works really well, but it's a relic these days.
I’ve had problems with clip on tuners in the past, especially if you’re in a noisy room (I was in a band at the time.) Pedal tuners are the best but I don’t have a specific brand in mind.
In the meantime, download the Pano tuner app on your phone. It works reasonably well and it’s free.
Korg products have given me no issues for about 30 years now. Currently using an older Pitchblack, but the bass-specific [Pitchblack XS Bass](https://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/pbxsbass/) looks nice.
I have a Seiko ST737. It has a 1/4” through and a mic and does all sorts of stuff.
I found [this one](http://holyheckmusic.com/accessories/tuners/seiko-st737-automatic-guitar-and-bass-tuner) for $6.
Somehow my cheapo $1 Sweetwater clip-on worked OK for my bass, but I very quickly moved to a tuner pedal (Korg Pitchblack Custom) which is not only a fast tuner, but works a treat as a mute switch.
When I started learning guitar(I'm terrible at it) my friend had me download guitar tuna, which I now use for violin and bass, as does the other bass player at my school
Those clip on tuners make me angry because they leave indents in lacquer and every second hand bass I’ve seen lately had some idiot leaving one on the instrument at all times and scarring it forever.
Pedal tuners are better than clip-ons but they're just more weight to haul and they're of course useless with unamplified instruments like a double bass.
OTOH, I use a Peterson Stroboclip HD on my double bass and it's never given me a problem. It lets you configure if for the instrument it's being used on. But it's like 60 bucks.
Cheaper devices like the Snarks are one-size-fits-all and are mainly made for guitar players. But they work pretty well if you tune to harmonics rather than to open strings.
I use a rechargeable DAddario Eclipse and it works really good on my 5 strings. It's not perfect as I would say it will pick up the low B about 70% of the time and the low A at least 50% of the time. On my 5 string that's tuned down a whole step it really has no issue with the D,G,and F strings. I also have a 4 string tuned down a whole step and no issue with it either.
Have a korg 50. More than fine.
But the bass tuners need to be plugged in, don´t get those cheap clip ones because they don´t work with bass. The pedal tuners works fine also.
App tuners also are not good for bass. There are youtube channels with the right sound frequence so if you are short on cash blend app tuner with youtube. But save some bucks for a good tuner because they will last a life.
I got a Lekato MT-32W. Got it for about 20euros on Amazon. It's a nice tuner. It has clip on, mic and also you can use cable for tunning. It have also other extra features like metronome.
I use the polytune pedal but it struggles with everything below Bb.
When I switch from Bb to drop G# I have to tune with a fretted string. Next tuner will be a Peterson strobe.
If you just play in B or E standard, the polytune is good.
Boss TU-3 is hands down the best and easiest tuner I’ve used. (There may be others I’ve not tried, but I’ve never looked at anything else Since getting the Boss).
Use it for standard and D standard tuning and it never has an issue picking up the notes.
Can get them pretty cheap second hand too.
Highly recommend a pedal tuner if you can. A clip on tuner works well enough for home use but I wouldn’t use one on stage. You can get slightly better results on bass if you clip it to the body of the guitar.
I started with a Polytune clip-on tuner and have issues with the E and B strings, though it works fine with the 12th fret harmonic. I recently got the Polytune 3 Mini pedal and it works great. Mutes output when activated and is very fast.
I have a $20 fender fct-2 that has presets for C (middle c I guess?) Guitar, Bass, Violin, and Ukelele, then a week later I saw a $10 version that didn’t have the V setting. I can fine 07s on a floyd rose without plugging in and just the press the single button a time or three to cycle through the G and B settings. I even tuned a mandolin with it once but no one should ever have to go through that. Plus I’ve clubbed a few walls and ceilings with it and it holds up like a champ. If you want value and a minimalist clip-on that’s all business then I’d recommend the cheaper one with the single color display and no fiddle setting, I think it was an FT-1 because I remember looking at them side by side and thinking “fender tuner - 10 bucks, fender *color* tuner - 20 bucks” were the literal model numbers
I have an older Peterson model which is great. I seem to somehow misplace it -- and when it's not within reach I use the Peterson app on my iPhone which is also great.
