A
Fast and precise tuner.. but not so much for double bass
I bought this tuner on July 1st 2015. It arrived amazingly fast, in less than 24 hours from Germany to the Netherlands!!
I bought the tuner to use for (intonation) practice on double bass (bowed). I also have a Korg CA1 tuner that is very good and reliable but this has not illuminated display which can be hard to read sometimes. It also is not the fastest tuner and not a clip-on (mic).
The Polytune clip does have very good visible LEDs. It also appeared to be very fast looking at the video's online. It tried it on one of my guitars and it works just fine in all modes. And yes, it is very fast.
But... on double bass not so much luck... The tuner has some difficulty picking up the signal from the E string. It does seem to work when plucked but when bowing it just does not work very well. On all other strings it works fine (in both guitar as well as bass mode).
I use the tuner on the bridge of the double bass so I can look at it when practicing scales etc. Being almost horizontal the tuner cannot decide its position so it frequently switches orientation. Of course this will not happen on (bass) guitar but it would have been nice if the gyro could be disabled.
And the final thing.. I read in the manual that the Polytune switches off automatically after 3 minutes to save the battery. I, mistakenly, thought that would be after the tuner had not been USED for 3 minutes. But this is not the case so it shuts off in the middle of a scale.
The build quality is OK. The plastic looks a bit flimsy, it would have looked so much better in stainless steel. The clip works fine and the display is very bright.
All in all the Polytune clip on is not exactly what I expected from it. Of course this is mainly due to the way I want to use it (not just tuning). I will give it another chance during a longer practice session to decide whether I'll keep it or maybe return it
EDIT: after just two days of careful use at home the rubber of the moving part of the steel clap came off. When I finally found it again on the other side of the room I noticed the rubber being split in two on one side. This should not happen!!
I bought the tuner to use for (intonation) practice on double bass (bowed). I also have a Korg CA1 tuner that is very good and reliable but this has not illuminated display which can be hard to read sometimes. It also is not the fastest tuner and not a clip-on (mic).
The Polytune clip does have very good visible LEDs. It also appeared to be very fast looking at the video's online. It tried it on one of my guitars and it works just fine in all modes. And yes, it is very fast.
But... on double bass not so much luck... The tuner has some difficulty picking up the signal from the E string. It does seem to work when plucked but when bowing it just does not work very well. On all other strings it works fine (in both guitar as well as bass mode).
I use the tuner on the bridge of the double bass so I can look at it when practicing scales etc. Being almost horizontal the tuner cannot decide its position so it frequently switches orientation. Of course this will not happen on (bass) guitar but it would have been nice if the gyro could be disabled.
And the final thing.. I read in the manual that the Polytune switches off automatically after 3 minutes to save the battery. I, mistakenly, thought that would be after the tuner had not been USED for 3 minutes. But this is not the case so it shuts off in the middle of a scale.
The build quality is OK. The plastic looks a bit flimsy, it would have looked so much better in stainless steel. The clip works fine and the display is very bright.
All in all the Polytune clip on is not exactly what I expected from it. Of course this is mainly due to the way I want to use it (not just tuning). I will give it another chance during a longer practice session to decide whether I'll keep it or maybe return it
EDIT: after just two days of careful use at home the rubber of the moving part of the steel clap came off. When I finally found it again on the other side of the room I noticed the rubber being split in two on one side. This should not happen!!
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TJ
Good tuner but struggles with low strings
I play a lot in drop B and drop A and this tuner seems to struggle with the low B and A. Other than that I can’t fault it
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c
good product quality/price
Using the product to tune the melody strings of an Indian Dilruba it serves very well the cause. Sometimes it lacks quick response, but this might be due to the many resonance cords of the instrument.
It is very practical in handling. Overall a very good product in relation to price/quality.
It is very practical in handling. Overall a very good product in relation to price/quality.
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K
Tunes
Very easy to use and quite small to easily go unnoticed on the guitar headstock.
It will occasionally turn off mid tune. Unsure if this is a defect or just a feature
It will occasionally turn off mid tune. Unsure if this is a defect or just a feature
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S
Great tuning but build quality not as good
More suitable for electric guitars, though also works on classical, but the clip gets really high on tension, as on classical guitars the wood is bigger. Still fits though.
pros & cons
Works great from the get go, even without reading manual. Just put on headstock and strum. It detects even lighter strums that other tuners do not. Great feature is that if you strum all strings, it gives you feedback for all of them, that probably the best feature.