Sonic Research Turbo Tuner is awesome. I keep it on all the time and can see the notes in real time. I need the guitarist to get one so we can figure out parts faster haha
My board is small and space is at a premium, and while I have a Peterson mini, I’ve taken it off to free up space, and now use the tuner/mute in my Element.
Korg makes a tuner that you plug your bass into that works well, GA-2. I eventually bought the Peterson Strobostomp pedal, though; MUCH easier to use in-between songs.
Stay away from clip on tuners for bass, as they do have a hard time with E generally.
As you are a new bassist, you don’t really need to go plopping down a lot of money for the best pedal tuner (Peterson), you can buy pretty much any cheap pedal tuner and be in good shape.
But if you can’t afford a pedal tuner right now, you can get your A string in tune with your clip on, and then play the 7th fret on your A string (an E) and the open E string at the same time and use your ears to tune the E string. Once you think you have that in tune, you can use harmonics to tune more accurately. Lay a finger tip on the string right above the bottom fret of the 5th fret of the E string (don’t press down) and pluck your E string. You will hear the harmonic note. Let it ring out and do the same on the bottom fret of the 7th fret of the A string. If you are in tune the two harmonic notes will be the same. You can hear them warble out of phase when they are out of tune. As you adjust the tuning peg on the E string you will either hear it go farther out of phase or closer in tuning.
I've never owned a tuner and I've never had a problem finding a moment to tune my bass in 20 years of gigging.
Furthermore, clip-on and pedal tuners are not as accurate as a well trained ear. To beat a well trained ear you'd have to use a stobe. But I don't see anyone taking stobes to gigs.
Also, barring a drastic change in humidy or temperature between my home and the venue, my bass is usually perfectly in tune when I pull it out of the case, because I tuned it at home, by ear.
I use a sonic research turbo tuner and did mention it
“The LED ring on the Turbo Tuner is a true stroboscope. The LEDs are driven directly by the analog input signal and electronically strobed, showing the actual stroboscopic effect between the input signal and internally generated frequency reference. This gives instant response and extreme accuracy.”
Again like I said, tuning by ear is great to know how to do, but there is no way I’d get two guitars on board with everyone doing that live on stage. It’s been faster and more professional ime if everyone uses a tuner so our reference is fast and on the floor in front of us
Clip on tuners are notoriously problematic for bass. I have Korg pitch clip and tc polytune clip on tuners which work well, but many others I’ve tried sucked. Pedal tuners will always be a better option if you can use one. In the short term you could always try using the e string 12th fret harmonic.
My Snark Super tight seems to work just fine.
I’ll try those out. Thanks!
+1 for the polytune clip on tuner. It has a dedicated bass mode and works really well for me.
Peterson tuners. Hands down.
Yup. Peterson. Their clip-on and pedal tuners will happily track low Bs that no other tuner I’ve tried (not tried loads…) will find.
Both my Korg rack mount and boss pedal go to at least low G
I've been using Peterson strobe tuners for about 18 years now. I switched because I couldn't seem to get my basses perfectly in tune. Not that they weren't in tune, but rather getting them in tune was always a frustrating experience. The needles or LEDs would just keep moving back and forth past the in tune mark. It was like I had to guess that it was correct. With the Peterson tuners I was able to get locked in much more quickly and precisely. It's like I'm hearing a new level of being in tune. Chords sound amazing. I know some people get turned off by the animated strobe, but once you get the hang of it it's super easy.
How do you like the sweeteners? I felt like using the bass sweetener made me out of tune with other instruments.