The clip and front are aluminum, but the back and the battery door are plastic and not very good on mine. On one side the plastic cover has a tiny gap. The major problem with mine is that the battery does not fit well, and you have to push the plastic door to fit it, and after that the plastic is all flimsy.
Overall I do recommend it, but have in mind you might get one with problem on the plastic. I think if they made all aluminum there will be no warping and this will be the best tuner of all time.
pros & cons
Works great from the get go, even without reading manual. Just put on headstock and strum. It detects even lighter strums that other tuners do not. Great feature is that if you strum all strings, it gives you feedback for all of them, that probably the best feature.
The clip and front are aluminum, but the back and the battery door are plastic and not very good on mine. On one side the plastic cover has a tiny gap. The major problem with mine is that the battery does not fit well, and you have to push the plastic door to fit it, and after that the plastic is all flimsy.
Overall I do recommend it, but have in mind you might get one with problem on the plastic. I think if they made all aluminum there will be no warping and this will be the best tuner of all time.
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S
Accurate Guitar Tuner
I was looking for the most accurate tuner I could find for my electric and acoustic guitars.
Having had other tuners that were not very accurate.
Pros: Very accurate control, consistent and compact.
Cons: Does not swivel, so you can't view readings as well as you would like.
Having had other tuners that were not very accurate.
Pros: Very accurate control, consistent and compact.
Cons: Does not swivel, so you can't view readings as well as you would like.
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D
A superb little tuner, with a couple of caveats.
I use my Polytune Clip all the time, and of all my tuners (and I have owned a lot) it is my favourite. However, I am only going to give it four out of five because of a couple of things.
One; the polytune (all the strings at once) function is ok, but I wouldn't trust that alone when playing live or recording. It's not really possible to check all the strings accurately. I always use the single string mode to tune up, and it is excellent at that.
Two; the casing is plastic, and a small crack developed where it is very thin around the on button. This messed around with the function of the unit, and I had to take it apart, superglue the crack and put it back together again. It works fine, but it was an annoyance.
In summary; this is a great and accurate clip on tuner, but the poly gimmick isn't for me. It has a design flaw in the case, and at this kind of price I cannot justify five stars.
One; the polytune (all the strings at once) function is ok, but I wouldn't trust that alone when playing live or recording. It's not really possible to check all the strings accurately. I always use the single string mode to tune up, and it is excellent at that.
Two; the casing is plastic, and a small crack developed where it is very thin around the on button. This messed around with the function of the unit, and I had to take it apart, superglue the crack and put it back together again. It works fine, but it was an annoyance.
In summary; this is a great and accurate clip on tuner, but the poly gimmick isn't for me. It has a design flaw in the case, and at this kind of price I cannot justify five stars.
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I
The only con is that tuning accuracy is not the best compared to bigger tuners.
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v
Almost reliable tuner
The tuner works just fine, very well illuminated in dark and light. But I've found that strobe mode is not tuning well, if you're not planning on using it i think you'll like this clip tuner.
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W
Handy and slick device
This is a clip on tuner designed to be mounted on your guitar so that you can tune your guitar at a glance. Its main feature is that it can do polyphonic tuning, and it does it quite well on a guitar.
I tend to use it mostly on a bass, where the polyphonic tuning doesn't work, but the other modes do. Getting a good contact between it and the body which can pick up the string vibrations but not fall off is a bit of an art, but it can be done.
It tunes quite well on the bass, although the low B string on a 5 or a 6 is not very sensitive, so needs a bit of patience.
Overall a quality product, better on guitar on bass at the high end of the price range for these devices
I tend to use it mostly on a bass, where the polyphonic tuning doesn't work, but the other modes do. Getting a good contact between it and the body which can pick up the string vibrations but not fall off is a bit of an art, but it can be done.
It tunes quite well on the bass, although the low B string on a 5 or a 6 is not very sensitive, so needs a bit of patience.
Overall a quality product, better on guitar on bass at the high end of the price range for these devices
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