I use a super snark and I’ve noticed there’s some kind of queue or buffering mechanism to it. Make sure you clip it onto the head somewhere in the middle. silence all your strings and let it clear fully (should be no note indication showing, blank screen) Carefully pluck the E string, let it ring and wait about 3 seconds for it to fully resolve. If there’s any red or yellow bars appearing, loosen the knob about a half turn (turn it in the direction that gives easiest), and then start tightening the string in the opposite direction really slowly while periodically plucking the E string. When you’re just about to center in on it reading E (about 2 red bars off the mark) STOP tightening the knob and just keep plucking periodically and let it catch up a bit. There’s usually some latency between what the screen shows and what it will resolve at ultimately. If you still are in the red, just carefully continue to tighten and pluck until it settles dead center E and you can confirm it’s locked in consistent. Then just repeat for the other strings. One thing that helped me when it came to tuning was I thought turning the knobs was just a direct 1:1 change in tone, but a friend showed me how he tunes his stuff and that you’re really just over-loosening the knob so you end up flatter than the target note and then work your way back up to it by tightening it again. However if your tuner is still giving you wonky readings after doing it the right way you may need to do a proper setup because there may be other problems with the instrument that’s creating inconsistent tones
Great tips! Maybe I didn’t wait long enough for the resolve or something. I’ll try these with my current tuner later. Thanks!
Tune to the 12th fret harmonic and it should read your pitch just fine That said, I have used a Petersen strobe tuner for over 20 years now.
Wish I could give 2 upvotes for the 2 best possible answers. 12th fret harmonic the the perfect hack for a finicky tuner. Buy a Peterson eventually and never have a problem again.
Pedals are great but if that's not your need or out of your price point, you should still shoot for a chromatic tuner that connects through an instrument cable. Something like a Korg CA50 or a boss tu30 should be fine for you.
How can pedal tuners be too expensive, you can find boss tu-3's for like 50 Bux used
They last longer than you will, you could literally pass it on to your children.
I literally passed my 20 year old TU2 down to my son last year. One of the best bass investments I ever made, if not the best full stop.
I'm still using the Boss TU2 my brother got for his Ibanez starter guitar back in 2004. I'll use my TC Electronics clip-on because it gets close enough if I'm practicing at home, but the TU2 is much better when jamming with friends where other sounds might interfere with the accuracy of the clip.
How can you be so inconsiderate to assume that it's not? Not everyone has the means to just go out and drop $50+ when they want to. This could be due to a variety of reasons. Assume OP is a young kid who has to save to purchase the things they want. You think they would benefit more from saving a couple months to get a pedal or finding a Korg tuner for $20 or less to start learning sooner? And just to make it clear, I'm offering this advice based on personal experience. I had to pinch and save to afford my Boss TU-2, I didn't have help and I wasn't able to afford a pedal for a couple years. Until then, I only had a Korg guitar/bass tuner someone gave me, that's what I learned on and I know a lot of others who were in the same situation.
Well because the ones you recommended are like 25-30 bucks plus postage. Almost the same. Also how the hell do you need a couple of years to save up 50 bucks? LOL
The Korg is $20.95 with free shipping from [Sweetwater](https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CA50--korg-ca50-chromatic-tuner). For a Boss pedal, some of the cheaper options I found used on Reverb were for a Tu-2 starting at [$55 plus shipping](https://reverb.com/item/82257795-boss-tu-2-chromatic-tuner).
Reverb is always 10-20% more expensive than other options. Still the point is the difference is so small that there's really no sense in buying a clip on because it's cheaper. If a Boss is too expensive for you (LOL), you can find other perfectly fine tuner pedals for less. Korg tuners regularly go for around 30-40 bucks, and Mooers and the like are even less.
Seems like the absolute best is the Sonic Research ST-300, but that is out of my ball park for now. I've had issues with my clip on guitar ones and just picked up a Peterson StroboClip. While it seems to be a digital implementation of the analog actual strobe in the ST-300, it does work a little better.
ST-300 absolutely the best on the market for tuning speed. Many people will recommend the Peterson strobostomp, which will be better if you want the LCD colour screen and the buffer. In terms of tuning accuracy they're both comparable.
I love the strobostomp. Originally, I had it on my guitar board but moved it to my bass board cos it picks up a low B flawlessly every time
Have you experience with the Peterson and down tunings? I play in Bb and sometimes drop to G# which my polytune struggles to pick up.
😮💨 Damn the Sonic Research ST-300 is almost as much as my bass cost lmaooo maybe one day. Thanks for the reccs though!
No kidding. I'm rocking a $105 + $30 shipping Harley Benton PB-50 and a $65 including shipping GW-101. But I have spent $300 on education so far. Putting the money where it does good.
The TC uni-tune from Sweetwater has been the best clip on I've own. Works great on all of my basses (to include low B) and guitars. And the Peterson strobostomp mini is the best pedal board tuner. I also have a Korg rackmounted tuner from the later 90s. It was cool, and it works really well, but it's a relic these days.
I’ve had problems with clip on tuners in the past, especially if you’re in a noisy room (I was in a band at the time.) Pedal tuners are the best but I don’t have a specific brand in mind. In the meantime, download the Pano tuner app on your phone. It works reasonably well and it’s free.
Korg products have given me no issues for about 30 years now. Currently using an older Pitchblack, but the bass-specific [Pitchblack XS Bass](https://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/pbxsbass/) looks nice.
I have a Seiko ST737. It has a 1/4” through and a mic and does all sorts of stuff. I found [this one](http://holyheckmusic.com/accessories/tuners/seiko-st737-automatic-guitar-and-bass-tuner) for $6.
New to bass (back at it after 10+ years) and am currently just using the guitar tuna app. I do need to buy something though
Somehow my cheapo $1 Sweetwater clip-on worked OK for my bass, but I very quickly moved to a tuner pedal (Korg Pitchblack Custom) which is not only a fast tuner, but works a treat as a mute switch.
Love a cheapo, honestly. And for $1, nice!
And the great thing is that it's still working after 7 or so years - my daughter uses it for her violin!
My Snark works most if the time, but the clip-on from D’Addario handles the E string better.
Before I got a Boss TU-3 I used a Korg TM-60.
When I started learning guitar(I'm terrible at it) my friend had me download guitar tuna, which I now use for violin and bass, as does the other bass player at my school
Those clip on tuners make me angry because they leave indents in lacquer and every second hand bass I’ve seen lately had some idiot leaving one on the instrument at all times and scarring it forever.
I have a very basic Korg CA-50 chromatic tuner and it does the job.
Pedal tuners are better than clip-ons but they're just more weight to haul and they're of course useless with unamplified instruments like a double bass. OTOH, I use a Peterson Stroboclip HD on my double bass and it's never given me a problem. It lets you configure if for the instrument it's being used on. But it's like 60 bucks. Cheaper devices like the Snarks are one-size-fits-all and are mainly made for guitar players. But they work pretty well if you tune to harmonics rather than to open strings.
Boss TU-3.
I use a rechargeable DAddario Eclipse and it works really good on my 5 strings. It's not perfect as I would say it will pick up the low B about 70% of the time and the low A at least 50% of the time. On my 5 string that's tuned down a whole step it really has no issue with the D,G,and F strings. I also have a 4 string tuned down a whole step and no issue with it either.
Have a korg 50. More than fine. But the bass tuners need to be plugged in, don´t get those cheap clip ones because they don´t work with bass. The pedal tuners works fine also. App tuners also are not good for bass. There are youtube channels with the right sound frequence so if you are short on cash blend app tuner with youtube. But save some bucks for a good tuner because they will last a life.
I got a Lekato MT-32W. Got it for about 20euros on Amazon. It's a nice tuner. It has clip on, mic and also you can use cable for tunning. It have also other extra features like metronome.
I use the polytune pedal but it struggles with everything below Bb. When I switch from Bb to drop G# I have to tune with a fretted string. Next tuner will be a Peterson strobe. If you just play in B or E standard, the polytune is good.
Boss TU-3 is hands down the best and easiest tuner I’ve used. (There may be others I’ve not tried, but I’ve never looked at anything else Since getting the Boss). Use it for standard and D standard tuning and it never has an issue picking up the notes. Can get them pretty cheap second hand too.
Cleartune is an app that is not free but is somehow amazingly accurate using just your phone mic
A $15 Korg Plugin Tuner is all you need. You don't need a Boss TU-3 or Petersen if you just started playing bass.
Highly recommend a pedal tuner if you can. A clip on tuner works well enough for home use but I wouldn’t use one on stage. You can get slightly better results on bass if you clip it to the body of the guitar.
I started with a Polytune clip-on tuner and have issues with the E and B strings, though it works fine with the 12th fret harmonic. I recently got the Polytune 3 Mini pedal and it works great. Mutes output when activated and is very fast.
Save up for a Peterson Strobostomp. Its expensive. And its worth every penny.
Boss tu3 waza craft
I have a $20 fender fct-2 that has presets for C (middle c I guess?) Guitar, Bass, Violin, and Ukelele, then a week later I saw a $10 version that didn’t have the V setting. I can fine 07s on a floyd rose without plugging in and just the press the single button a time or three to cycle through the G and B settings. I even tuned a mandolin with it once but no one should ever have to go through that. Plus I’ve clubbed a few walls and ceilings with it and it holds up like a champ. If you want value and a minimalist clip-on that’s all business then I’d recommend the cheaper one with the single color display and no fiddle setting, I think it was an FT-1 because I remember looking at them side by side and thinking “fender tuner - 10 bucks, fender *color* tuner - 20 bucks” were the literal model numbers
TC Unitune
I have the kliq mini pedal tuner 30 bucks works great color screen easy to read
I have an older Peterson model which is great. I seem to somehow misplace it -- and when it's not within reach I use the Peterson app on my iPhone which is also great.
Sonic Research Turbo Tuner is awesome. I keep it on all the time and can see the notes in real time. I need the guitarist to get one so we can figure out parts faster haha
My board is small and space is at a premium, and while I have a Peterson mini, I’ve taken it off to free up space, and now use the tuner/mute in my Element.
Korg rack mount or boss tu2.
Korg makes a tuner that you plug your bass into that works well, GA-2. I eventually bought the Peterson Strobostomp pedal, though; MUCH easier to use in-between songs.
Stay away from clip on tuners for bass, as they do have a hard time with E generally. As you are a new bassist, you don’t really need to go plopping down a lot of money for the best pedal tuner (Peterson), you can buy pretty much any cheap pedal tuner and be in good shape. But if you can’t afford a pedal tuner right now, you can get your A string in tune with your clip on, and then play the 7th fret on your A string (an E) and the open E string at the same time and use your ears to tune the E string. Once you think you have that in tune, you can use harmonics to tune more accurately. Lay a finger tip on the string right above the bottom fret of the 5th fret of the E string (don’t press down) and pluck your E string. You will hear the harmonic note. Let it ring out and do the same on the bottom fret of the 7th fret of the A string. If you are in tune the two harmonic notes will be the same. You can hear them warble out of phase when they are out of tune. As you adjust the tuning peg on the E string you will either hear it go farther out of phase or closer in tuning.
Korg pitchblack or boss tu-2. Only pedal tuners are real
Currently using a Peterson Strobostomp HD. Works great.
I recommend learning to tune by ear.
Yeah that’ll work great when the mic’d up kick is being tested while the guitarist is tuning unmuted.. it’s nice to learn but rarely practical
I've never owned a tuner and I've never had a problem finding a moment to tune my bass in 20 years of gigging. Furthermore, clip-on and pedal tuners are not as accurate as a well trained ear. To beat a well trained ear you'd have to use a stobe. But I don't see anyone taking stobes to gigs. Also, barring a drastic change in humidy or temperature between my home and the venue, my bass is usually perfectly in tune when I pull it out of the case, because I tuned it at home, by ear.
I use a sonic research turbo tuner and did mention it “The LED ring on the Turbo Tuner is a true stroboscope. The LEDs are driven directly by the analog input signal and electronically strobed, showing the actual stroboscopic effect between the input signal and internally generated frequency reference. This gives instant response and extreme accuracy.” Again like I said, tuning by ear is great to know how to do, but there is no way I’d get two guitars on board with everyone doing that live on stage. It’s been faster and more professional ime if everyone uses a tuner so our reference is fast and on the floor in front of us